Behind the Scenes of Unemployment Claim Processing

Over 16,000 Nebraskans filed new unemployment insurance claims last week. Those claims are processed by around 200 workers at the Department of Labor.

Those workers adjudicate claims, 99% of which were filed online in March. They check the reason a person separated from their employer, and contact employers to verify the reason. Employers have 10 days to respond. Many claims being filed now cite COVID-19 as the reason for the separation. Claims are also evaluated to make sure they meet earnings requirements.

DOL said some claims take as few was seven days to process. Others can take 21 to 28 days.

Grace Johnson is Public Information Officer for the Nebraska Department of Labor. She said waiting is a normal part of the process.

“I would just say, if you’re waiting to hear back that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Johnson said. “If we have issues or problems with your claim we will reach out to you. So there’s no need to call us or email us. We will reach out to you as your claim is being processed. That’s a normal part of the process. So people don’t need to feel like there’s something wrong if they haven’t heard from us.”

Johnson said that the extra $600 payments that the CARES Act added to regular unemployment started going out this past Sunday. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications are being accepted, and the technology will likely be online later this week or early next.