Doherty: Put Idle State Employees to Work Processing Unemployment Claim Backlog

With business closed across the state and families struggling to get by financially, Senator Michael Doherty proposed a solution to help all of the nearly one million out-of-work New Jerseyans to receive the unemployment benefits they deserve. He called for inactive State government workers to be reassigned to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) to help process a massive backlog of unemployment claims.

“Many State government workers are sitting at home and getting paid at taxpayer expense while they are unable to do their regular jobs due to the pandemic,” said Doherty (R-23). “Let’s put those idle State workers to use at the currently understaffed and overwhelmed New Jersey Labor Department. With a quarter-of-a-million residents still waiting for their claims to be processed, we need to step up and do all we can to help their families keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.”

In California, more than 1,300 California state employees have switched jobs to process unemployment claims.

More than 250,000 residents from New Jersey are still waiting for a response from the NJDOL. Many have been trying to survive for weeks without paychecks or the unemployment benefits they are owed.

“We have seen many state workers change jobs successfully in the Golden State, now let’s deploy this strategy in the Garden State,” added Doherty. “Governor Murphy should do this immediately because the ongoing failure of the Department of Labor to process claims in a timely fashion is unacceptable. Unemployed New Jerseyans and their families deserve better during this time of great need.”