Unemployment Benefits: 8 Possible Reasons Why Your Payment Is Late — And What To Do About It

You could call it a perfect storm.

President Donald Trump’s unconventional boost to weekly unemployment benefits by way of executive order has left state agencies scrambling to implement new systems that now involve working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Meanwhile, the most Americans since the Great Depression are currently relying on jobless benefits and it’s largely overwhelming the system, while more keep applying each week at a historically elevated pace.

What that’s resulted in for many Americans is weeks, if not longer, of late or delayed unemployment insurance (UI) payments.

“People who are waiting on these payments are people who are relying on meager state UI benefits,” says Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project who specializes in employment insurance. “They almost universally are being forced to make the choice between several terrible decisions, whether it’s getting a payday loan, putting money on credit cards, not paying rent, not buying medicine or not buying all the food they need. All of that is really scary.”

Here’s eight reasons why your weekly unemployment check might be delayed and what you can do about the problem.

Reasons why your payment might be delayed

1. Your state is overwhelmed with new jobless benefits applications

The most likely reason why you haven’t yet received your unemployment check is probably also the most frustrating: State unemployment agencies have been inundated with new filings and are hard-pressed to process them in a timely manner. This could be the underlying reason why you haven’t yet received your payment, whether you’re marked as approved or still pending.

It’s taking administrators a lot longer to verify your information, work history, earnings and reason for leaving — hoops and hurdles before your checks start coming. Many states are also using outdated systems and technology to process these claims. States are also having to keep existing payments flowing while still figuring out how to process new claims.

The coronavirus pandemic’s economic upheaval has been unprecedented. Nearly 6.9 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits during the week that ended on March 28, the highest on record and far eclipsing the previous surge of 695,000 in October of 1982. By the end of May, almost 1 in 4 U.S. workers would apply for weekly benefits and would hold in the millions for five straight months.

“When the pandemic and economic downturn hit six months ago, none of the state labor departments would have anticipated the more than 1000 percent increase in requests for unemployment insurance that they experienced,” says Mark Hamrick, Bankrate’s senior economic analyst and Washington bureau chief. “It has not only been the level of demand, but the persistence of it which has been remarkable.”

2. Your application might be flagged for what you listed as your reason for job loss

Applications for UI have never been the easiest to navigate. That goes for both filers and administrators.

Your application might be flagged for further verification if you have a unique reason for losing your job, particularly if it might sound like you quit your position voluntarily. An example of that, Evermore says, could be someone who’s recently been injured and had to quit their job operating heavy machinery. While it may appear like you’ve left voluntarily, there’s actually more to the story that requires additional verification.

“Any slightly more ambiguous answer to that question puts you in a category that gets extra review,” Evermore says. “And once the system says we can’t automatically approve this because there’s a flag, then it has to go to the adjudicator.”