More than 14 months after pandemic-related layoffs first strained the District’s unemployment system, the frustrated calls are still coming.
D.C. lawmakers say their offices are flooded each day with desperate messages from workers who have experienced lapses in unemployment benefits — and know that reaching out beyond the city’s employment office may be the fastest way to get the problem fixed.
The D.C. Department of Employment Services has attributed problems to a range of sources: its antiquated website, an unprecedented volume of new claims and, in February, a glitch it said was caused by a vendor. The latest issue — apparently spurred by updates necessary to extend federal unemployment programs created during the pandemic — halted payments for a still-unknown number of claimants in March.
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