Unemployment case backlog adds to hiring challenges

Poultry companies’ hiring challenges may have increased because of the simple fact that there are incentives for people to draw unemployment compensation instead of returning to work.

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(designer491 | Bigstock)
(designer491 | Bigstock)

Poultry companies’ hiring challenges may have increased because of the simple fact that there are incentives for people to draw unemployment compensation instead of returning to work.

Jim Wimberly and Larry Stine, attorneys with the law firm Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel, Schneider & Stine, discussed issued related to unemployment during the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association (USPOULTRY) Human Resources Seminar on August 20. The event was held virtually.

Wimberly asked the question as to why there are people who have been laid off that are not wanting to return to work. He said there are several reasons.

“Persons are possibly drawing extra pay from unemployment, they fear acquiring (COVID-19) on the job, and maybe for various reasons they’d rather be at home … or at least doing other things,” Wimberly said.

''Bureaucratic inefficieny'

Under ordinary circumstances, Wimberly said, if a person doesn’t return to work, he or she should become ineligible to receive unemployment compensation. But because so many people are not working due to the COVID, that policy isn’t always being enforced as well as it should be.

“The unemployment offices are swamped, and as part of being swamped, everything is delayed and they’re also making bad decisions,” said Wimberly.

The intensity in which states are enforcing their unemployment compensation rules during the pandemic has been varied. For example, Wimberly said Georgia had suspended the obligation to seek other work in order to draw unemployment. That has created a whole set of problems. He

For example, the obligation seek other work to draw unemployment. Georgia suspended that.

“We even had situations where workers continued to be paid while on layoff, and the Georgia unemployment people allowed them to double dip -- receive pay while being laid off and receive $900 a week in unemployment,” said Wimberly.

Stine added that there were even a few examples of where people were receiving unemployment compensation while also still working.

The high number of cases is also delaying progress at the appellate level. It takes a lot of time to schedule and hold unemployment-related hearings, and in some cases Wimberly has handled, hearing dates have not even been scheduled yet.

Stine said in Georgia, there is presently an insufficient number of hearing officers to handle the volume, and it there is a high likelihood that the situation in other states is similar.

Wimberly does, however, have some optimism that the problems will gradually fade.

“I attribute a lot of this to just bureaucratic inefficiency, and probably at some point it will get straightened out,” he said.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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