The Oregon Employment Department is reducing the time its customer service phone lines are open by two hours a day starting June 4, 2024. The agency is also temporarily shutting down lines on Mondays.
Chris Lehman/KLCC
The Oregon Employment Department is cutting the time its customer service phone lines are open by two hours a day starting June 4.
The agency also said it will temporarily halt phone service on Mondays until the understaffed department can hire and train more staff. Department leaders have repeatedly pointed to chronic underfunding from the federal government as the reason behind low staffing levels.
“The lack of adequate funding has hindered our overall customer service, including not having enough employees to answer the phones,” department head David Gerstenfeld told reporters Wednesday. “Simply stated, we need to get fully caught up on our work to provide the level of customer service that Oregonians deserve and require.”
The move comes as the Employment Department has been under increasing scrutiny for its rollout of a new website for claimants. Meant to replace rigid, antiquated technology, the new website appears to be working for a majority of unemployment insurance and paid leave claimants.
But for those having issues it’s been a frustrating transition. OPB has heard from multiple claimants reporting the same issue: They believe they are eligible for benefits, but their case is flagged for further review — a process the state calls adjudication — and the claimant doesn’t know why. When they reach out to the agency for more information, they’re met with busy phone lines and long wait times, adding to their frustration.
Gerstenfeld said there are currently 13,500 issues with claims that have gone unresolved for six weeks or longer. Overall, there are over 50,000 issues with claims, although an individual claimant can have more than one issue.
“We’re upset at not being able to help everybody as quickly as we want, and that’s why we’re making these changes,” Gerstenfeld said. “That’s why we’ve been focused for years now, highlighting the need for additional staff for the unemployment insurance program to be able to provide the levels of customer service that we know everybody wants.”
One of the changes that came with the agency’s $106 million technology upgrade in March was that the new system, Frances Online, increased the ways the public can message the agency.
To answer those messages and resolve outstanding issues with claims, Gerstenfeld said they need to shuffle around staff. The agency will cut its phone line hours from the current nine-hour period, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to seven hours, from from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, starting on June 4.
That change in hours is permanent, Gerstenfeld said. A second change is temporary: to close the lines completely on Mondays. He said when there are no more than 2,700 issues that are over six weeks old, then the department will resume taking calls on Mondays.
“This is not our ultimate customer service goal, but [it’s] the point when we believe it’s more beneficial to the public for us to resume having incoming calls on Mondays,” Gerstenfeld said. “We understand this change will make it more difficult for some people to reach us by phone in the short term, but it will help us quickly address the most pressing issue for people who have been waiting the longest.”
Earlier this year, the state Legislature approved more than $10 million for the employment department to add staff. Those funds can’t be used until early June, but Gerstenfeld said they’ve already started hiring efforts. Agency leaders hope to have additional staff trained and in place by the end of August.
