Bill > A1254

Introduced Session

This bill requires the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to process claims for unemployment benefits within two weeks of filing by a claimant. Current law provides that the department is required to process claims within three weeks. The bill requires the department to establish and maintain a telephone hotline available, at a minimum, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. through which members of the public and claimants may request general or individualized information that the department is required to provide pursuant to the "unemployment compensation law" (R.S.43:21-1 et seq.). Under the bill, the department is required to display the phone number prominently for the hotline on its webpage. Under the bill, the department is required sufficiently staff the hotline so that a caller will not, on average, wait more than approximately 30 minutes before speaking with a representative, and an automated system will inform a caller of the number of calls ahead of the caller. The bill requires the representatives employed by the hotline to be trained to knowledgeably: (1) Address general inquiries regarding the program and benefits; and (2) Assist with specific claim questions, issues, concerns, and troubleshooting, including but not limited to: assessing whether an individual is likely to qualify for unemployment compensation; providing instructions on how to file an unemployment compensation claim and assistance in obtaining and interpreting information on the 1099 tax form; and providing information on an individual's pending unemployment claim, including but not limited to, the status of the claim, potential solutions and troubleshooting of any issues regarding an individual's eligibility or other barriers to the individual collecting unemployment compensation benefits. The bill requires the department to employ any personnel in addition to its existing workforce that is necessary to process claims to maintain compliance with the claim processing requirements of the bill. Within the sponsor's district, many individuals have had to wait months, and in some cases over a year, for a claim resolution. It is the sponsor's hope that this bill will improve the processing of claims for unemployment benefits.

Committee Categories

Al Barlas (R)*,  Alex Sauickie (R)*,  Rob Clifton (R), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document