Credit: Darrow Montgomery
Dozens of laid-off D.C. workers testified to the Council on Wednesday about the ongoing problems at the Department of Employment Services. They named problems that claimants have been experiencing since last spring: miscommunication from DOES, difficulties with out-of-state wages, interruptions in payments whenever the agency needs to make system updates to comply with federal law.
The latest problem left countless claimants going without benefits for roughly one month, including
Deb Witherspoon, a Capitol Hill resident who waited five weeks to receive money. This left many struggling to afford everyday necessities. DOES Director
Unique Morris-Hughes told the press that eligible claimants would begin receiving payment starting April 20, but some weren’t paid until just recently. And a number of claimants are still owed back pay. In light of everything that’s transpired since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, D.C.’s Office of the Inspector
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D.C. workers who were laid off during the coronavirus pandemic and filed for unemployment could start seeing payments again this week after going roughly one month without benefits. Department of Employment Services Director
Unique Morris-Hughes said claimants should receive payments starting Tuesday, April 20, so long as they have been filing weekly online or by email and, more importantly, the agency has cleared them for eligibility.
“As long as they’ve certified and they’re eligible, there will not be any issues with them receiving their payments,” Morris-Hughes said during a press call on Monday.
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Mayor
Muriel Bowser apparently has had it with the D.C. Council’s questions. On Wednesday, Herronor abruptly canceled her administration’s weekly conference calls with councilmembers for good. The conversations were an opportunity for legislators to ask specific questions about Bowser’s COVID-19 response, which has sometimes frustrated and confused the public. Councilmembers were often elevating questions and concerns from their constituents.
The mayor’s office says Bowser plans to resume the sporadic mayor/Council breakfast meetings that fell away during the pandemic. “We are incredibly grateful for the response from our community and we will continue to provide DC residents with information and resources as we finish the fight against this pandemic,
Updated on April 5, 2021 at 12:00 am
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The D.C. unemployment website was undergoing maintenance Sunday, and it was unclear if residents would still able to file their weekly certifications and receive benefits this week.
There was no mention on the website about when the system would be available again. Download our NBC Washington app for iOS or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather. We are currently experiencing intermittent outages across the http://DC.gov Network which are causing service disruptions for @DOES DC and @dcdmv applications, among others, D.C. s Office of the Chief Technology Officer said in a tweet.
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