Jobless claims and benefits next for employment department computer upgrade

(PORTLAND TRIBUNE) -- After two successful start-up phases, the Oregon Employment Department will soon proceed with the transition of unemployment benefit claims and payments to its upgraded computer system.

The transition will go live in March, following the 2022 transfer of employer payroll taxes to the unemployment insurance trust fund and the 2023 launch of employee and employer contributions — and payment of benefits — under the Paid Leave Oregon program.

Contributions to that fund began in January 2023 and the first benefit payments began in September. Those benefits can be used for medical or family leave, or in some instances for safety leave.

The payment of unemployment insurance benefits is the mainstay of Employment Department programs. Those benefits go back more than 80 years to the Great Depression and New Deal, when they were created. The current computer system used by the Oregon agency dates back to 1992 and relies on even older technology.

Testing and training on the new system, known as Frances Online — in honor of Frances Perkins, U.S. labor secretary under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the first woman to lead a federal Cabinet department — is continuing.

“We are excited that the new system will bring much needed improvements to the customer service experience,” Lindsi Leahy, director of the agency’s Unemployment Insurance Division, told reporters during an online briefing Dec. 20.

Read more at PortlandTribune.com

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