BOSTON (WHDH) – Hundreds of unemployed Massachusetts residents spent the summer on hold.
“The waiting is terrible by itself, never mind how long you are waiting, and you don’t know what you are going to do next,” said Danielle Robinson, who unexpectedly lost her job in May. “I would sit on hold for 30-40 minutes to reach somebody sometimes.”
The minutes turned into hours and the wait for payment went from weeks to months.
“I began to get anxious. This can’t be. There is no communication. No, nothing – just pending – waiting,” said Taeminn Song, who also lost his job in May.
Both Song and Robinson said their claims for unemployment sat ‘pending’ for months.
“We shouldn’t be here all this time later. None of these people should be,” Robinson said.
The latest federal data reveals that the Bay State has paid less than half of its first payments within three weeks, a timeframe the federal government expects the majority of payments to be made by. The percentage ranks the state the worst in the country for paying out initial claims within 21 days.
“We have constituents who, while they have been waiting, have received eviction notices, overdue bill notices, things that this safety net was supposed to be there to make sure they didn’t have to incur,” said State Senator Michael Moore.
Unable to get answers or action from the state’s unemployment office, many have turned to state leaders for help. Moore said the number of calls to his office about unemployment has tripled in the last few months. Many of the cases his office is assisting with involve people waiting 12-14 weeks, which is four times longer than the federal standard.
In June, the state paid only 39 percent of initial claims in three weeks, making it one of the worst months on record for the state since 1997.
“Why does the government get away with not paying you? It makes no sense,” Song said.
The number of cases with issues related to eligibility has also increased…