Why Should Delaware Care?
Thousands of laid-off Delaware workers turn to the state’s unemployment office for weekly checks every year, expecting money that they and their employers had paid into the system to be there. A report from the state auditor last year highlighted major concerns about how the program was being managed. New information suggests the system and the department overseeing it still require improvements.
A year after Delaware’s auditor declared the state’s unemployment insurance fund to be “un-auditable,” the program’s struggles continue.
On Tuesday, Delaware labor officials revealed that roughly half of people who file for unemployment benefits wait more than three weeks for their first check from the state.
The lengthy delay for dollars ranks among the worst in the country – falling below a federal standard that requires at least 87% of individuals to be paid within three weeks of their application.
The new finding was outlined at a budget hearing Monday when Delaware Department of Labor officials detailed their operations over the past year, as well as a funding request for next year.
The hearing came a year after Delaware State Auditor Lydia York stated in a report that her investigators were not able to verify how certain dollars had flowed through the state’s $300 million unemployment fund, which sends checks to thousands of laid-off workers each week.
Days after the auditor’s report last year, the Department of Labor’s image took another hit when officials announced that a supervisor within the agency had embezzled more than $181,000 from the unemployment insurance fund in 2023.
Labor officials did not mention the auditor’s report, nor the embezzlement during Monday’s budget hearing.
But they did state they have addressed the delays in unemployment insurance payouts by hiring 25 seasonal workers. The new employees manage customer service and outstanding cases, so that adjudicators can focus solely on claims, agency officials said.
Officials also said they paused system updates to concentrate on clearing the backlog of unemployment claims and improving “financial hygiene and employer tax account accuracy.”
“Our goal is to hit that 87% level by fiscal year 2027,” Labor Secretary LaKresha Moultrie said.