In an ongoing commitment to enhance customer service during a time of historically high volume, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has launched a chat feature, or “chatbot,” on its website to answer customers’ unemployment questions.
Besides improving customer service, another goal of the chat feature is to direct customers to self-serve when possible. In its first 3 days of operation, the chat feature engaged with approximately 50,000 user interactions, freeing up time for agents to focus on claims that need intervention rather than answering frequently-asked questions.
Many of the inquiries NJDOL receives are for general information, such as:
- Am I eligible for benefits?
- How do I reset my pin?
- How do I check my claim status?
- What do I do to qualify for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)?, or
- How do I certify for weekly benefits?
Customers should not enter claim-specific information into the chatbot as there is a not a live agent on the other end.
The chatbot is just the latest enhancement the Department has made to service an unprecedented volume of unemployment claims. The improvements include technological upgrades and added personnel.
Here are a few:
- Designated hundreds of employees as essential, trained and temporarily reassigned them to work for the Unemployment Insurance division.
- Ordered hundreds of new laptops so more employees who must remain home for health reasons can work remotely.
- Improved our computer system’s capacity to allow it to accept thousands of claims per hour.
- Added more capacity to be able to process regular unemployment payments, along with the additional $600 supplement, and PUA claims.
Additionally, the Department is hiring 130+ new full-time staff and bringing dozens of retirees back to work.
NJDOL has received more than 1 million unemployment claims since mid-March, when COVID-19 hit the labor market hard. The department distributed $1.9 billion in income-supplementing benefits as of May 2 to the more than 700,000 collecting benefits.
For more information or to use this new tool, please visit MyUnemployment.nj.gov.
We continue to urge customers to also read the helpful guides and information at MyUnemployment.nj.gov.
5 responses to “DOL Online Chat Feature Answers Customers’ Unemployment Questions”
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I am self employed and stopped working on 3/21 ~ however, the week leading up to 3/21 was a very light week due to CV ~ I applied for UI on 3/29 and the system keeps saying that I would start collecting on 4/4 ~ Haven’t seen $600 yet and no stimulus ~ please advise.
with you joe,
same time frame, same thing self employed nothing! all bs nj was the worst before this now just a little deeper in the sewer!
If i was reduced by 8 hours per week and the remainder of my pay reduces my unemployment benefit amount down to $0, would I at least qualify for the $600 from the government?
I have sent in 2 emails since I initially applied for unemployment. I am self employed and I had to close my brick and mortar store and lost my income. I applied but still do not have any responses regarding my status and no letter in the mail either. I know they are really busy and I am patient like they asked but does anyone know if they let you know anything?
I have sent two emails, as well as call every day at least twenty times per, and yet no response. I applied 4/19 and shortly after that received an email from E-Adjudication. I completed the form, was told completed. Following day when checking my status I saw it was filed, but $0 in account $0 weekly benefit. I received emails explaining how to certify for benefits, I tried but was bounced off system. I tried the following week and got to certify. I’ve certified now three weeks and still $0/$0. I received a BOA card in the mail even though I filled out the direct deposit information. I activated card. No $. I check every day, several times, and no $. I don’t know what else to do. I call every day as I stated but can’t get through to anyone. ‘Call back tomorrow.’ Not at all helpful. I don’t know what we are supposed to do. I can’t get through to anyone. I’ve followed all the directions as stated, and still NOTHING! Now if they could also give me directions on how to buy food, pay rent and bills, that would be something…but nothing.