DLIR Says 90% of Valid Unemployment Claims Now Paid
Hawai‘i has paid out more than $1.5 billion in unemployment insurance claims since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a release from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) Thursday.
The DLIR updated unemployment insurance claims information across the board, including that it has paid $1,577,182,720 overall. A total of 1,438,314 weeks of unemployment have been claimed by the state’s unemployed workforce since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic on March 1, 2020.
“Ninety percent (90%) of the valid unemployment insurance claims that have come in since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic have been processed and paid out by the DLIR,” said Deputy Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio. “We also have 12,876 clean claims ready for payment of benefits by filing weekly claim certifications at https://huiclaims.hawaii.gov/#/.”
The following chart is courtesy of the department.
| No. of claims filed statewide: | 234,398 | ||
| No. of invalid claims filed statewide: | – 68,140 | ||
| No. of valid claims awaiting claimant to verify: | – 12,876 | ||
| No. of valid claims requiring DLIR action | 153,382 | ||
| No. of claims paid: | 137,887 | ||
| No. of claims requiring DLIR action 6/9/20 | 15,495 |
DLIR has worked to hone and refine unemployment insurance data to more strategically target those with pending claims as well as to evolve processing operations, including at the Hawai‘i Convention Center and Hawai‘i State Library, the release said. Over the last week, the department has emailed and placed robocalls to claimants to resolve outstanding issues including the requirement to file weekly/biweekly claim certifications.
“One of our current challenges in contacting employers and claimants is them not answering our phone calls,” noted Deputy Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio. “If you are an employer or worker involved in the unemployment insurance program, note that both 833-901-2272 and 833-901-2275 is the department trying to reach you to process claims.”
According to the release, the Department’s operations continue to evolve including the following common issues:
- Incorrect deposit information supplied by claimants
- No weekly certifications filed by claimants
- Claim backdate issues
- Separation from work that requires investigation
- Claimants that have filed multiple claims
- Failure to create a username and password in the claimant online portal
For more information about UI insurance and other labor issues visit, https://labor.hawaii.gov/covid-19-labor-faqs/.
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