PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — People looking for unemployment help in Virginia, some of which who’ve been waiting months, are dealing with a website issues and slow service on Friday.
The Virginia Employment Commission’s website was down as of 11:15 a.m. and VEC says it’s dealing with a high volume of messages and will not respond to questions on social media. They’re asking people to contact their Customer Care Center at 1-866-832-2363.
VEC said Wednesday it was in the process of having to programming its system to allow for CARES Act unemployment program updates, for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).
The state unemployment system has been consistently criticized for its slow, sometimes paralyzed, response to the pandemic. People say if they’re lucky to speak with workers they still are not getting the help they need.
Gov. Ralph Northam did expand the VEC by adding call centers and other funding, but the system has continued to struggle.
If you’re having issues with unemployment, send an email to reportit@wavy.com.