Hawaiʻi Launched New Unit To Adjudicate Unemployment Insurance Claims

DLIR Director Anne Eustaquio. Archive Photo Courtesy: Office of Gov. David Ige

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) has contracted with Maximus Inc. for 100 trained adjudicators to reduce the backlog of unemployment insurance claims that involve a higher level of expertise and knowledge to process.

Maximus Inc. also is operating a virtual call center for the department.

“Even during this COVID-19 pandemic most applicants received benefits or a monetary determination explaining why they were not eligible within three weeks of filing,” DLIR Director Anne Eustaquio said. “The backlog in eligibility decisions are largely related to whether the claimant quit or was fired or whether the claimant is immediately available for work.”

Adjudication is the investigation and resolution of eligibility issues raised. It is a manual process that requires interested parties be provided due process to respond to the eligibility issue. Eligibility issues arise from several places, including the initial claim, weekly claim and employer contact.

The adjudicators will call claimants and employers from an 808 number. Claimants and employers not answering calls have been problematic as some phone network services identify the calls as spam or telemarketers.

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