The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) has released the data that reflects, as of June 10, the number of unemployment claims that have been filed.
Deputy Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio says 88% of the valid unemployment claims have been processed and paid. Perreira-Eustaquio was put in charge of the department after Gov. David Ige put Director Scott Murakami on a leave due to the high stress of the job.
| No. of claims filed statewide: | 228,367 | ||
| No. of invalid claims filed statewide: | – 65,567 | ||
| No. of valid claims awaiting claimant to verify: | – 14,612 | ||
| No. of valid claims requiring DLIR action | 148,188 | ||
| No. of claims paid: | 130,536 | ||
| No. of claims requiring DLIR action 6/9/20 | 17,652 |
Perreira-Eustaquio says the following are common issues holding up unemployment insurance claims:
• Incorrect deposit information supplied by claimants,
• No weekly certifications filed by claimants,
• Claim backdate issues,
• Separation from work that requires investigation,
• Claimants that have filed multiple claims, and
• Failure to create a username and password in the claimant online portal.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic layoffs and slowdowns, Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations handled an average claim load of 20,000 per week, which spiked to 228,367 over the course of just a few weeks.
For more information about unemployment insurance and other labor issues please visit: https://labor.hawaii.gov/covid-19-labor-faqs/.