From March 15 to March 22, 13,406 new unemployment claims were filed in the State of Montana. This unprecedented number of new claims is the result of the order closing restaurants and bars to the public for the purpose of social distancing during the current COVID-19 epidemic. It is yet undetermined when effected businesses will be able to reopen their doors, but, for now, they are limited to take out order service only, and the majority have advised their employees to file for emergency unemployment funding.
The Notice of Adoption of Temporary Emergency Rules states that a claimant laid-off due to COVID 19 is deemed able, available and seeking suitable work when the employer intends to recall them after the layoff, and the claimant intends to be recalled. This means that there is an escalating number of legitimate, undisputed new claimants needing immediate unemployment assistance from the State of Montana, as of this week, making for a hefty workload for the Montana UI Claims Processing Center. Monday morning, March 23, the website MontanaWorks.gov was temporarily down for maintenance and the phone lines were overloaded.
“The Montana Department of Labor & Industry is utilizing every available resource to stabilize MontanaWorks.gov, so Montanans impacted by COVID-19 can access the unemployment benefits they need at this time,” said Lauren Lewis, Public Information Officer for the Montana Department of Labor & Industry.
Over the weekend, they had outside experts working with their Technology Services Division team to implement updates and are bringing in additional experts this afternoon. Additionally, Monday afternoon, internal staff removed all non-UI services from the claimant portal to simplify the application and streamline access. The website is currently back up and running.
UI will be able to backdate new claims and claim reactivations as needed, throughout the week. Those new claims, reactivations, and payment requests will be backdated to the first day the individual tried to file on MontanaWorks.gov or called the UI Claims Processing Center. This will help insure retroactive payment is available when system issues have impacted one’s ability to file a claim.
Requesting payment is not a one day process. Payments may be delayed by one or more days, but claimants can file their weekly requests any day of the week. While payment requests are being filed for callers who have reached out through the phone line, claimants are encouraged to make their payment requests online, if possible. The difference between filing Sunday or Monday and filing later in the week will be the timing of receipt of payment.
In an effort to expand phone lines, DLI has shifted additional staff to serve Montanans through the UI Claims Processing Center and staff the phone lines. If the website and phone lines are not sufficient and, or entirely unavailable, Montanans are then encouraged to reach out to Claims Processing staff with any questions by email at UIClaims@mt.gov. The website at MontanaWorks.gov is still the most efficient platform for filing claims & making payment requests at this time.
Updates will be provided on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pg/MTDLI/posts/?ref=page_internal.
In addition, Job Service staff is able to assist Montanans with UI questions and claims. For a list of all Job Service offices across the state and their contact information, visit montanaworks.gov/job-service-montana.
