One man’s 121-day saga to get unemployment benefits in N.J. and it’s not over yet. - NJ.com

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Dave Mosca of Seaside Park knows exactly why he hasn’t received unemployment benefits since he filed 121 days ago.

Like thousands of others, his claim has been languishing, somewhere in the system, despite his efforts to get it corrected.

While the background of his claim is complicated, the fix is easy, he said.

He just needs a date changed on his application.

Mosca’s experience is emblematic of what thousands of workers have reported in the months since the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the state’s economy. Some workers who are without benefits have had seemingly straightforward cases while others have more complicated by cross-state claims and other issues.

But for all, the ability to get through to an agent who can fix their claims has been a challenge, if not impossible, workers say, and now the Labor Department’s handling of the crisis could be investigated under a bill in the state senate.

There just aren’t enough agents to meet the historic demand, workers say.

Mosca filed an unemployment claim on April 16, the day after he was furloughed from his sports marketing job. Soon enough, he lost his job permanently.

He didn’t know it at the time, but he still had an open unemployment claim in New York. He had collected benefits for 17 weeks in April 2019, and his claim remained open until April 19, 2020.

Workers can’t have open claims in two states. Had Mosca waited a few days to file his New Jersey claim, none of this would have happened.

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Mosca needed New Jersey to either change the date on his claim to April 20, 2020, or cancel the claim so he could refile with the correct date.

“The State of New Jersey is just keeping me in a state of limbo, being unable to file or receive any benefits,” said Mosca, 56. “How difficult could this be for the N.J. Department of Labor to change or cancel?”

Mosca said he’s luckier than some, able to tap savings to support himself and his 16-year-old daughter. But still, he feels he deserves the benefits he’s paid into for 30 years.

“The first time I try to claim a benefit back from the state, this is how I am treated?” he said.

Here’s the story he has documented.

April 15: Mosca was furloughed for 90 days.

April 16: Mosca filed for unemployment in New Jersey.

April 17: He received an email from the Labor Department, saying there were “Unresolved Issues On Your Claim.” Mosca responded with the requested information and emailed it back.

April 17: The system said his claim was “pending.” For the next month, he was unable to get an agent on the phone.

May 17: Mosca’s claim changed to “filed” but his benefit rate and balance were zero.

May 26: He received a letter saying he had a monetary appointment, but there was no date or time.

July 15: Mosca was laid off permanently.

June 17: Mosca got the call he was waiting for from a N.J. Labor agent, 63 days after filing his claim. This is when he learned he had an open claim in New York. The agent said he needed to contact New York’s labor department and call New Jersey back, he said. When he expressed concerns about getting through to New Jersey by phone, he said he was told to start calling at 7 a.m. to try to get in the queue. “The phone system does not start accepting calls until 8 a.m. and then on most days it immediately indicates that you need to call back on the next business day,” Mosca said.

June 19: Mosca got through to New York, which said he was blocked from getting benefits from either state because of a one-day overlap between his filing of the New Jersey claim and the expiration of the New York claim. The agent said Mosca needed to call New Jersey to change the date of his claim by one day or cancel the existing claim. He started calling New Jersey but was unsuccessful for weeks.

July 7: Mosca got through to New Jersey on the phone. “The employees who answer the phone don’t have the ability to make corrections or fix an issue with a claim,” he said. “All they do is escalate it to an unknown supervisor... or to a claims examiner, which then sends you to the back of the queue in getting action on your account.”

July 13: A claims examiner named Harry called from a blocked phone number. “He said he would help solve the problem and that he would call me back the following week,” Mosca said, but he never got a call and his claim status didn’t change.

Also in July: Mosca reached out to his state legislators. The response? “We understand your frustration, Mr. Mosca. Unfortunately, we can’t get through to the DOL either. They will send a claim inquiry to the Governor and the DOL Commissioner.”

July 24: Mosca asked New York to place a note in the unemployment system shared by the states so New Jersey could see he didn’t have an open claim. New York confirmed it added the note in the system.

Aug. 3: Mosca got through on the phone to New Jersey. “I was now told that there was no information in my file about the previous contacts and that they did not have my email address or phone number for New Jersey Department of Labor to reach back out to me. I was told to be patient as they are overwhelmed with issues like this.”

Aug. 14: Mosca spent the morning trying to get through to a representative. When he finally did around lunchtime, the representative advised they can only escalate the claim, but they could see the claim has already been escalated several times, he said. Mosca asked the rep to text their supervisor to see if anything could be done, and the supervisor said he “has to be more patient and understanding.” He asked the rep to tell the supervisor he’s been waiting since April. “Her response is to escalate it again and that I need to be more patient and understanding and that is all she can do for me.”

Aug. 15: Mosca is still waiting.

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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.

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One man’s 121-day saga to get unemployment benefits in N.J. and it’s not over yet. - NJ.com
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