System Outage Impacting Unemployment Insurance Claimants - RESOLVED
[December 14, 2023 at 3:30PM]
Montpelier, Vt. – The technical issues impacting the Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claimant Portal have been resolved as of this afternoon, Thursday, December 14, 2023.
On Monday, December 11, 2023, Department of Labor staff became aware of an issue affecting a number of unemployment claimants. These individuals reported encountering difficulties filing their weekly claims or reopening existing claims.
Impacted claimants who were unable to file for the benefit week of 12/03/23-12/09/23 should now find that option available in their claimant portal account. However, if a claimant is still experiencing an issue with their claimant portal, they should contact the UI Claimant Assistance Center at (877) 214-3332.
The Department and the Agency of Digital Services (ADS) launched a coordinated effort to identify the root cause of the issue and implement a solution. Roughly half of the claimant population, or about 800 individuals, were impacted by the disruption; however, many of the affected claimants were able to contact the Claimant Assistance Center and have their weekly claims taken manually over the phone.
At this time, any claimant who still needs to file for the benefit week of 12/03/23-12/09/23 should do so using the claimant portal before Friday, December 15, 2023, at 4:30PM. The Department will extend the filing window into next week, on a case-by-case basis, for affected claimants. Claimants can contact the Claimant Assistance Center at (877) 214-3332 if they are unable to file before the Friday deadline.
The Department recognizes how important timely benefits are for unemployed Vermonters and it appreciates the public’s patience while a solution was developed.
Claimants can find information about the Unemployment Insurance Program and this issue at https://labor.vermont.gov.
[December 13, 2023 at 10:45am]
Update: The Agency of Digital Service is continuing to work on the UI claimant portal in an effort to resolve the issue that is preventing some claimants from filing their weekly benefit claim for the benefit week of 12/03/23-12/09/23.
Claimants have until Friday at 4 pm each week to file their weekly benefit claim for the prior week. If the Claimant Portal issues are not resolved by then, the Department of Labor will extend the filing date to ensure claimants receive their benefits.
Call volume at the UI Claimant Assistance Center continues to be extremely high and wait times are pushing more than two hours.
[December 12, 2023 at 5:00pm]
System Outage Impacting Unemployment Insurance Claimants
Montpelier, Vt. – The Vermont Department of Labor is experiencing technical issues with the Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimant portal, which is the system some claimants use to file their weekly benefit claims and reopen existing claims. This issue is impacting a subset of the entire claimant population. Claimants experiencing this issue will find that they are unable to file a weekly claim for the benefit week of 12/03/23 – 12/09/23.
The technical difficulties involving the UI Claimant Portal are a direct result of the significant age of the existing system. As previously reported, the UI core system and the claimant portal are over 30 years old. The State and the Department are currently securing a vendor to update the entire UI system following an appropriation from the legislature in 2022 for $30 million.
Claimants experiencing this problem should monitor the UI claimant portal and the Department of Labor’s website for updates on the situation.
Claimants have until Friday at 4:30pm each week to file their weekly benefit claim for the prior week. If the claimant portal issues are not resolved by then, the Department of Labor will extend the filing date to ensure claimants receive their benefits.
Members of the public should also be aware that this issue is causing a surge in calls to the UI Claimant Assistance Center, resulting in extreme wait times.
The Department of Labor and the Agency of Digital Services are working to address these issues as quickly as possible to ensure unemployed Vermonters have access to these crucial benefits.
Information about the Unemployment Insurance Program and this ongoing issue can be found at https://labor.vermont.gov.