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December 30, 2015

Labor department hits its busy season

PHOTO | Contributed State Department of Labor headquarters in Wethersfield.

Thanksgiving to Christmas is the busy time for retailers. For the state Department of Labor unemployment benefits division, it’s now through mid-February.

Currently, the agency is issuing close to 38,000 payments weekly, totaling more than $12 million in benefits.

A department spokesperson said the increase is caused by an influx of short-term layoffs related to the construction industry; retailers dismissing temporary workers after the holiday shopping season; schools shutting down for vacation [bus drivers and cafeteria workers]; and a change in the quarter, which results in the resumption of benefits eligibility for long-term unemployed. Labor spokesperson Nancy Steffens said, “It might be short-term, but they’re all calling at the same time. It happens every year.”

The labor department is pushing the public to use its TeleBenefits or WebBenefits filing systems.

It said in a statement those who have already established an initial claim and are now eligible to file a weekly continued claim will find the online WebBenefits service to be the quickest method. The online service, available 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays, can be found on the CTDOL website – www.ct.gov/dol, by clicking on unemployment services, then selecting filing your claim online, and then click here to access.

Those with a basic inquiry related to an unemployment claim – including address change, tax status change, reporting their return to work, or if they missed filing a weekly claim – can visit the UI Online Assistance Center at www.filectui.com for a variety of inquiry topics.

Those filing an initial claim will need to call the TeleBenefits line. After answering a series of preliminary questions, callers will speak with a customer service representative to complete the claim. To help reduce wait times, best times to call are shortly after 7:30 a.m. and soon after 1 p.m. Mondays are traditionally the busiest day of the week while Thursdays tend to be the least busy.

If the wait time will be exceeding 10 minutes, callers can use the call back option. When this option is offered, individuals can elect to have a representative return their call at a specified time later that day or the following day. Callers getting a busy signal should continue to dial into the system, during the best times and days of the week to file.

Initial claims can be filed on the TeleBenefits phone system 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. The agency no longer issues paper benefit checks, but instead provides payments via direct deposit or debit card. The change has allowed the agency to save postage and printing costs and increased the integrity of the program by eliminating lost or stolen checks.

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