Oklahoma City – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) continues to process unemployment claims and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) at an unprecedented volume while regularly screening systems for fraudulent claims.
“We paid more claims in the first three weeks of the pandemic than OESC did during all 12 months of 2019, and the agency has paid out over $432 million in the past six weeks,” said Secretary of Digital Transformation David Ostrowe. “With that volume there are bound to be individuals who try to game the system, but this is not impeding our ability to pay legitimate claims as quickly as possible.”
OESC, in partnership with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, has worked tirelessly to update the ageing infrastructure that has been stretched during the pandemic. OESC is working with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to investigate instances of identity fraud and suspicious claims that have been filed.
“I want to be clear, claims are being paid at an unheard of pace and our first priority is paying citizens who are due unemployment benefits,” Ostrowe elaborated. “It is extremely disheartening that during this period when we should all be pulling together to help one another, that some officials want to play partisan politics and take the focus away from the job we are here to do, which is help our fellow Oklahomans.”
Statistics on unemployment claims and PUA:
- OESC has paid 432,076 unemployment claims since March 15, 2020
- OESC has paid $432,998.341 in total benefits since March 15, 2020
- OESC has 63,589 claims still pending
OESC has paid $258,079,934 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation since March 15, 2020
I still cant even file my pua claim. Website constantly reads….email address invalid. I have been calling everyday for the past 3 weeks asking for a level 2 agent to return my call. No return call to date.
I give up trying to get assistance thru this government website. The web site continues to do a loop and I finally got to file a claim and on the final submit screen it disappeared and locked up! Oklahoma proud, what a joke. Keep your damn money, use it to fix your sorry ass roads!
How long fo I have to wait on level 2 person to call me back ? I have been waiting 4 weeks. Money is being deposited but card won’t activate. Card company says it’s an issue with my birthdate on original application.
I have been waiting since March 30th for a Level 2 person to call me. I’ve called each week requesting for level 2 to call me because I can not receive extended benefits until I speak with them first. As of this date May 21, I’ve not had a returned call! I think I’ve been pretty patient as I know they have been busy, but now with it going on 9 weeks since I’ve last received anything I’m getting a little impatient and angry! This is totally unacceptable and ridiculous BS!
I have been waiting on a level 2 person to call me back since April 29 and nothing. Now when I call them they tell me do to high volume of calls they can not take my call and to call back later. What are we suppose to do when this happens. I have gone 3 months without a check. They are starving Oklahoma.