‘I’ve called over 3,000 times.’ Coast workers can’t get through to overwhelmed MDES.
More than 29,000 people in South Mississippi filed for unemployment since the coronavirus shutdown began in mid-March and more say they still are trying to get through on the phone lines to file and collect their first check.
“I’ve called over 3,000 times,” said Anthony Dominick from Gulfport, who drives for Uber and Lyft. He was denied the first time he got through because benefits hadn’t yet been approved for the self employed. The second time he was told by the end of the week there would be money in his account, but it never happened. Finally he got through to someone who said he needed to fill out another form.
“That’s probably not an exaggeration,” Jason Robinson, an Ocean Springs resident who repairs musical equipment, said about how many calls are needed to get unemployment. He’s still trying.
“This morning I called at least 25 times,” he said. Sometimes he gets a recording that all the phone numbers are not in service. Other times the phone rings five times and disconnects. He’s waited on hold for 2 to 3 hours, he said, only to be disconnected before getting to speak to anyone.
“I haven’t got paid since February,” he said. “The phone stopped ringing when schools closed and all entertainment was shut down.”
His unemployment claim was processed and accepted on March 8. But when he checks the status of the claim online, he gets the message he hasn’t fulfilled the waiting period. The waiting period was suspended during the pandemic.
Unprecedented demand
“We feel for those individuals who have not yet gotten through,” Gov. Tate Reeves said during a press conference this week.
Before the coronavirus, Reeves said, a typical week brought about 1,000 new claims in Mississippi.
For the week ending April 25, there were 35,843 claims in Mississippi, with 6,590 of those claims by residents of the six counties of South Mississippi.
Now six weeks into the coronavirus shutdown, more than 200,000 people are unemployed in Mississippi. Of those, 29,076 new claims were filed in South Mississippi, about half of them by residents of Harrison County.
MDES reports the totals by county since March 21 are:
- George — 969
- Hancock —3,143
- Harrison — 19,877
- Jackson — 11,662
- Pearl River — 2,022
- Stone — 862
With so many people trying to file claims in South Mississippi and throughout the state, the system is overwhelmed, Reeves acknowledged.
Mississippi Department of Employment Security ramped up from 50 employees working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. before the pandemic, he said, to a staff of 250 working from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo posted on social media a notice advising people who to contact about their claims and a form for those who are having issues to email at his office at palazzo.house.gov/contact with their name, address, contact information and the issue they are having trying to file for unemployment.
$600 a week dilemma
A housekeeper at a Coast casino said she finally got through to unemployment and began receiving benefits. But with the $600 a week in additional federal benefits added to the amount she receives from the state, the food stamps she receives to help feed her four children were discontinued.
A local restaurant employee said those who are home collecting unemployment are making more than he is working part-time. He works too many hours for partial unemployment or food stamps is putting himself at risk to get the virus by coming to work, he said.
“If we are really a team, then where’s my teammates when I need them?” he asked.
That $600 a week in additional benefits from the federal government runs out in July, Reeves said. He told those who are receiving the money not to be tempted to stay out of work and keep collecting the higher benefit.
Take that job back, he said in a press conference this week, because you don’t want to be unemployed.
“I have heard from our staff they want to come back. They are so ready,” Brooke Robbins, human resources director at Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino, said in a webinar this week.
Reeves announced Thursday he is confident the casinos may open by Memorial Day.
Harrah’s will give employees as much notice as possibly when they will be called back to arrange for childcare and make other plans, Robbins said.
“If they don’t return to work their status in the system will be changing,” she said.
Employers are required to notify DES if a person is called back to their job but declines, she said. That could mean employees who don’t return would lose their state unemployment and the $600 federal grant.
She advised employers to reach out and talk to their employees before returning to work to explain the new procedures, and to understand the concerns the employees have and the impact the coronavirus will have on them and their families.
“You may have people that don’t return to work,” she said, which means business owners will have to ramp up recruitment efforts and hire people while also getting business up and running.
