Antwon Keith discusses unemployment claims with lawmakers. (Screenshot)
The state’s Division of Employment Security is making progress toward improving first time unemployment insurance payments, Antwon Keith, the division’s assistant secretary told lawmakers this week.
The division came under fire after a performance audit released in 2022 found that 24% of first time unemployment insurance payments were late between January 1, 2020 an March 31, 2021.
A follow up audit released last month covering January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 found that 43% of payments were late. Federal rules require at least 87% of first unemployment benefit payments be issued to regular unemployment insurance claimants within 14 days of the first payable week.
“We welcome any opportunity to self reflect and get better,” Keith said. “That being said, there are certain things in there that we simply do not agree with.”
Meanwhile, the Office of the Auditor found that the division did not fully implement recommendation made in the 2022 audit. It did not, for example, take steps to ensure its benefits claims process is designed to meet the federal timeliness standard.
“Unemployment benefit payments are continuing to not be issued in accordance with the federal timeliness requirements,” said Jared Cronk, director of performance audits at the Office of State Auditor.
In addition, the division did not adequately monitor timeliness of first benefit payments, which resulted in $7.8 million first payments not being made in a timely manner. The division also did not adopt a plan to respond to economic downturns as recommended in the initial audit, the report said.
“We disagreed with this because we felt we had a readiness plan and we’ve implemented a readiness plan,” Keith said, noting that plan is being used by the division to respond the Hurricane Helene.
Late unemployment insurance payments can cause financial hardships for families already struggling due to job losses, Sen. Michael Lazzara, R-Onlsow, said Thursday.
Lazzara is a co-chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Unemployment Insurance. The committee invited the Division of Employment Security and the Office of State Auditor to its meeting to discuss the new findings.
“It’s extremely important, I think, for us to realize that if 43% are receiving untimely payments, we’re really putting a lot of folks in a bad situation in regards to paying their bills,” Lazzara said.
Keith said improvements are being made even as the division continues to lose staff and handle an uptick in claims due to Hurricane Helene.
“We saw 200 years of experience walk out the door after the pandemic,” Keith said. “We were fortunate enough that people put off retirement but after the pandemic, we had folks that left.”
The division has paid $43 million unemployment benefits to 17,659 people as of Dec. 10, Keith said. There are more than 7,700 claims pending and 2,770 were rejected, he said.