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State hit with ‘unprecedented’ number of unemployment claims

Date:

“We are seeing numbers we haven’t seen in history. I know its hard to hear. Please be patient.”

March 27 update: A statement from Governor Steve Sisolak:

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR) has been working hard to manage an unprecedented increase in unemployment claims and have taken steps, like expanding staff and creating a form to help with login issues, to address common issues

Overall, 97% of unemployment claims have been filed online at http://ui.nv.gov, and that remains the quickest way to get your claim processed.

Here is the link to the form that will expedite resetting your unemployment account if you’re having issues logging in: http://gov.nv.gov/Forms/Unemployment/

Read more about everything DETR is doing to help Nevadans facing unemployment here: https://nvhealthresponse.nv.gov/…/DETR-Announces-Additional…

The Nevada Department of Training and Rehabilitation is getting hit with massive unemployment filings. It’s so bad that the online system to file claims has to throttle down to avoid crashing.

Many are unable to get claims filed. And those who have previous claims are unable to get their passwords reset because, in order to avoid unemployment fraud, their passwords have to be manually reset by a human.

“We are asking everyone to be patient,” said DETR spokesperson Rosa Mendez.

The phone bank for claims fills up quickly each day, and Mendez recommended people not even call DETR. Instead, they are encouraging people to file online. Even then, the system is slow.

Mendez said that people should file at non-peak hours, such as midnight.

A This Is Reno reader said that because he had a prior unemployment claim from 2015, he has been unable to get his password reset for a new claim.

“You cannot reset the password yourself,” he said. “That requires an agent in their office to do that. So anybody who has … in the past 8-10 years had a claim (based on social security number) cannot put in another or new claim (today) without them resetting the password.

“There is no way to get a hold of them, the queue fills up for the day in 6-10 mins and the recording [says], ‘we can’t help you, call tomorrow.'”

He’s been requesting a password reset for a week. Mendez said the state is very aware of the issue and is working to get the situation resolved.

“We are working on staff at the security station,” she said. “We understand and acknowledge that these folks are having issues. Keep trying and be patient. We are seeing numbers we haven’t seen in history. I know its hard to hear. Please be patient.”

DETR: https://detr.nv.gov/Page/COVID-19_(Coronavirus)_Information_for_Claimants_and_Employers

This Is Reno’s COVID-19 news coverage

Bob Conrad
Bob Conradhttp://thisisreno.com
Bob Conrad is publisher, editor and co-founder of This Is Reno. He has served in communications positions for various state agencies and earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2011. He is also a part time instructor at UNR and sits on the boards of the Nevada Press Association and Nevada Open Government Coalition.

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