Two big themes emerged from a media briefing Wednesday with David Gerstenfeld, the acting director of the Oregon Employment Department:
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, claims have become the albatross around the system鈥檚 neck.
And the rise in COVID-19 cases is impacting the health of department employees themselves.
鈥淯nfortunately, our employees are not immune to this virus,鈥� Gerstenfeld said. 鈥淪ince the beginning of April, seven employees have tested positive for COVID-19, including five in the past week in four different locations.鈥�
Gerstenfeld said the department still must process about 61,000 initial PUA applications to meet the Aug. 8 goal of its 鈥淔ocus PUA鈥� push. The department has yet to meet its weekly processing targets.
鈥淲hile we intended to get through them more quickly, you should not plan to receive your PUA benefits until at least Aug. 8 if your claim has not yet been processed,鈥� he said.
Since the PUA program launched in late April, more than 98,000 people have applied for help. Only about 23,000 of those have been paid.
Even people who have begun to receive payment may experience stops and starts. That鈥檚 because the employment department has to manually process weekly PUA claims, causing delays.
鈥淭he good news on this front is we are in the last phase of launching a new form that will automate the weekly claims process,鈥� Gerstenfeld said. 鈥淲e know this is incredibly frustrating.鈥�
The news of five confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last week may increase the fear some department employees have expressed to OPB about the safety of working in call centers as staffing ramps up.
鈥淭here鈥檚 very little mask wearing. There鈥檚 zero social distancing,鈥� said one claims processor at OED鈥檚 Wilsonville facility, who requested their name be withheld to protect their job. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e all inside.鈥�
The employee said new hires often huddle with more experienced personnel to work through claims issues. They described sitting directly across from another worker, separated by a short partition.
Gerstenfeld said workstations at the Wilsonville contact center are spaced 6 feet apart and that the department is in discussions with a labor union about requiring the use of face coverings in all offices.
鈥淚 cannot overstate how challenging it has been for our dedicated employees to process claims, while also being worried about their own health and safety,鈥� he said.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting
