Governor Sisolak announced updates on Tuesday for Unemployment Insurance as Nevadans deal with COVID-19 impacts.
He began by highlighting the volume of claims, stating more than 300,000 people have applied in the last 30 days.
To put that into perspective, Gov. Sisolak said that's an average of 10,000 people per day, or one in ten Nevadans.
He said in between March 14 and April 4, DETR saw the highest number of weekly claims on record for the state.
In comparison, he said 329,000 people filed for unemployment in 2009 alone.
"I hear your concerns," Sisolak said. "I sympathize and we're doing something about it."
Gov. Sisolak addressed the busy phone lines, difficulty resetting passwords and website issues Nevadans are facing.
He said the system was never set up to handle the volume of claims.
Gov. Sisolak said to help, DETR will backdate unemployment claims to the earliest date up to March 15.
He said whenever your application was submitted, you will be paid retroactively.
Gov. Sisolak said Nevada will also be one of the earliest states to disperse the additional $600 to everyone receiving unemployment as part of the CARES Act.
He said those benefits will be backdated as well and some residents could see them as early as tomorrow.
Kimberly Gaa, Administrator for the Employment Security Division, was also there to provide some insight into the Unemployment Insurance life cycle.
She said there are three components to the CARES Act outside of the unemployment system: pandemic assistance, which includes 1099 workers and gig workers, extension of benefits for an additional 13 weeks and the additional $600 per week through the end of July.
Gaa said DETR has tripled its staff, extended its hours and a vendor will bring 100 additional operators to help.
She said those operators should be up and running some time this week.
Gaa said DETR is asking residents to file on different days to stagger the volume of claims based on your last name:
A-K on Sunday
L-R on Monday
S-Z on Tuesday
All can file Wednesday - Saturday
Gaa said 95 percent of residents have successfully filed online and they're approaching $200 million paid out to residents since March 15.
Gov. Sisolak also announced a Nevada Hero of the Day, which residents can continue to submit at NevadaHeroOfTheDay@gmail.com.
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