Related: Slow Saturday Special: Unemployment Check in the e-Mail
Is that what they told you?
"Deadline nears for fixing unemployment system problems" by Megan Woolhouse and Beth Healy | Globe Staff, September 07, 2013
Two months after the launch of the state’s new unemployment benefits computer system, it remains plagued with problems, $6 million over initial estimates, and unable to make proper payments to hundreds of financially strapped workers hunting for jobs.
The company that built the system, Deloitte Consulting, has until the end of the month to fix the problems without penalty, under the $46 million contract. It’s unclear what remedies are available to the state if the system is still not working properly after that.
More like Toillete, and how about just cutting them a check like you do corporations?
Massachusetts officials declined to answer questions about the specific terms of the contract. But Michelle Amante, the state official in charge of overseeing Deloitte’s rollout, defended the system in an interview this week.
“We fundamentally believe the system is working,” said Amante, a former employee of Deloitte, a New York-based consulting firm. “When we pay out $40-$42 million [in claims] a week, the system is working.”
These state folk are so delusional and insensitive it makes one sick. 'course, SHE HAS A JOB!
It certainly doesn’t seem that way to the many jobless Massachusetts residents — from laid-off accountants to out-of-work school bus drivers — who have gone without some or all of their unemployment benefits since the system went into operation July 1. In some cases, they have been erroneously billed for thousands of dollars in alleged overpayments. One Lawrence man said he was mistakenly charged $45,339.
“I’m scared, especially with winter coming up,” said Brittney Reitano of Easton, whose benefits were inexplicably cut to $190 a week from $570. “I’m being penalized because the system doesn’t work.”
But the system is working fine says the state!
After she filed her weekly claim in July, Reitano said, the new system began garnishing her checks to cover back payments of nearly $2,000 it said she owed. Reitano estimated the system so far has mistakenly grabbed more than $4,000 from her benefits, but she can’t find a way to make the deductions stop.
WTF?
She spent 2 hours and 42 minutes on hold Tuesday afternoon in another vain attempt to reach someone who could resolve her problem.
Are you flippin' kidding?
Meanwhile, she is living on dwindling savings to pay her mortgage and help care for her elderly parents — with heating bills fast approaching.
Mine are gone, all of it. Retirement, savings, everything.
State labor officials said the problems are related to the conversion of data from the old system to the new, affecting a relatively small number of people. About 115,000 people have received benefits claims every week since the system launched July 1, officials said.
I'm really tired of LAME ASS EXCUSES from government.
To handle the flood of issues, the state extended the hours of call centers, increased overtime, and hired temporary workers. Before the system launched, call centers averaged about 25,000 calls a week; they averaged more than 29,000 in July, the month the system launched, and nearly 26,000 in August, according to the state.
A flood of complaints but a small number of people. What are they, all Jews?
Deloitte has also deployed additional workers to fix the system.
“There is no question this has been a complex and challenging project,” Deloitte said in a statement. “That is why we have invested considerable time and firm resources into making sure UI Online is a quality system that meets the needs of the Commonwealth and the people it serves.’’
You think that is what it is doing?
Helen O’Donnell of Harvard was laid off from an accounting job in December. After the new system was rolled out, she received 26 notices telling her she owed the state $10,000 — more benefits than she has received, she said.
You are better off NOT APPLYING like ME!
She has spent hours battling her way through the phone system, waiting on hold as long as 90 minutes, only to be disconnected before reaching someone. She said she finally received a payment this week — after calling elected officials and the governor’s office.
“I was worried about myself financially,” she said. “Some people are worried about their kids.”
State Senator Dan Wolf, a Harwich Democrat who cochairs the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, said it’s unclear whether the problems are temporary bugs that often accompany new software or something more serious. Either way, he said, the expectation is that Deloitte will fix the problems.
Question: why do AmeriKan companies produce such crap?
“There really should be no higher priority,” said Wolf, a candidate for governor. “We’re dealing with people who have lost their jobs and are out of work.’’
Ea$y to $ay!
Related: Patrick's Legacy and the Next Governor
Speak of the devil and he shall appear:
Jesse Mermell, a spokesman for Governor Deval Patrick, said the administration will ensure that Deloitte meets its contractual obligations. “While most claimants have accessed the new system without problems,” Mermell said, “those who have encountered an issue are rightfully frustrated, and so are we.”
The cost of the computer project has grown from $40 million in 2007 to $46 million, state officials said. The online system for filing unemployment claims is the second phase of a technology upgrade launched under former secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne Bump, who is now the state auditor.
For a piece of shit.
On her campaign website, Bump lists securing funding “to upgrade ancient and inadequate computer and telephone systems” of the unemployment agency as one of her accomplishments during her nearly three years leading the state labor department.
I would hate to $ee what failure looks like to these people.
But in an interview this week, Bump distanced herself from the contract, saying she had nothing to do with the latest rollout and played a relatively small role in the first phase, which got underway during her tenure and launched the month she left to run for state auditor.
It's called PA$$ING the BUCK. About the LAST PERSON you would want as an AUDITOR!
“I left in order to start a campaign for auditor. I didn’t keep up with what was going on there,” Bump said. “I was there to ensure that progress was made, that there was employer testing that was done before the launch, and then I left.”
Now you have something to audit, don't you?
That launch of the first phase, which brought the employer side of the system online, was also rocky as employers experienced problems accessing and using the online system. The state eventually waived fees and deferred interest on delayed unemployment insurance tax payments as a result of the glitches.
Bu$ine$$ got FEES WAIVED and they SENT the UNEMPLOYED BILLS!?!
Un-f***ing-believable!
Then again, STATE GOVERMENT WORKS for BU$INE$$, not you!
Deloitte took over the state contract in May 2009 after buying the public services practice of BearingPoint, the original contractor on the project, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier that year.
Amante, who is overseeing the system launch as director of the Department of Unemployment Assistance, began working for BearingPoint in 2005. From 2009 to 2010, then with Deloitte, she worked on the design of the state’s new unemployment benefits system, according to an interview and an “appearance of conflict of interest” disclosure form filed with the state.
Now we know WHOM to BLAME for this piece of $hit $y$tem.
Joanne Goldstein, appointed by the governor in 2010 to replace Bump as labor secretary, hired Amante from Deloitte as revenue director of the Department of Unemployment Assistance, promoted her to acting director of the department last year, and named her director in February.
“I have confidence Deloitte is getting no special treatment or breaks,” Goldstein said. “I have confidence in her ability to manage the [unemployment insurance] modernization process and keep Deloitte accountable.”
Can I go cash that for food?
Michael Krigsman, a software analyst and author of the blog “Beyond IT Failure,” said Amante’s role could present the appearance of a conflict of interest. While Amante may bring the benefits of knowing the system from the inside, Krigsman said, “it is hard to go back to your former colleagues and hold their feet to the fire.”
That's our system of government.
Amante said she did not work at Deloitte with anyone on the current Deloitte management team. About 20 other Deloitte staffers, she said, have remained on the project from her time at the company.
“I think that my background only benefits the state,” Amante said. “I’m able to watch out for things and take care of things in ways other people might not be able to.”
Yeah, your a real trooper.
Why did you design such a rotten piece of $hit in first place? I$ that why?
--more--"
Don't open that envelope!
"Man applies for jobless benefits, gets $45,339 bill" by Beth Healy | Globe Staff, August 24, 2013
Imagine Dennis Cutrona’s surprise when instead of receiving his first unemployment check this month, he got a bill from the state for $45,339.
The Lawrence man is one of as many as 300 out-of-work Massachusetts residents who are erroneously being told they owe thousands of dollars in overpayments because of what the state Department of Unemployment Assistance calls “data conversion issues” with its new computer system.
Cutrona, 56, who was laid off last month from his electronics assembly job, applied for unemployment benefits July 25 and expected to start receiving $258 a week. But his weekly payments were cut in half, to $129, with the rest withheld by the state to repay tens of thousands of dollars Cutrona says he did not receive.
I was told the economic recovery was here and we were adding jobs each month. WTF?
I'm starting to think this was DONE ON PURPOSE to SAVE this BANKRUPT STATE MONEY!
“I can’t even make my rent,’’ he said. “I had to go down and get food stamps. I’m just not getting anywhere” with state unemployment officials.
Which are being cut by the Congress.
It is the latest in a flood of complaints the Department of Unemployment Assistance has received about the agency’s new $46 million computer system, the second phase of which was launched July 1.
I was told by Goldstein it was just one person.
Last week, the Globe reported that many people were still struggling to file claims online and were frustrated by long waits on phone lines when they sought assistance.
But it is working.
State labor officials said at the time that they had added 80 workers, some of them temporary, to a staff of 150 to handle the high call volume. And Deloitte, the major accounting and consulting firm that created the system, had deployed 80 employees to help out.
But a week later, Cutrona and others say, some of the money they are entitled to is still being withheld. Cutrona said he has spent hours on the phone in a fruitless effort to sort out his claim.
Lauren Jones, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, declined to comment specifically on his case, citing confidentiality requirements. “But when issues are brought to our attention, we address them and rectify them,’’ she said in a statement.
Now quit bothering me, will ya'?
After the Globe’s inquiries on Friday, Cutrona said he received a call from a senior labor official who apologized for the error and promised to rectify it.
Last week, the Boston Herald reported on a man with a story similar to Cutrona’s — he was told he owed nearly $17,000 in overpaid unemployment benefits.
They scooped you, huh, Globe?
Jones said a claimant may receive an overpayment notice because of fraud, a staff error, or a technological issue. She said the department is reviewing between 100 and 300 notices to determine how many were sent in error. She said Deloitte would be accountable for any data problems.
Deloitte officials could not immediately be reached for comment late Friday afternoon.
The state said about 115,000 ongoing jobless claims and 5,000 new applications are successfully processed each week.
Yeah, you are all doing a great job.
--more--"
"Mass. online benefits claim service falling short; State’s service fails for many of jobless" by Megan Woolhouse | Globe Staff, August 19, 2013
More than six weeks after its launch, a new online system for filing state unemployment claims remains riddled with problems, leaving many jobless people unable to find technical assistance or get needed benefits.
In interviews and e-mails, frustrated claimants said they were unable to file claims through either the new online system or automated phone system linked to it. That frustration has been compounded by their inability to get through to help lines set up by the state. Many spoke of dialing and redialing in vain attempts to reach a human, spending long waits on hold only to be cut off and forced to reenter the queue.
But the system is working.
State officials acknowledge problems with the system, but insist those issues have affected a relatively small share of filers. Officials also acknowledge that callers are still spending an average of 40 minutes on hold.
I'm sorry, but it should not be ANY SHARE of FILERS!
Melissa Moore, a lawyer laid off in May from a Fall River fund-raising job, said that after several attempts to file for benefits online and by phone, she got so aggravated that she drove to the local unemployment office. When she was told no one would see her, she said, she broke down in tears....
Was it with kids today? Are they all zonked out on prescription pharmaceuticals? Don't kids get ANGRY, or has agenda-pushing Jewish-enforced political correctness taken its toll?
Joanne Goldstein, secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, said the system, overall, is “performing quite well. One person having a problem is one person too many. We’re trying to address issues as quickly as we can.”
F**k jou!
State labor officials said they have not tracked the number of complaints about the system, but the department has expanded hours at call centers and added 20 workers to handle the volume — on top of 150 regular full-time staff and 60 temporary workers, hired when the system was launched.
PFFFFFFT!
Then HOW DO THEY KNOW it is a SMALL NUMBER, hanh?!!!!!!!!
Another 80 employees of Deloitte, the New York accounting and consulting firm that built the system, are on site daily. Deloitte did not return phone calls requesting comment, but in an later e-mail said that questions about the service could be handled by state officials.
More pa$$ing the buck.
Dana Kern, an unemployed health care manager, is used to navigating complex bureaucratic systems. But, she said, she felt as if she was being held captive in a “penalization colony” as she encountered problems applying for benefits online. Getting through to a customer service representative, she said, was “impossible if you’re not really tenacious.”
But the system is working.
At one point, the phone system provided callers entering the queue with an approximate wait time for reaching a customer service representative, Kern said. Now, the system says all representatives are busy — and hangs up.
I'm about to hang up this post.
Getting laid off “was distressing enough,” Kern said. “When they’re holding your check, well, it’s really dreadful to think about what the impact is on people’s stability. At least I have a retirement account I can raid.”
I already raided mine.
The online system for filing unemployment claims is the second phase of a $46 million technology upgrade launched under Goldstein’s predecessor, Suzanne Bump, now the state auditor. Phase I, completed in 2009, was designed to allow employers to make unemployment insurance payments online, but it, too, had a rocky start as employers experienced similar problems accessing and using the online system.
The state eventually waived fees and deferred interest on delayed unemployment insurance tax payments as a result of the glitches.
I've already gone over that above.
Bump, through a spokesman, declined to comment.
The second phase was supposed to be completed in 2011, but was delayed. When the system was launched on July 1, jobless workers complained they were unable to access the website for several hours and got a busy signal if they called the phone numbers the state provided for assistance. State officials said the difficulties were resolved within hours, although an error message was posted on the website all day.
Diane Badger, a Baptist pastor from Fall River, said she was laid off from her job in April as a hospice chaplain and filed for benefits in May, but has yet to receive a check. She said she tried filing online unsuccessfully, and when she calls for help, she frequently gets a message that “all lines are busy” and gets cut off.
But the system is working.
In the meantime, she has been relying on a tiny stipend as a part-time pastor and the financial help of her adult daughters to get by. “I have been living on very little income,” Badger said. “Bills are piling up.”
How humiliating!
Other claimants, unable to get help online or on the phone, have gone to state unemployment offices looking for answers.
Put one girl in tears.
David Gadaire, executive director of CareerPoint, an unemployment and job training center in Holyoke, said the transition to the new system has been “very, very difficult.”
Although the problems have decreased, about a dozen people are still waiting to get unemployment checks after eight weeks, he said.
Oh, that's nothing -- unless you are one of those dozens of people.
The office facilitates about 150 to 200 claims a week.
“We’re starting to get out of the panic stage, Gadaire said.
At the Staniford Street unemployment office in Boston, Tanisha Tarrant, 36, of Chelsea, expressed frustration that she could not access the system from her home computer. “Why would I come all the way down here if I could do it at home?” she said. “It’s a mess.”
Moore, the unemployed lawyer in Fall River, said she continues to try to resolve her benefits issues by phone, but she said she had to increase her cellphone plan’s allotted minutes to cover the time she spends on hold.
So getting her unemployment is a benefit for the phone company, huh?
“If my bank or grocery store did this to me, I’d be panning them on Yelp and saying I’ll never do business with you again,” she said. “This system lacks human dignity.”
Because government s**ts do not want to interact with the public. They only want to interact with themselves and their elite ma$ters.
I hope my helping is helping.
--more--"
Hey at least banks and corporations are making record profits, so lighten up!
Related:
"The online insurance marketplaces — a key underpinning of the federal law — are supposed to serve as a one-stop shop for consumers to compare insurance plans, making the experience of purchasing insurance as simple as buying a plane ticket."
Or accessing the Massachusetts unemployment system. Can't get that or the voting machines right, but those bank ATMs are accurate down to the penny.
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Unemployment Check
Finally got it, huh?
