Heather Korbulic was appointed to lead the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) earlier this month, as the agency struggles to handle record-shattering levels of unemployment claims reaching over 440,000.

"Working around the clock trying to find and building this plane while we are flying it. We are resource thin, and working on addressing that and working on our technical capacities so that we can manage all of this,” said Korbulic.

To help with staffing, Governor Sisolak signed an emergency directive to provide flexibility for DETR to hire non-merit, or contracted, workers to help process unemployment claims.

"Now we have to turn towards hiring all those positions and training them as quickly as possible and getting them into the queue to help us manage this case load."

These non-merit workers will be allowed to work on individual claims and assist claimants through the process, unlike the call center that was added previously.  It turns out, that call center was originally set up to assist with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, or PUA, it will service independent contractors, gig workers, and others that file 10-99's instead of W-2's. That program is scheduled to start up within the next week.

"People who are eligible for the pandemic unemployment assistance can call the Alorica call center and get fully serviced there, and it will free up some of the bandwidth here to service more traditional unemployment insurance."

While the PUA program was being set up, the department decided to utilize the call center to answer basic questions. Korbulic also hopes to switch the antiquated phone system -- which limits the number of calls a day -- to a cloud based system. The current system in place allowed for about 10,000 claims a month, and Korbulic says they now get that amount in a day.

"Basically what that will do is it will allow us to scale up in order to answer more calls. While that's happening we are actively hiring more staff."

Utilizing that along with the increase in staff which can assist with specific claims, Korbulic also hopes to streamline the unemployment process, paying out some benefits while still adhering to strict state and federal guidelines.

"How can we build in coding that allows us to authorize people where appropriate to get connected to the medium benefit, so we can adjudicate their claim more on the back end."

Korbulic says that one big hold up with the process has been contacting employers that have been closed, as that step needs to be taken before some benefits can be paid out. Although some employers have reached out to 2 News, and told us they have had trouble reaching back out to the DETR office.

On Wednesday, May 13th, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), implemented the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) to its unemployment insurance (UI) site (ui.nv.gov). PEUC is a temporary program that provides up to 13 weeks of 100% federally funded benefits to claimants who have exhausted their regular UI claim. PEUC is payable beginning back to the week ending April 4, 2020 and will end the week ending December 26, 2020.

“We have been working incessantly in order to provide PEUC and the other CARES Act provisions to Nevadans, and we continue to look at ways to improve our system to meet the ongoing demand,” said Korbulic. “We know this additional federal benefit will assist hard-working Nevadans who have lost their jobs, which is why we continue to work tirelessly to address the state’s unemployment benefit needs.”                                                                     

To be eligible for PEUC, claimants must: 

• Have received all of their regular UI benefit payments, with no ability to receive further regular UI benefits either because the benefit year has ended or because the claimant has been paid their full benefit amount;

• Have had a recent period of UI eligibility (a "benefit year"), which ended after July 1, 2019;

• Have no eligibility to establish a new benefit year.

PEUC is an extension of a claimant’s regular UI claim. If deemed eligible to file PEUC, claimants will receive the same weekly benefit amount as their regular UI claim. In addition to the weekly PEUC benefit amount, claimants will also receive the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation as a weekly $600 payment for weeks filed between April 4, 2020 through July 25,2020.  

Notification will be mailed to claimants advising of potential eligibility for PEUC benefits. Claimants will need to login to their unemployment account online. The PEUC filing process steps will differ depending of the status of the person’s regular UI claim. Claimants are encouraged to view the PEUC Frequently Asked Questions on detr.nv.gov/coronavirus for more instructions on how to file for their PEUC claim.

Filers are reminded to avoid the peak hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and file during non-peak hours, such as later in the evening, early morning and weekends. All filers, whether new or returning, are encouraged to record their log-in information in a safe location for later reference.  It is also encouraged that filers have their employer history updated and  on hand before undertaking the online filing process. Filing online is the most efficient and effective way to file or reactivate a UI claim.  If a claimant wishes to file over the telephone, claimants must contact the UI call centers from  8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at:  (775) 684-0350,  (702) 486-0350 or  (888) 890-8211 (for rural areas and out-of-state). Callers should be aware that wait times are high and there may be a delay in ability to file their claim. Once claimants reach the automated response, they should select option number four (4) for the 13-week extended benefits under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) claim.

For PEUC announcements, resources and updates claimants are encouraged to visit DETR’s COVID-19 webpage at: detr.nv.gov/coronavirus.