New York Unemployment Site Is Overwhelmed After Mass Layoffs Due to Coronavirus | Eater NY

"Overwhelmed to a standstill amid the COVID-19 restaurant shutdown, I found New York unemployment insurance — the government program workers depend on for cash payments after losing a job — struggling to handle a surge in claims: by noon the labor department reported more than 21,000 calls (compared with 2,000 the week before) and 110,000 website visits (vs. 42,000). Governor Andrew Cuomo’s waiver of the seven-day waiting period appears to have increased volume, so the state instituted a sign-up system by last name (A–F on Mondays, G–N on Tuesdays, O–Z on Wednesdays, with Thursday or Friday for those who miss their day) and clarified that filing later in the week will not delay payments because all claims are effective on the Monday of the week in which they’re filed. I observed reports that many hospitality workers still cannot register or reach operators — callers being hung up on, sessions timing out, and the website crashing repeatedly — prompting the labor department to pledge to hire 34 Albany-based full-time temporary clerks at $17.61 per hour to process claims. Payments are based on a worker’s former salary and capped at $504 per week (for example, a waiter earning $39,710 annually would receive $381 per week, roughly half their regular wage), and undocumented workers remain ineligible." - Ryan Sutton