Vermont’s unemployment insurance claimant portal is once again experiencing technical difficulties, making it difficult for a portion of the state’s unemployed population to file for benefits by a Friday deadline.
According to a press release issued by Vermont’s Department of Labor on Wednesday, this week’s glitch is “a direct result of the significant age of the existing (unemployment) system,” which is more than 30 years old. State legislators appropriated $30 million to the department in 2022 to overhaul the system, but according to the release, the department has yet to secure a vendor for the task.
The snag impacts Vermonters attempting to file for weekly unemployment benefits for the week of Dec. 3 through Dec. 9. The deadline to apply for benefits for that week is this Friday, Dec. 15, at 4 p.m.
Labor Commissioner Mike Harrington told reporters at a press conference Wednesday morning that if the technical error is not rectified by Friday afternoon, the department will extend the deadline and provide retroactive pay and benefits as needed.
The system failure is impacting only a portion of the unemployed population, though the exact number is unclear. Harrington told reporters that the impacted group is roughly 10% to 20% of all claimants, which at any given time can range from 2,000 to 2,500 Vermonters.
“We are doing a review of the different accounts to see if we can get a better idea of exactly how many people are impacted,” Harrington said. “But it’s in the hundreds. It’s not the total population.”
In the meantime, Vermonters attempting to file for their unemployment benefits are turning to the department’s phone lines, Harrington said, and are facing sometimes hourslong hold times.
Vermont’s unemployment IT infrastructure has failed before. When the Covid-19 pandemic first struck Vermont in 2020 and thousands of Vermonters were suddenly laid off, the Department of Labor fell under intense scrutiny for large-scale system outages that led to a massive backlog and delays in distributing benefits.
And the Department of Labor is not the only state department facing large-scale IT issues caused by outdated systems. A recent investigation by VTDigger found that the state’s foster care IT system is so old that it predates the internet, which can make it hard to access critical health information about kids in state custody.
Earlier this year, Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer found that, of six audited IT projects undertaken by the state Agency of Digital Services, only one was completed on time and within budget.
“It’s just across the board,” Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday when asked what state systems need to be overhauled. “I mean, the shelf life of any IT system is not extended for a long period of time.”
