Aug 13, 2020 4 min read

The state Department of Labor & Industry has been under siege since mid-March, examining thousands of COVID-related unemployment compensation claims, processing state and federal funds, and fielding countless complaints from applicants awaiting benefits – some for months.

Members of the House Labor & Industry Committee ratcheted up the heat on the department Wednesday. Speaking on behalf of dissatisfied constituents, representatives from the Republican-controlled chamber peppered L&I secretary Jerry Olesiak and Bill Trusky, deputy secretary for UC programs, with questions during an informational meeting in Harrisburg that was in-person and virtual.

Committee chair Jim Cox, R-Berks/Lancaster, moderated the three-hour-plus event. The committee initially heard testimony from Oleksiak; Trusky; Keith Welks of the state Treasury office; and Carl Hammersburg, manager of SAS Government and Healthcare Risk and Fraud team. About a dozen committee members pitched questions afterward, during an extensive, interesting and somewhat contentious question-and-answer session.

As he has repeated at many of his weekly news conferences, Oleksiak said L&I was sufficiently staffed and funded before the coronavirus hit the state in mid-March. That changed quickly, as the pandemic forced Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to largely shut down the state, putting thousands out of work, at least temporarily.

The secretary said his department has added hundreds to his staff – now numbering 1,700-plus – to handle the additional workload. Some, he added, are multilingual, and collectively, workers have put in 242,000 overtime hours. The result, Oleksiak said, is that 98% of UC applicants have received payments or been determined to be ineligible for them.

“The truth is in the numbers. This has been a Herculean effort by our staff to help Pennsylvanians,” he said.

Yet residents have raised numerous complaints, to L&I and to local legislators, about various UC issues: their cases haven’t been determined; they initially received benefits and now are not; they haven’t received debit cards for benefits; their phone calls and emails are not being answered or returned.

One legislator said early in the proceedings “people can’t seem to get through to the unemployment system.”

Rep. James Gregory, R-Blair County, told the secretary: “We’re not hearing from the 98%. We’re hearing from the 2%. One constituent called and got a redial number of 305.”

“That is unacceptable,” Oleksiak said.

L&I’s Trusky was asked whether the department can increase its capacity for phone calls. “Some of our most responsible customer services representatives (are on those calls),” he said. “We absolutely can expand, but I’m not sure that will help. We could have longer wait times.”

Oleksiak bristled at the perception that his department has not been sufficiently responsive.

“We’ve been told that we’re ‘tone deaf’ to people, but nothing could be farther from the truth. The process has not been perfect, and people aren’t shy about letting us know. But any allegations that shortcomings are from inaction or apathy during the pandemic is recklessly misguided and misinformed.”

More than one committee member questioned that 2% figure, but the secretary stood by that percentage, saying the number of individuals – as of July 4 – was 30,371. That group, he added, does not include claimants for funds from the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

Speaking of PUA, the ongoing fraud investigation of the program was a prominent topic. It is a national issue that has impacted Pennsylvania, involving stolen identities and some individuals getting checks they should not have received.

Hammersburg talked about a Nigerian crime ring that operated in Washington state earlier in the pandemic. He said $600 million was taken within six weeks, with the Secret Service getting $300 million back from Nigeria.

“Unemployment compensation fraud is the No. 1 source of work with the Secret Service,” Hammersburg said, somewhat incredulously.

Treasury’s Welks said $75.6 million in fraudulent payments have been recovered in the state. “We made 17,000 (fictitious) identifications and blocked them.”

That investigation continues – like UC complaints and the pandemic.