Hundreds of Coloradans are still waiting to receive the unemployment money they’re rightfully owed, because the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment says it’s still working to clear fraud holds on their accounts, and to add insult to injury, claimants say they can’t get adequate help from the department’s customer service lines.
CBS News Colorado has gained additional information regarding the deficiencies within the department that have contributed to the delays and inadequate customer service support.
“I feel pretty powerless”: Claimants continue to struggle with no help or answers from CDLE
Henry Fortier, an unemployment claimant, expresses his immense frustration, stating, “The experience has been incredibly frustrating. It’s disheartening to think that I have diligently contributed my tax dollars, expecting the system to function properly, only to witness it failing to deliver. It seems unjust and leaves me feeling utterly powerless.”
Fortier has been patiently awaiting his unemployment check for close to twelve months. Following his layoff in October of the previous year, he recalls being advised by a CDLE customer service representative not to finalize his unemployment application until he had obtained his severance package from his employer.
After receiving the severance money, he proceeded to apply for unemployment. However, he was informed by a different CDLE customer service agent later on that his application was flagged for fraud due to incomplete filling out of the form.
Despite verifying his identity three times, Fortier did not receive any money.
According to him, he made over 100 calls to customer service this year but was only able to speak to a live person three times. Usually, he had to endure waiting on hold for more than an hour before getting through.
Fortier stated that almost all the time, he receives an automated message informing him that he won’t be able to speak with a real person.
He claims that even after speaking to an actual person, the customer service representatives remain incapable of removing the fraud hold during the phone call.
Vanessa Quilantan shared that she encountered identical issues with her unemployment claim, to the extent that a customer service representative advised her to seek assistance from the media for better results.
Quilantan expressed astonishment, stating that someone had explicitly advised him to approach local news stations, press, and media to initiate action on his claim. He likened the experience to residing in the twilight zone.
Due to the dysfunction, Quilantan had no choice but to relocate to Texas, citing her inability to sustain her living expenses in Colorado any further.
She stated, “I went through a period of twelve weeks with no source of income. It had reached a point where I was on the verge of losing my home, and I was filled with desperation.”
Lack of qualified staffing one potential reason for holds clearing at glacial pace
Colorado’s CBS News persistently questioned the unemployment department for explanations.
According to the CDLE, it appears that there are only 40 individuals within the department authorized to remove fraud holds. Interestingly, clearing these holds is not their main responsibility, as they are also assigned other tasks to manage.
However, the CDLE states that it has recently recruited an additional 10 individuals who will primarily focus on resolving the remaining fraud holds for numerous residents of Colorado.
And this is the reason why it takes so long to speak with a live representative for assistance:
According to the CDLE, there are 110 customer service agents available to assist individuals who are facing difficulties in receiving their payments.
According to CDLE, there are a total of 110 reps, with 80 of them being in-house representatives who receive 16 weeks of training. The remaining 30 reps work for a third party contractor and are only given two weeks of training with “minimal info.”
CBS News in Colorado also inquired about the reason behind why customer service agents are unable to resolve fraud holds independently.
According to a department representative,
“Our call center representatives are in fact receiving additional training and new guidelines to quickly identify program integrity (PI) holds and send them to newly trained workers for review. We anticipate most pi issues to be cleared within a week of claimants contacting us unless there are risk factors that require additional investigation. These recent adjustments are rebalancing and stabilizing the system to work as originally anticipated, allowing us to stop identity theft claims in their tracks while trying to minimize the impact to innocent victims of identity theft.”
“We will be asking questions”: Legislators taking a closer look at CDLE operations
Despite the department’s claims of stabilizing after experiencing tens of thousands of fraud holds this summer, certain state legislators insist on the need for verification.
Representative Judy Amabile, chair of the labor affairs oversight committee in the Colorado General Assembly, states that they have been urging the department to improve its claim processing speed. She further adds that they have allocated additional resources to the department.
In her opinion, one possible solution is to allocate additional funds to the department within the upcoming state budget.
At the beginning of the next legislative session, she intends to conduct an inquiry into the unemployment division of the labor department.
Amabile stated that in January, they will hold their SMART Act hearings where they plan to engage in discussions with the Department of Labor and Employment. During these hearings, they will pose inquiries regarding the current situation and seek answers while also comprehending the solutions being proposed to tackle the problem.
On the other hand, there are those who argue that the department should undergo scrutiny at an earlier stage.
Quilantan pleaded with Colorado officials to cease their actions that harm their own citizens.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment declined to participate in an interview regarding these matters. However, they have provided a written statement instead:
“We want to reiterate that this is a no-win situation. We will never have zero fraud holds on claims as new ones are set every day. We have an obligation to protect the UI trust fund from criminal activity, and we are dedicated to balancing that with providing a seamless claimant experience for all the Coloradans we serve.”
If you’re having difficulties receiving payment, Representative Amabile encourages you to contact your local state representative for further assistance.
It is her belief that as legislators, it is their responsibility to intervene in matters such as these.
