Employment office paying PUA claims, report says

Nevada’s employment office seems to have made some headway in processing unemployment insurance claims filed by independent contractors and self-employed workers but more work could be done, according to a court report detailing the department’s efforts.

The 144-page report, produced by court-appointed Special Master Jason Guinasso, was discussed at length during a Thursday court hearing, as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed in May on behalf of self-employed workers seeking immediate payment of their pending unemployment claims by the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Guinasso said it appears DETR is “substantially complying” with the court’s writ of mandate and is making “significant progress addressing the issues outlined by the court.”

Last month Second Judicial District Court Judge Barry Breslow mandated, in part, that DETR resume paying gig, self-employed and independent workers who previously received money under their benefits program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, before the state froze their funds.

In his report, Guinasso said 48,815 claims had been approved and were being paid. The department reported earlier this month 397,709 total PUA claims had been filed through the week ending Aug. 8.

DETR also paid $40.1 million in benefits in the last two weeks to claimants who had filed in the first week that the PUA system went live in May.

Guinasso noted a number of plans outlined by DETR’s newly minted Acting Director Elisa Cafferata and Barbara Buckley, head of the state’s new rapid-response effort, to address the department’s worst problems.

The pair hopes to implement a number of quick fixes to help process claims faster such as hiring additional employees including retired DETR staff and improve the department’s customer service, communication with filers and claims backlog.

“Clearly, there is substantial focus, significant resources, and spirited efforts being made by the State of Nevada to resolve the problems with Nevada’s unemployment benefit delivery system that have given rise to the litigation before this court,” he said in the report. “Unfortunately, for many claimants, the progress being made is too late or otherwise not enough as they continue to suffer under the strain of not being employed and the desperation that comes from not being able to access benefits to sustain them and their families through the aftermath of the global pandemic.”

Breslow had ordered the state’s employment department to begin paying some self-employed and independent contractors starting July 28, but many still have not received pay.

Plaintiffs’ counsel Mark Thierman said whether DETR has made progress is not important as many filers are still not being paid.

“You’ve got to say something’s wrong,” he said. “I don’t care how many good-faith meetings they (DETR) have or whatever they want to do — it’s wrong.”

The judge set another hearing for Sep. 10 at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the plaintiff’s motion for contempt as well as how to pay Guinasso, who was asked by the judge to “stand down,” for his work.

Guinasso previously produced a 310-page report during the proceedings detailing the state’s “bottlenecks” in processing claims for filers under the PUA program.

Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter.