PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There are still about 75,000 jobless workers in New Jersey still waiting to get their extended unemployment benefits after the state paused the payouts. But leaders say it should be figured out by next Friday.
Most unemployed workers are getting their benefits, but about 5% had a lapse in payment because the state's system, which is old, essentially thought exhausted claims were over, so it paused payouts.
State Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said they have reprogramed the system, and now all of those impacted should be able to certify backdated claims by Friday, Feb. 12.
“If someone just got paused on Monday, they are only going to have to do it for one week, but folks who got paused back on Dec. 26, they are going to have five weeks available to them to go back and certify for,” he explained.
He said you will get an email from the office that your claim is ready to certify.
“Everybody else, all the PUA claimants, and anybody who was already continuing their claims who hadn’t already exhausted their benefits, they all continued right away, there was no break in their service or benefits at all,” he added.
Asaro-Angelo said they expect to double their phone bank to help jobless workers who are still having issues. He presses that whatever new stimulus bill Congress passes, it be kept simple, so these older systems can handle the updates.
“If this next extension has 17 new programs rather than what just exists, that will probably be a problem for us and many others,” he said.
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