I moved to Wisconsin last October and my position was eliminated in early April due to the virus. I applied for unemployment benefits online and my application was immediately put on hold because I still have a CA driver’s license. I tried hours each day to call for assistance. All of my calls were hung up on due to the high call volume. There was no way to get in line or leave a voicemail like a business.
I finally contacted my local representative and was helped by a member of her staff. He was able to take my information and get it to someone at the unemployment office. I had to wait two weeks for an appointment but eventually talked to a person and was able to finish filing my claim online.
My claim was immediately put on hold because they said I didn’t make enough money to qualify for benefits and that I walked away from a job. Both of these were not true. I could not dispute these allegations online and had to use the phone system which had not improved.
After a couple weeks of being hung up on, I contacted my state representative again. I explained my problems and told him how the system didn’t work. He forwarded my information to someone in the unemployment department and within a few days, I got a call that resolved everything.
My first and back payments came through three months after I filed my claim. I had to call my state representative twice. The people I talked to were competent and professional. The Wisconsin unemployment system is broken and Wisconsin leadership failed to anticipate and make the changes needed to process a high influx of calls.
Be careful pointing to Wisconsin. Florida’s system is equally bad or worse. Impossible to get onto. Once on my wife filed for her furlough. Then came the checks, fed additional money, in triplicate. Trying to stop them impossible. The kicker is furlough over and money has not stopped. Now there is a way to pay back over pays BUT no mention one will not receive a 1099 net of paid back over payments.