Unemployment Concerns

Najahe Sherman talks to Alabama Secretary of the Department of Labor, Fitzgerald Washington to discuss unemployment concerns.

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We are now joined by the secretary of the department of labor... fitzgerald washington.

Thank you for joining us.

We just watched breken's story about what happens if people refuse to go back to work or get called back.

Can you walk us through the whole process?

As people return to work - what are your plans in place to prevent fraud, or claims filed when they shouldn't be?

What should employers and employees know about that process?

Is it something you're concerned about?

We've heard from a lot of people who say their claims are taking weeks to go through.

What's your message to them?

Is there anything that can be done from home to speed up the process?

How overwhelmed is the system right now?

Are certain claims taking longer to process than others?

Which ones?

What happens if someone files for unemployment and then their employer gets funding through the paycheck protection plan?

How hard is that for you all to track?

Are you worried about people getting a paycheck and unemployment?

We've seen that you all have shifted around staffing - how is that working?

Are all needs still being met, even in the areas where employees were shifted from?

Have you all had to lay anyone off or furlough employees?

Thank you.

We're going to take a break now - but coming up how long it could take for the unemployment rate to recover after