Katie Castellani
State House Newws Service
Customers kept on hold, delayed first benefit payments and mismanaged complaints – these are some of the issues the state auditor discovered in an audit of the Department of Unemployment Assistance that was released Monday. Meanwhile, unemployment assistance officials say they've made efforts to improve customers' experience and speed up benefit payments.
The audit of the DUA spanned July 22, 2022 through June 30, 2024 amid ongoing complaints about languishing unemployment claims and customers waiting a long time on hold with call center agents. The audit assessed call log data from August 2024 through August 2025 because DUA had deleted its call log data for the original audit period.
"When hardworking people lose their jobs, unemployment insurance becomes a lifeline that allows them to continue to pay bills while they search for a new job," Auditor Diana DiZoglio said. "When those benefit payments are delayed, job search resources are unavailable, and complaints are not tracked and prioritized appropriately, the system fails job seekers and taxpayers alike. We strongly urge the Department of Unemployment Assistance to take our audit findings and recommendations seriously to help ensure that the system is working in a more equitable and efficient manner that better serves residents navigating unemployment and financial uncertainty surrounding it."
DiZoglio's office found the agency "mismanaged" oversight of call center performance because there were no performance standards or oversight procedures to make sure customer calls received timely responses.
The audit found more than half, 52%, of DUA callers waited more than 30 minutes for a call center agent or automated voice prompt to respond. Also, 24% of callers waited an hour or more while 21% received a response within 5 minutes. The DUA's monthly call abandonment rate – the percentage of customers who hung up before reaching a live agent – ranged from 5% to 30% and customers waited an average of 34 minutes before abandoning their calls during the audit period.
In response to the auditor's findings, the DUA said it was transitioning to a new system during the audit period and that the agency has since increased staffing. Also, the agency said it provides "more than typical 'customer assistance'" calls, like when agents help customers complete tasks they may be unable or unwilling to do themselves.
The audit also showed the DUA failed to meet federal timeliness standards for providing claimants with their first benefit payments. The standards dictate that at least 87% of intrastate unemployment claims should be made within 14 days of the "week ending day of the first compensable week claimed" and at least 93% of all payments within 35 days of the same date, according to the audit. For interstate claims, at least 70% of first benefit payments should be made within 14 days of the "week ending day of the first compensable week claimed" and 78% of all payments should be made within 35 days of the same date.
The audit found DUA did not meet any of the intrastate standards in any month of the audit period. Also, the DUA only met the 70% standard for paying interstate unemployment insurance claims within 14 days in one of the 24 months audited. DUA met the standard for paying 78% of claims within 35 days in 19 out of the 24 months.
In its response to the audit, DUA said the "performance challenges" were attributable to a roughly $11.8 million decline in federal funding during the audit period. The agency also said it implemented a multi-month pilot in August 2025 to close the call center on Fridays and allow staff to process claims quicker, and that the DUA hired more workers to "improve processes that may impede timeliness." Additionally, the DUA said the federal timeliness standards referenced in the audit are "outdated and do not account for the complexity of processing unemployment claims in 2026."
The DUA pointed to improvements it has made since the audit. Specifically, the agency said it reduced call wait times from more than two hours in January 2025 to between 4 and 11 minutes. Also, the DUA said in the summer and fall of 2025, more than half of claims were processed within 30 days and by July 2026, almost 70% of claims were processed within 30 days.
"DUA is committed to improving customer experiences and ensuring eligible claimants receive benefits in a timely fashion," Matthew Kitsos, spokesperson for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, said in a statement.
The auditor's office said its review of the DUA's Constituent Services Unit during the audit period showed at least 33,000 email exchanges between the agency and legislators who had to contact the DUA on behalf of their constituents. And earlier this year, some lawmakers said they felt "flooded" by inquiries for help with benefits while labor officials say call wait times have dropped.
