Kentucky’s unemployment system crashes as coronavirus response brings job losses

Kentucky’s phone line and website for filing unemployment insurance claims were not functioning Tuesday and have not since Monday morning, when Gov. Andy Beshear ordered all restaurants and bars to close dine-in services in an effort to curb the new coronavirus.

The errors come amid a massive spike in unemployment claims, from an average of 2,000 claims a week before the virus outbreak to 9,000 claims processed on Tuesday alone.

To combat the influx of claims, officials issued new protocols for Kentucky residents who want to file for unemployment insurance.

The state is asking people to follow a schedule based on the first letter of their last name if they plan to file for unemployment this week.

On Wednesday, the state asks that only people whose last name begins with A-I apply for benefits; on Thursday, J-R; on Friday, S-Z.

People who missed their designated day should apply on Friday.

“We’re doing everything that we can to fix it — putting new procedures in place so that individuals who lost their job this week can make sure that they file claims on time,” Josh Benton, deputy secretary of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, said during a press conference Tuesday.

Benton said the office has increased its staff to deal with unemployment claims by 45 individuals, increased service space five-fold, and will set up an alternative online application system Wednesday morning that people can use if the regular system crashes.

That alternative system will be available on the Kentucky Career Center website: https://kcc.ky.gov/career.

On Monday, Beshear directed state officials to begin waiving the state’s mandatory one week waiting period for unemployment benefits for people who lost their jobs because of the virus, and also eliminated the requirement for those people to search for work while they receive benefits.

Employees at restaurants across the state are already feeling the impact of Beshear’s order.

During a Tuesday news conference in Pike County, the mayor of Coal Run, Andrew Scott, said his son was laid off from his job at Texas Roadhouse following the restaurant’s closure of dine-in service.

In Lexington, several restaurant owners expressed concern Monday that their businesses and employees would suffer during the closures.

Restaurants are allowed to continue drive-thru services, curbside pickup and delivery.

Other industries are likely to suffer as well. Beshear also ordered the closure of child care centers by the end of the day Friday, and required all government offices to close for in-person services by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Dentist and orthodontist offices have also been ordered to stop seeing patients for non-emergency dental care.

“We know the steps we are taking are going to cause people to lose their jobs,” Beshear said during a news conference Monday. “We want you to be able to qualify for unemployment and we don’t want to create impediments that keep you from being able to get through this. We are going to make sure we get through this together.”

Beshear said the state will need “a lot of help” from the federal government to make people whole who lost work because of the outbreak, but assured the public that the state was working to correct all issues with the unemployment system.

“We are building up as fast as we can,” Beshear said. “We’ve never seen anything like this, just like you haven’t.”

The governor’s order will allow people who lost their job because of coronavirus to receive a week’s worth of benefits that the state would normally withhold — this week is commonly called a “waiting week.”

Under normal circumstances, people who apply for unemployment receive their first check two weeks after they first apply, but only receive payment for one of those two weeks. Beshear’s order directs the state to deliver payment for both weeks.

The state will accept unemployment insurance applications from people who lost their jobs because they are in quarantine, and from people whose employer shut down because of coronavirus, officials said.

“While we have not yet experienced large-scale job loss as a result of the coronavirus, we want to be prepared for that,” Josh Benton, deputy secretary of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, said during an afternoon news conference Monday.

When the system is functioning, people can apply for unemployment benefits online or by phone, by calling 502-875-0442 or visiting the Kentucky Career’s Center unemployment benefits page at https://kcc.ky.gov/career.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 26 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Kentucky.

This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 1:15 PM.