ALBANY — The state Department of Labor dropped the ball during the COVID-19 pandemic, when in dealing with a flood of unemployment insurance claims another program designed to help people find new jobs fell through the cracks, according to an audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office.
The audit looked at how the Department of Labor upheld provisions of the WARN Act.
The WARN, or Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, is an 1980s-era federal law that requires companies employing more than 50 people to provide notice of impending layoffs.
Additionally, the labor department is supposed to enact “rapid response” teams who aim to get laid off workers new jobs quickly.
That didn’t happen during the height of the pandemic because labor deployed many of its people to deal with unemployment claims. The state’s system for fielding and sending out unemployment insurance was overrun by requests and plagued with computer malfunctions as unprecedented numbers of people — including thousands who lost their jobs when restaurants and retailers closed — were calling in to start getting their checks.
“Being laid off is one of the hardest things an employee can go through, and it was even more challenging during the pandemic,” DiNapoli said in a prepared statement about the audit. “During the worst waves of COVID-19, not surprisingly, our audit found the state Department of Labor’s employment services took a backseat to processing unemployment claims. However, while the public health emergency clearly exacerbated the issues identified, even before and after this period, we found improvements were needed. The department must improve timely response to employers and employees as covered by the WARN Act and improve their oversight of companies, especially now when layoffs are on the rise.”
…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply