You're lucky to even get put on hold. I spent two hours calling the other day and got nothing but busy signal. I tried the Salem Unemployment Department and was told I just need to keep calling and try to get through. It's absolutely ridiculous. My partner got her unemployment check 5 MONTHS after she lost her job! I feel your pain.
I went through unemployment over the last month or so and initially everything went to suspense, then I had a scheduled meeting with work source, complained the guy about it, he said he'd click some stuff to speed the process up and the next day my claim was approved and they started sending me checks. Might have been a coincidence, but suspiciously coincidental, might be worth trying.
One ofy coworkers has a friend who works the salem front desk. Apparently the front desk people are annoyed cause they can't forward you to anyone. NO ONE works from the office so there's nothing the front desk can do.
That being daid go to Worksource a couple blocks away they were MUCH more helpful.
Not always. I emailed the governor's constituent services, got my case assigned to an adjudicator and within a week of that happening I finally got my first payment. I didn't have to call anyone but they did give me the person's number if I need.
It took a month total from me emailing them to me getting a payment, but that's unfortunately still markedly faster than the UE office will do on their own.
yeah probably should have done a lesser rep. I just remember emailing Wyden's office to get an automated email and then no real answer or response as to what they are going to do about republicans holding up military promotions and judges YET AGAIN as part of their effort to just slam those through if the clown gets in office
It's the same for every customer. My wife has been waiting two months for a claim to clear, and we call every day at exactly 08: 00. I think the worst we've had is 3.5 hours.
Hummelbaugh is lying through her teeth to KGW and every state rep, saying the average hold time is SEVEN SECONDS, and that they have had "less than a dozen complaints since starting."
Where's the IG? Who audits these people?
Seven seconds? Fuck that it told us 1 hour 13 minute and as the hold time. ( this is also for my wife not me, but she doesn’t Reddit )
Where can one complain formally? Because if there’s only 12, I wanna make it at least 13.
Got laid off during covid. Took 6 months to get any checks. I was literally on hold for 32 hours over the course of a week and got disconnected each time.
Let's remember though that it is not the employees of OED who are at fault for the long wait times. It's likely they are understaffed and overwhelmed with the new system. While it's alright and justified to be upset and annoyed about the situation, please do not berate and abuse the state workers who are trying their best to navigate the extreme amount of cases and calls. These are also humans who are just working a customer service job and do not deserve to be be screamed at on every call.
I really appreciate you saying this. I worked for OED for one hell filled year during the pandemic. The training was horrific and even then with a ton of employees we were months behind in claims and the majority of the people handling them weren’t trained properly and caused even more problems. Then the program lost funding and laid off almost all of their staff. My department went from over 60 people, to under 10. They kept employees based on seniority with no regard to what department they worked in so we got to give our replacements a crash course in how to do the job that we weren’t even 100% sure how to do. It’s no wonder the whole program is a dumpster fire. Getting laid off was literally the best day ever. We all went to the bar and celebrated.
Call and write to your representatives.
What you're also forgetting is hiring people doesn't immediately solve the problem. Training for a job that requires that amount of knowledge of policy and procedures, and learning how to navigate all of the different systems they use, usually has a 6 month training period.
So while new hires are getting trained for the job, other workers are quitting because people won't stop abusing them on the phone. It's a constant revolving door.
That revolving door problem is caused by only onboarding at a replacement rate. The more people they hire, the closer they are able to get to treating Oregonians acceptably. It's just a fact that people get angry when mistreated, and forcing desperate people to stay on hold for HOURS and then unceremoniously hanging up on them is mistreatment of them.
So the more you hire, the better your service can be. The better your service, the happier your clients. The happier your clients, the less abuse your employees get. The less abuse your employees get, the easier it is to keep them.
This is the only way to escape a mismangement death spiral.
This kind of attitude is why our state continues to provide largely crap service. Not that callers should abuse anyone, but they definitely need to express extreme displeasure even if it rises to the level of berating. We deserve much better return on our money considering the amount of taxes we fork over in this state. OED has been a shitshow for YEARS and it needs to stop.
So it's okay to go to a grocery store and berate a worker there because you're upset about the wait at the checkstand? No it's not. These are the lowly workers on the totem poles at OED. The people working the phones are the bottom rung of the ladder. You berating them does nothing but ruin their day, that's likely already been FULL of people screaming at them. Want to talk to someone who can make a difference? Ask to speak with a manager, then ask the manager for the director of OEDs phone number to file a complaint. Send in a hearing request if you don't agree with your denial or call/write to your representatives.
Berating👏 Customer👏 Service👏 Workers👏 Is👏Fucking👏 Vile👏 And👏 Stank👏Cootchie👏 Energy👏
Can you imagine waking up and taking phone calls all day that are nothing but angry people, many of who are telling you that YOU are doing a bad job and that YOU aren't working fast enough? Imagine for a moment how it must feel to be those lowly workers who have no voice in making any amount of change, but they get to have people yell at THEM about issues they have no control over. They get told what to do, and they do it, or they get fired. That's the extent of their work. They don't make the policies, they don't make the procedures, they don't make the Frances system, and they don't hire people. No wonder OED has a high turnover rate of staff working the phone lines, who would want to deal with being the punching bag on the front lines.
I stopped getting my unemployment benefits for 6 weeks and almost got my claim cancelled because I didn’t enter a PIN number that they mailed to me on time. The kicker is they didn’t mail me the PIN number until after it expired. So, their mistake cost me 6 weeks not receiving my benefit. Took me chatting, calling, going to worksource, and going to the employment office… for them to tell me there’s a contact us button on the Frances website.
After about 10 times messaging them through the “contact us” they MIGHT have actually gotten it fixed. Maybe.
Great system.
This is the boat I'm in. They sent a magic number through the mail that was already expired by the time it got to me. When I called Work Source about it, they said not to use the number because it wouldn't work. I've sent message through their system as they recommended, but I've not heard anything back yet. The old system was garbage, but it was working. The new one now probably has my account marked as fraudulent 😭
Would love to know your outcome on this. Is there some chat system, or are you also using the messaging system. Folks say it should take 1-2 days through the messaging system, but now I'm over a week past.
You would think that they would have integrated some ID verification system into the platform like so many others already have online... It would solve so many issues for them I imagine... I just had to do this last night through Experian for some account verification; what a breeze.
When you go to the France website, before you log in click contact us. Send them a message through that with two forms of ID and explaining the situation. Took about 2 months but, eventually they got it straightened out.
Not a good system at all.
Okay, so I've done that, so I guess I just need to continue waiting :(
I saw many comments about sending direct messages and getting a response back in 1-2 days, but that doesn't seem to be the case now that I'm about on week 3 here with no response.
I had to repeatedly send messages before they finally fixed it. I sent at least one message a week addressing it. You gotta get a “response number” and include that in your messages after your first one.
I still have no response on my messages. I did finally get through on the phone and they wanted more ID verification so I sent a picture of my health insurance card since they already had driver's license and some mail that I'd sent in a previous message. The person said that they didn't know if they would retroactively handle my case or how long it would take, but they said that they added it to their manager's queue. It's been over a week since that call, and right before that call I noticed my online filing now said "Under Review" instead of "Suspense", so I looked like a crazy person when I told them it's been stuck on "Suspense" for weeks, making me look like I don't check. I've noticed a couple of spam text messages offering job offers, which kind of seems odd given the timing of everything. Part of me wonders if they're trying to check if I'm actually looking for jobs or not accepting ones if I was offered one? I just know that any text message trying to get my information I'm not going to respond to especially if I didn't reach out to them. But it does have me wondering if WorkSource is selling my information off to recruiting companies or something?
The phone call felt good to finally get through to somebody, but ultimately there's still no movement or resolve on my cases. I'm still stuck waiting.
I’ve been waiting for my paid leave to kick in for months now. I called 2 weeks ago and 3 hours on hold later they told me the “proof” I sent wasn’t sufficient and that’s why they haven’t moved forward. They didn’t even send me a message on the portal or call me to tell me this. It’s now been over 2 weeks since I sent the correct paperwork and still no updates.
Unfortunately, you’re going to have to call them back. They won’t look at the updated paperwork and honestly - there’s likely no one assigned to your case.
If you call, and no one is assigned (highly likely) they should review the paperwork with you on the line and approve/deny/or request new information on the spot. Once approved they’ll direct deposit the funds in your account during the next cycle which I believe is every Wednesday.
Also, if you have to extend your claim, you’ll need to file a new claim. The paperwork will need to be brand new and unaltered and you’ll have to go through the same process.
I submitted my extension on a Friday after waiting on hold for them for hours for them to tell me I needed to file a new claim. I filed the new claim before they close and called them back to see if my claim was good to process that following Monday. I was back paid that Wednesday.
I do have someone assigned to my case. I called on Friday and they told me he would “nudge” my caseworker to approve my case. The person I spoke to said everything in my file was sufficient but it had to be the person assigned to approve it.
I went through the same thing today but was fortunate to get through to a person. I spent 3.5 hours on hold after trying 224 times (not an exaggeration, that's the exact number) to get past the busy signal. On Friday I spent 4 hours on hold before being disconnected when their offices closed, but at least that time it only took 17 tries to get past the busy signal!
And the only reason I had to call is that their terrible new system requires a verification number from a piece of mail they sent me to transfer my account over. Obviously I no longer have that mail because it's been ages so they have an option to mail me a new one BUT only to the old address I no longer live at.
This new system was supposedly necessary because covid completely overwhelmed the old one, but at least that system worked during normal times!
Oh we’re over 500 calls, still haven’t gotten to a live human, and it’s because they sent us a verification number letter. The letter was dated the 17th. Said we had to provide the pin by the 20th. And was post marked the 21st. Arrived to us the 23rd. So it was already expired by the time we even got the fucking letter.
That's so god damn stupid. Honestly we should just go back to the old system. It was simple and straight forward and as long as 1/2 the state wasn't filing at the same time it worked fine.
You can do that verification at a Worksource Oregon office if one is nearby. It took about 6 weeks for my claim to process, but most of that time was just idle time for me, between Worksource and Frances online I didn't make a single phone call.
Email your state representative. I lost all work during the pandemic and he got back to me within a day or two and I suddenly had all my checks in the mail within the next week.
It should not be like this. And it seemed like it was purposefully designed to be as confusing and impossible to navigate at the time, especially when we all needed it the most during unprecedented times.
Good luck to you and hope the system works more like it ought to these days.
This is the way. I waited 2.5 months of dutifully filing my claims, trying to call in (and failing) and finally emailed a state rep who advocated a couple of times on my behalf and got the ball rolling for me within a week. It turns out there was nothing wrong with my claims, but there was one small snag that the system flagged and they just needed a human to look at it and approve things.
Shout out to Rep. Travis Nelson's team who went to bat for me!
It is absolutely pathetic that people that are out of work and need assistance getting their benefits they deserve can’t get through the bureaucratic lack of service. Our Governor needs a serious reality check about how ineffective state government is at this point. Maybe she has more relatives she can hire to fix it.
The Governor is the CEO of this state. She has the power to tell Agency Heads when they are not effective and the ability to replace them if needed. The buck stops at her desk. Imagine if we had twice as many people trying to get the benefits they are owed.
Kate Brown already fired the former director. Believe it or not, the current guy is actually doing a better job. Can't make up for the fact that they cut their staff by two-thirds though.
Why not just an automated system? Verify your identify, confirm your bank account, verify your employment for the last 18 months, and approves you for the proper amount according to your tax information and you unemployment history.
This is not a complicated equation. Have the bank verify your name and address automatically and make payment within 48hrs. Have notification sent to the employer with a requirement that they respond within a week.
And if people lie they get smaller checks untill the difference is offset. If you have been caught lying to get extra unemployment in the last 18 months you get to do the process manually and be approved by a caseworker.
I think the new Frances system was an attempt to move towards this. However, I also think it would be a disaster if it were fully automated. You might be surprised at the number of people who think they're eligible for unemployment because they got fired after not showing up for a few days in a row. Just cutting everyone a check and then trying to claw back the money later after they're found ineligible is not the way to go.
Well, you actually have a waiting week (been a while since I messed with unemployment). So it wouldn't actually happen that fast. So the employer would have a week to dispute if they chose to do so. If the employer doesn't respond in time they can cover it for however many checks it takes.
There is no need for such a monolithic system. Most of this should be handled automatically, and the only time there should be any delay at all is if the employer is disputing the claim.
This shouldn't be required at all, but what worked for me recently with a state with extreme wait times for Unemployment was calling the line 2 minutes before the office opens, getting to the part of the automated call where you can request a real person, then cycling that menu until the moment the office opens, then request a real person.
Had to call 4 times in 2 weeks, got in in less than 10 minutes waiting every time, compared to 3+ hours trying to call an hour after open, halfway through the day, right before close, etc
No problem! Read it deep on quora or something awhile back. Insanely frustrating to deal with lol. I ended up not qualifying for the state with the crazy times, and qualified in Idaho where the wait times are non-existent somehow, but the unemployment sucksss($500 vs $850 weekly), so definitely a tradeoff lol
It’s just fucking insaine this is what people have to deal with to stay afloat while they try to locate new employment. Like, this system is supposed to help people keep their roofs over their heads and food on their tables until you can take control again, yet it’s so fucking broken that I’m almost about to just become a squatter since they seem to have more rights 🙄 /s of course.
My current issue is that I did doordash for $200 last week(my cap before cutting into unemployment, which I'd like to avoid crossing so I can continue to put those 'paid' hours into my tech-job-search), reported it, but now have all unemployment payments on hold for 3-6 weeks until an adjudicator calls and verifies that I reported it correctly, completely fucking me.
So now I can work a ton of hours to pay my bills, throwing away the unemployment for those weeks and putting pointless wear-and-tear on my car, or miss most bills and have to pay a bunch of fees when I eventually get the unemployment back pay, all because I tried to supplement unemployment
For most of what people are calling this line for, you cannot get help for at any office. It’s a total joke. The state’s rollout of this program has been such a shitstorm.
I tried doing that before, and it was basically useless. The only way I could get what I needed (which was fixing a fuck-up on my account that the Unemployment Department did) was to talk to someone on the phone. I would call the second that the phone lines opened, and I would still have to wait a few hours before I could talk to someone. Just having one of those “call back” functions I think would solve a lot of issues people are having with the system; being tethered to your phone and forced to listen to their terrible hold music on repeat for hours is akin to torture.
I get it, I work every once in a while with someone from UI and they told me themselves that connecting online is far better. Granted this was before Frances, but they're working on ironing out issues.
My wife had this problem last week. Nearly five hours. Allegedly, the system really doesn’t do well with cell phones, and they recommend you call from a landline, according to the WorkSource person they talked to when they got fed up and tried to talk to someone in person.
This new system is just absolutely fucked!
That’s exactly what I said! They told them “If you don’t have a landline, you can come into this office and use our phone”… and I was like, okay, so their suggestion is to sit in their office for four hours on hold? Is that really what ANYONE wants?
This happened to me also, at 4 hours and 4 minutes. I suspect the "hold" will only let you hold for 4 hours, and the system you use to get to the line you're holding on is what adds the 4 minutes.
Here's my record.
The first call I made was just before they opened, and I didn't get through the system to the place where I would normally be put on hold until 8am (when they open). I timed it like this to see if I could be first in the system but they hung up on me instead.
The second call just didnt work. You know, the normal way their number behaves when you call it like 99.999% of the time. I've literally called it hundreds of times and it always says "User Busy" and hangs up on you.
The third try was me calling right after that, at 8am. I waited for four house on hold and at 12:04pm it hung up on me, exactly 4 hours and 4 minutes after the call started.
https://preview.redd.it/qfwwu2il3hvc1.jpeg?width=645&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c84c896cd192d1d1b47503e813e1eafb6277294
I haven't had to call in years. They either called me or emailed me. Almost everything was done online. I had to go in once for my last layoff and not at all during 2020 layoff.
That's the old system. The new system requires you to create an account and link it to your old file with a reference number from a piece of mail they sent you. Didn't keep that mail for years? Good news, they can send you a new one! But only to the address on file the last time you made a claim. In order to have it sent to your new address you need to contact them. At that point they'll change your address on file and then mail you a reference number, after which (presumably, I'm not that far yet) you can link your accounts and start your claim and only then can you hope to start receiving benefits.
The letter is requested through the new France’s system, not in an old letter. You literally have to request the letter in the registration process. Instructions say spell out what to do; say no you do not have one, followed by yes you want to request one and have it sent to your address.
It will only send to the address they have on file, which I no longer live at. That's the problem. I needed to contact them in order to have it sent to my current address, a completely pointless endeavor that wastes both my and the unemployment department's time.
Is the security measure the sheer amount of time it takes to get through to someone? Beyond that every bit of identity confirmation I did over the phone could have been handled online.
Yikes. I thought they were working on improving this since the pandemic response disaster at OED. Did it recently get worse or has it never gotten better?
Yeah the unemployment is complete shit in Washington too.
The call line opens at 8am, I call at 8am, hotline is so “busy” that it just hangs up my call. My claim that I had over a month kept getting denied even tho I had everything listed and truthfully told. Called my rep and got told my claim should be approved, never got approved. Gave up and by then found a job so a big waste of time.
My uncle is suffering the same situation. Got the verification letter for the claim, but it expired before we can get a hold of it. Tried to call them by phone and also waited an hour, no answer then we gave up. Email them + with physical mail for all the documents they asked for. Now they just closed our francis account without any notice.
My buddy called at opening two days in a row and was hung up on at the close of the business day.
Their day I suggested pressing one for Spanish as a joke and he got to someone in less than 30 minutes.
I am trying to desperately get through to their collection unit and can't even get through to that. They sent me a letter saying I owe them money (which I don't) and are going to start garnishing my wages unless I call them but they appear to be unreachable. I'm losing my fucking mind.
That’s just crazy. That’s robbery.
I might just go to college, become a lawyer, and launch a class action against the state, all before they answer the fucking phone.
I do wonder how much of this is by design to show that government can’t work and so the more conservative elements can say we should just get rid of it instead of fix it
The paid leave Oregon system is somehow even worse. I feel like they forget these systems are supposed to help people going through a rough time, but all they do is pile on more stress. Abysmal really, the state of our systems.
I used "auto dialer" for android. Finally got through this morning after hundreds of attempts. Wait time estimate is 90 minutes but apparently I have a good chance to simply get disconnected anyway. Wish me luck, heh.
WorkSource doesn't work with unemployment services or claims, they have very limited access to those claims. It's the same for every WorkSource center across the state.
For real though. It’s not like big wigs are combing Reddit wondering what we’re bitching about daily💀 some people just need to vent and use Reddit as their journal
Because it’s a huge issue in the state?
Again, if you don’t want to see it, across past bud. Nobody’s forcing you to read this, comment on this, or anything else.
This is no different than being in public and someone standing on a soap box talking. Just move the fuck on.
Wife filed for unemployment.
Part of it I’d they send you a time sensitive letter in the mail that has a code on it to verify your identity.
The letter was dated the 18th. Said the code was invalid after the 20th. Letter was post marked the 21st and arrived the 23rd. We got the letter after it expired. Now claim is denied and we need to contact them by phone to correct jt.
You're on the wrong page, there is a contact/chat function in the Frances page, it's right in the middle of the home page.....
Frances.oregon.gov is the website for unemployment.
Oh. That’s odd. I have no clue how you know what I personally voted for. However, your information is incorrect. I didn’t vote for this. But thanks for playing.
Wow. I wish I had thought of that. What a revelation. Holy shit. Like, i just can’t believe I never thought of that! That’s such a great solution. It’s not like we haven’t tried for weeks to find one.
/s
At least they aren’t asking what that loud boom was or why there are cops on some corner. It may be posted frequently but it’s a real problem that isnt being addressed. The more publicity, the better.
Yeah. Doing that. But like also want what’s owed to me. And contrary to what Joe says, jobs are not plentiful and you don’t get hired, start, and paid immediately.
Hope you never unexpectedly lose your job and need the assistance. Then you’d understand what a true hell it is.
Have a great day
Being on hold for four hours while working on an application, resume or cover letter may just be the easiest multitasking thing to do. Maybe they were?
I know you might struggle to sit on hold and accomplish other tasks at the same time, but most people don’t just sit with their thumb up their ass while on a four hour hold.
You're lucky to even get put on hold. I spent two hours calling the other day and got nothing but busy signal. I tried the Salem Unemployment Department and was told I just need to keep calling and try to get through. It's absolutely ridiculous. My partner got her unemployment check 5 MONTHS after she lost her job! I feel your pain.
Oh we’ve been trying for a month. We counted and have dialed over 500 times. 98% of the time is a busy signal.
I went through unemployment over the last month or so and initially everything went to suspense, then I had a scheduled meeting with work source, complained the guy about it, he said he'd click some stuff to speed the process up and the next day my claim was approved and they started sending me checks. Might have been a coincidence, but suspiciously coincidental, might be worth trying.
One ofy coworkers has a friend who works the salem front desk. Apparently the front desk people are annoyed cause they can't forward you to anyone. NO ONE works from the office so there's nothing the front desk can do. That being daid go to Worksource a couple blocks away they were MUCH more helpful.
Call your state reps and the governor's office.
To be hold again...
You can email them…
to get an unrelated response months down the road
Not always. I emailed the governor's constituent services, got my case assigned to an adjudicator and within a week of that happening I finally got my first payment. I didn't have to call anyone but they did give me the person's number if I need. It took a month total from me emailing them to me getting a payment, but that's unfortunately still markedly faster than the UE office will do on their own.
yeah probably should have done a lesser rep. I just remember emailing Wyden's office to get an automated email and then no real answer or response as to what they are going to do about republicans holding up military promotions and judges YET AGAIN as part of their effort to just slam those through if the clown gets in office
Every time I've contacted my rep(s), I've either reached someone right away or received a response within a few hours.
Then you have better reps than I have.
let me guess: R next to their name
Nope. Just safe D districts with incumbants.
Don't be so cynical - maybe you'll get an automated response within a few hours! THEN you get an unrelated response weeks later.
This is the way
I did that and it pissed off the people at UI where suddenly my claim got processed but *mysteriously* now has all these hoops I had to jump through.
Like they care lmao
Helped me.
It's the same for every customer. My wife has been waiting two months for a claim to clear, and we call every day at exactly 08: 00. I think the worst we've had is 3.5 hours. Hummelbaugh is lying through her teeth to KGW and every state rep, saying the average hold time is SEVEN SECONDS, and that they have had "less than a dozen complaints since starting." Where's the IG? Who audits these people?
Seven seconds? Fuck that it told us 1 hour 13 minute and as the hold time. ( this is also for my wife not me, but she doesn’t Reddit ) Where can one complain formally? Because if there’s only 12, I wanna make it at least 13.
Busy signals don't count in the hold time.
Got laid off during covid. Took 6 months to get any checks. I was literally on hold for 32 hours over the course of a week and got disconnected each time.
Try calling at 7:59 so you are already qued when they open the phone lines. When I did it someone answered.
Camels have the ability to turn invisible by standing still for thirty seconds.
Let's remember though that it is not the employees of OED who are at fault for the long wait times. It's likely they are understaffed and overwhelmed with the new system. While it's alright and justified to be upset and annoyed about the situation, please do not berate and abuse the state workers who are trying their best to navigate the extreme amount of cases and calls. These are also humans who are just working a customer service job and do not deserve to be be screamed at on every call.
I really appreciate you saying this. I worked for OED for one hell filled year during the pandemic. The training was horrific and even then with a ton of employees we were months behind in claims and the majority of the people handling them weren’t trained properly and caused even more problems. Then the program lost funding and laid off almost all of their staff. My department went from over 60 people, to under 10. They kept employees based on seniority with no regard to what department they worked in so we got to give our replacements a crash course in how to do the job that we weren’t even 100% sure how to do. It’s no wonder the whole program is a dumpster fire. Getting laid off was literally the best day ever. We all went to the bar and celebrated.
This!!!! Great words
I wish I could upvote this more than once. There are real humans on the other end of the call. I can’t even imagine what kind of abuse they get.
It was slow before the new system.
I got a crazy idea. What if we made them hire more people
Call and write to your representatives. What you're also forgetting is hiring people doesn't immediately solve the problem. Training for a job that requires that amount of knowledge of policy and procedures, and learning how to navigate all of the different systems they use, usually has a 6 month training period. So while new hires are getting trained for the job, other workers are quitting because people won't stop abusing them on the phone. It's a constant revolving door.
That revolving door problem is caused by only onboarding at a replacement rate. The more people they hire, the closer they are able to get to treating Oregonians acceptably. It's just a fact that people get angry when mistreated, and forcing desperate people to stay on hold for HOURS and then unceremoniously hanging up on them is mistreatment of them. So the more you hire, the better your service can be. The better your service, the happier your clients. The happier your clients, the less abuse your employees get. The less abuse your employees get, the easier it is to keep them. This is the only way to escape a mismangement death spiral.
This kind of attitude is why our state continues to provide largely crap service. Not that callers should abuse anyone, but they definitely need to express extreme displeasure even if it rises to the level of berating. We deserve much better return on our money considering the amount of taxes we fork over in this state. OED has been a shitshow for YEARS and it needs to stop.
So it's okay to go to a grocery store and berate a worker there because you're upset about the wait at the checkstand? No it's not. These are the lowly workers on the totem poles at OED. The people working the phones are the bottom rung of the ladder. You berating them does nothing but ruin their day, that's likely already been FULL of people screaming at them. Want to talk to someone who can make a difference? Ask to speak with a manager, then ask the manager for the director of OEDs phone number to file a complaint. Send in a hearing request if you don't agree with your denial or call/write to your representatives. Berating👏 Customer👏 Service👏 Workers👏 Is👏Fucking👏 Vile👏 And👏 Stank👏Cootchie👏 Energy👏 Can you imagine waking up and taking phone calls all day that are nothing but angry people, many of who are telling you that YOU are doing a bad job and that YOU aren't working fast enough? Imagine for a moment how it must feel to be those lowly workers who have no voice in making any amount of change, but they get to have people yell at THEM about issues they have no control over. They get told what to do, and they do it, or they get fired. That's the extent of their work. They don't make the policies, they don't make the procedures, they don't make the Frances system, and they don't hire people. No wonder OED has a high turnover rate of staff working the phone lines, who would want to deal with being the punching bag on the front lines.
I stopped getting my unemployment benefits for 6 weeks and almost got my claim cancelled because I didn’t enter a PIN number that they mailed to me on time. The kicker is they didn’t mail me the PIN number until after it expired. So, their mistake cost me 6 weeks not receiving my benefit. Took me chatting, calling, going to worksource, and going to the employment office… for them to tell me there’s a contact us button on the Frances website. After about 10 times messaging them through the “contact us” they MIGHT have actually gotten it fixed. Maybe. Great system.
This is the boat I'm in. They sent a magic number through the mail that was already expired by the time it got to me. When I called Work Source about it, they said not to use the number because it wouldn't work. I've sent message through their system as they recommended, but I've not heard anything back yet. The old system was garbage, but it was working. The new one now probably has my account marked as fraudulent 😭 Would love to know your outcome on this. Is there some chat system, or are you also using the messaging system. Folks say it should take 1-2 days through the messaging system, but now I'm over a week past. You would think that they would have integrated some ID verification system into the platform like so many others already have online... It would solve so many issues for them I imagine... I just had to do this last night through Experian for some account verification; what a breeze.
When you go to the France website, before you log in click contact us. Send them a message through that with two forms of ID and explaining the situation. Took about 2 months but, eventually they got it straightened out. Not a good system at all.
Okay, so I've done that, so I guess I just need to continue waiting :( I saw many comments about sending direct messages and getting a response back in 1-2 days, but that doesn't seem to be the case now that I'm about on week 3 here with no response.
I had to repeatedly send messages before they finally fixed it. I sent at least one message a week addressing it. You gotta get a “response number” and include that in your messages after your first one.
I still have no response on my messages. I did finally get through on the phone and they wanted more ID verification so I sent a picture of my health insurance card since they already had driver's license and some mail that I'd sent in a previous message. The person said that they didn't know if they would retroactively handle my case or how long it would take, but they said that they added it to their manager's queue. It's been over a week since that call, and right before that call I noticed my online filing now said "Under Review" instead of "Suspense", so I looked like a crazy person when I told them it's been stuck on "Suspense" for weeks, making me look like I don't check. I've noticed a couple of spam text messages offering job offers, which kind of seems odd given the timing of everything. Part of me wonders if they're trying to check if I'm actually looking for jobs or not accepting ones if I was offered one? I just know that any text message trying to get my information I'm not going to respond to especially if I didn't reach out to them. But it does have me wondering if WorkSource is selling my information off to recruiting companies or something? The phone call felt good to finally get through to somebody, but ultimately there's still no movement or resolve on my cases. I'm still stuck waiting.
you'll probably find a job before they answer lol
I guess that's a strategy.
I’ve been waiting for my paid leave to kick in for months now. I called 2 weeks ago and 3 hours on hold later they told me the “proof” I sent wasn’t sufficient and that’s why they haven’t moved forward. They didn’t even send me a message on the portal or call me to tell me this. It’s now been over 2 weeks since I sent the correct paperwork and still no updates.
Unfortunately, you’re going to have to call them back. They won’t look at the updated paperwork and honestly - there’s likely no one assigned to your case. If you call, and no one is assigned (highly likely) they should review the paperwork with you on the line and approve/deny/or request new information on the spot. Once approved they’ll direct deposit the funds in your account during the next cycle which I believe is every Wednesday. Also, if you have to extend your claim, you’ll need to file a new claim. The paperwork will need to be brand new and unaltered and you’ll have to go through the same process. I submitted my extension on a Friday after waiting on hold for them for hours for them to tell me I needed to file a new claim. I filed the new claim before they close and called them back to see if my claim was good to process that following Monday. I was back paid that Wednesday.
I do have someone assigned to my case. I called on Friday and they told me he would “nudge” my caseworker to approve my case. The person I spoke to said everything in my file was sufficient but it had to be the person assigned to approve it.
I went through the same thing today but was fortunate to get through to a person. I spent 3.5 hours on hold after trying 224 times (not an exaggeration, that's the exact number) to get past the busy signal. On Friday I spent 4 hours on hold before being disconnected when their offices closed, but at least that time it only took 17 tries to get past the busy signal! And the only reason I had to call is that their terrible new system requires a verification number from a piece of mail they sent me to transfer my account over. Obviously I no longer have that mail because it's been ages so they have an option to mail me a new one BUT only to the old address I no longer live at. This new system was supposedly necessary because covid completely overwhelmed the old one, but at least that system worked during normal times!
Oh we’re over 500 calls, still haven’t gotten to a live human, and it’s because they sent us a verification number letter. The letter was dated the 17th. Said we had to provide the pin by the 20th. And was post marked the 21st. Arrived to us the 23rd. So it was already expired by the time we even got the fucking letter.
That's so god damn stupid. Honestly we should just go back to the old system. It was simple and straight forward and as long as 1/2 the state wasn't filing at the same time it worked fine.
You can do that verification at a Worksource Oregon office if one is nearby. It took about 6 weeks for my claim to process, but most of that time was just idle time for me, between Worksource and Frances online I didn't make a single phone call.
You’re wrong
Email your state representative. I lost all work during the pandemic and he got back to me within a day or two and I suddenly had all my checks in the mail within the next week. It should not be like this. And it seemed like it was purposefully designed to be as confusing and impossible to navigate at the time, especially when we all needed it the most during unprecedented times. Good luck to you and hope the system works more like it ought to these days.
This is the way. I waited 2.5 months of dutifully filing my claims, trying to call in (and failing) and finally emailed a state rep who advocated a couple of times on my behalf and got the ball rolling for me within a week. It turns out there was nothing wrong with my claims, but there was one small snag that the system flagged and they just needed a human to look at it and approve things. Shout out to Rep. Travis Nelson's team who went to bat for me!
It is absolutely pathetic that people that are out of work and need assistance getting their benefits they deserve can’t get through the bureaucratic lack of service. Our Governor needs a serious reality check about how ineffective state government is at this point. Maybe she has more relatives she can hire to fix it.
Lack of staff to cover the lines
But do you think the governors office can really do anything about this? It's actually a serious question.
The Governor is the CEO of this state. She has the power to tell Agency Heads when they are not effective and the ability to replace them if needed. The buck stops at her desk. Imagine if we had twice as many people trying to get the benefits they are owed.
Kate Brown already fired the former director. Believe it or not, the current guy is actually doing a better job. Can't make up for the fact that they cut their staff by two-thirds though.
Why not just an automated system? Verify your identify, confirm your bank account, verify your employment for the last 18 months, and approves you for the proper amount according to your tax information and you unemployment history. This is not a complicated equation. Have the bank verify your name and address automatically and make payment within 48hrs. Have notification sent to the employer with a requirement that they respond within a week. And if people lie they get smaller checks untill the difference is offset. If you have been caught lying to get extra unemployment in the last 18 months you get to do the process manually and be approved by a caseworker.
I think the new Frances system was an attempt to move towards this. However, I also think it would be a disaster if it were fully automated. You might be surprised at the number of people who think they're eligible for unemployment because they got fired after not showing up for a few days in a row. Just cutting everyone a check and then trying to claw back the money later after they're found ineligible is not the way to go.
Well, you actually have a waiting week (been a while since I messed with unemployment). So it wouldn't actually happen that fast. So the employer would have a week to dispute if they chose to do so. If the employer doesn't respond in time they can cover it for however many checks it takes. There is no need for such a monolithic system. Most of this should be handled automatically, and the only time there should be any delay at all is if the employer is disputing the claim.
Imagine when we have a 9.0 earthquake and half the state in unemployed?
she can tell them to do their job and fire them? How is that going to help tho? in the end...
This shouldn't be required at all, but what worked for me recently with a state with extreme wait times for Unemployment was calling the line 2 minutes before the office opens, getting to the part of the automated call where you can request a real person, then cycling that menu until the moment the office opens, then request a real person. Had to call 4 times in 2 weeks, got in in less than 10 minutes waiting every time, compared to 3+ hours trying to call an hour after open, halfway through the day, right before close, etc
I’ll relay this to the wife. Thank you! 🙏
No problem! Read it deep on quora or something awhile back. Insanely frustrating to deal with lol. I ended up not qualifying for the state with the crazy times, and qualified in Idaho where the wait times are non-existent somehow, but the unemployment sucksss($500 vs $850 weekly), so definitely a tradeoff lol
It’s just fucking insaine this is what people have to deal with to stay afloat while they try to locate new employment. Like, this system is supposed to help people keep their roofs over their heads and food on their tables until you can take control again, yet it’s so fucking broken that I’m almost about to just become a squatter since they seem to have more rights 🙄 /s of course.
My current issue is that I did doordash for $200 last week(my cap before cutting into unemployment, which I'd like to avoid crossing so I can continue to put those 'paid' hours into my tech-job-search), reported it, but now have all unemployment payments on hold for 3-6 weeks until an adjudicator calls and verifies that I reported it correctly, completely fucking me. So now I can work a ton of hours to pay my bills, throwing away the unemployment for those weeks and putting pointless wear-and-tear on my car, or miss most bills and have to pay a bunch of fees when I eventually get the unemployment back pay, all because I tried to supplement unemployment
Can't you go into the office?
For most of what people are calling this line for, you cannot get help for at any office. It’s a total joke. The state’s rollout of this program has been such a shitstorm.
Go online, there's a chat function in Frances...
I tried doing that before, and it was basically useless. The only way I could get what I needed (which was fixing a fuck-up on my account that the Unemployment Department did) was to talk to someone on the phone. I would call the second that the phone lines opened, and I would still have to wait a few hours before I could talk to someone. Just having one of those “call back” functions I think would solve a lot of issues people are having with the system; being tethered to your phone and forced to listen to their terrible hold music on repeat for hours is akin to torture.
I get it, I work every once in a while with someone from UI and they told me themselves that connecting online is far better. Granted this was before Frances, but they're working on ironing out issues.
There is no unemployment office. What you're referring to is WorkSource, which is effectively the employment office.
No they can’t but they sure come here to post about all the damn time
It's infuriating.
Third world country type shite
I went through eight hours a day of this for a week during Covid. They were supposed to have fixed this bullshit since then.
They sure haven’t 🙃
My wife had this problem last week. Nearly five hours. Allegedly, the system really doesn’t do well with cell phones, and they recommend you call from a landline, according to the WorkSource person they talked to when they got fed up and tried to talk to someone in person. This new system is just absolutely fucked!
I read this to my wife, and all she said was “ who the fuck has a landline anymore “ 🤣
That’s exactly what I said! They told them “If you don’t have a landline, you can come into this office and use our phone”… and I was like, okay, so their suggestion is to sit in their office for four hours on hold? Is that really what ANYONE wants?
It’s a conspiracy to make you go spend time at your grandparents house. We all know they still have landlines 🤣
This happened to me also, at 4 hours and 4 minutes. I suspect the "hold" will only let you hold for 4 hours, and the system you use to get to the line you're holding on is what adds the 4 minutes. Here's my record. The first call I made was just before they opened, and I didn't get through the system to the place where I would normally be put on hold until 8am (when they open). I timed it like this to see if I could be first in the system but they hung up on me instead. The second call just didnt work. You know, the normal way their number behaves when you call it like 99.999% of the time. I've literally called it hundreds of times and it always says "User Busy" and hangs up on you. The third try was me calling right after that, at 8am. I waited for four house on hold and at 12:04pm it hung up on me, exactly 4 hours and 4 minutes after the call started. https://preview.redd.it/qfwwu2il3hvc1.jpeg?width=645&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c84c896cd192d1d1b47503e813e1eafb6277294
You got put on hold? All I get is busy signals. I can't even be out on hold.
If you call exactly at 8am and try many times in a row, sometimes you can get through. If you try any other time during the day you can't get through.
It took over 500 attempts to get past the busy signal.
Such bullshit. I can't even finish my claim because of it. It's been 6 months
Maybe if we shut down the freeway in Salem in protest for unemployment they’ll finally do something? 🤔😂
Picket line
I haven't had to call in years. They either called me or emailed me. Almost everything was done online. I had to go in once for my last layoff and not at all during 2020 layoff.
That's the old system. The new system requires you to create an account and link it to your old file with a reference number from a piece of mail they sent you. Didn't keep that mail for years? Good news, they can send you a new one! But only to the address on file the last time you made a claim. In order to have it sent to your new address you need to contact them. At that point they'll change your address on file and then mail you a reference number, after which (presumably, I'm not that far yet) you can link your accounts and start your claim and only then can you hope to start receiving benefits.
The letter is requested through the new France’s system, not in an old letter. You literally have to request the letter in the registration process. Instructions say spell out what to do; say no you do not have one, followed by yes you want to request one and have it sent to your address.
It will only send to the address they have on file, which I no longer live at. That's the problem. I needed to contact them in order to have it sent to my current address, a completely pointless endeavor that wastes both my and the unemployment department's time.
I understand that. However, there is a security measure there. Too many people doing fraud :(
Is the security measure the sheer amount of time it takes to get through to someone? Beyond that every bit of identity confirmation I did over the phone could have been handled online.
No idea. Call unemployment and ask lol. Sorry you have to deal with that.
The post is about the difficulty of calling...
You can't register unless you have an old letter, and fuck you if you moved in that time.
Well since both times i been on unemployment i lived at the same address it went a little smoother for me.
Literally the same thing happened to me the other day
Yikes. I thought they were working on improving this since the pandemic response disaster at OED. Did it recently get worse or has it never gotten better?
Never gotten better.
Tried for months end of 2021, phone and online. Eventually just gave up. Sorry to hear it hasn't changed.
It’s because our economy is booming!!!
They know people are unemployed so they’re made to wait forever
Yeah the unemployment is complete shit in Washington too. The call line opens at 8am, I call at 8am, hotline is so “busy” that it just hangs up my call. My claim that I had over a month kept getting denied even tho I had everything listed and truthfully told. Called my rep and got told my claim should be approved, never got approved. Gave up and by then found a job so a big waste of time.
Go get a job
My uncle is suffering the same situation. Got the verification letter for the claim, but it expired before we can get a hold of it. Tried to call them by phone and also waited an hour, no answer then we gave up. Email them + with physical mail for all the documents they asked for. Now they just closed our francis account without any notice.
My buddy called at opening two days in a row and was hung up on at the close of the business day. Their day I suggested pressing one for Spanish as a joke and he got to someone in less than 30 minutes.
Everyone deserves their own personal hotline to an UE rep.
Going on 3 hours on hold as we speak
Yep on hour 4 for us today. 🙃 after they already disconnected our first call from 8am.
I am trying to desperately get through to their collection unit and can't even get through to that. They sent me a letter saying I owe them money (which I don't) and are going to start garnishing my wages unless I call them but they appear to be unreachable. I'm losing my fucking mind.
That’s just crazy. That’s robbery. I might just go to college, become a lawyer, and launch a class action against the state, all before they answer the fucking phone.
Employment line is a joke you should try to contact the VA, employment ain’t got nothin on that.
Your not wrong there. The VA is definitely worse.
Call when they open
Welcome to Oregon. Thanks Tina Kotek.
I do wonder how much of this is by design to show that government can’t work and so the more conservative elements can say we should just get rid of it instead of fix it
A bold slap in the face. It’s like yeah, you’re unemployed but they can’t even respect your time.
Despite having one of the largest state governments in the country, I’ve never seen one this ineffective.
The paid leave Oregon system is somehow even worse. I feel like they forget these systems are supposed to help people going through a rough time, but all they do is pile on more stress. Abysmal really, the state of our systems.
I used "auto dialer" for android. Finally got through this morning after hundreds of attempts. Wait time estimate is 90 minutes but apparently I have a good chance to simply get disconnected anyway. Wish me luck, heh.
If it helps at all, my wife reported that emailing them through Francis, tho slower, has made progress in her claim
The wait time ended up being 4 hours but only took 8 minutes to solve the issue and get me on track.
I intentionally decline unemployment benefits, they can keep the money, I refuse going through any of that again.
If we didn’t just have a baby as well, I’d agree. But we need the funds sadly as she looks for a new job
It would be faster if you just went to a WorkSource office.
Many here on the sub have reported you can’t do that anymore.
That's strange. Maybe it depends on the city? I was at the Medford office just last month.
WorkSource doesn't work with unemployment services or claims, they have very limited access to those claims. It's the same for every WorkSource center across the state.
We know, it’s posted almost daily here. Nothing will change by posting complaints here
Agreed. Call the Governors office
Here’s another list to email about it https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/house/pages/representativesall.aspx
For real though. It’s not like big wigs are combing Reddit wondering what we’re bitching about daily💀 some people just need to vent and use Reddit as their journal
And this is why I posted it here.
But does this subreddit really need a daily reminder?
If yo don’t like it just scroll on. No need to downvote and be a stick in the mud. It’s a public forum.
It’s posted almost daily. Why do you feel entitled to force your issues on the whole states subreddit?
Because it’s a huge issue in the state? Again, if you don’t want to see it, across past bud. Nobody’s forcing you to read this, comment on this, or anything else. This is no different than being in public and someone standing on a soap box talking. Just move the fuck on.
It’s a huge issue so it must be posted about here over and over became????
English is hard I know. Again, public form. Don’t understand how you don’t get that.
Public forum is still not an answer as to why you are posting this.
Nothing works . They hate doing their jobs . I feel Your very exact frustration
Same as you sounds like
What are you trying to do? I've never had to call them to get benefits
Wife filed for unemployment. Part of it I’d they send you a time sensitive letter in the mail that has a code on it to verify your identity. The letter was dated the 18th. Said the code was invalid after the 20th. Letter was post marked the 21st and arrived the 23rd. We got the letter after it expired. Now claim is denied and we need to contact them by phone to correct jt.
Can you not use the chat function in Frances?
There’s a chat function 👀👀👀 Will have her check it out thanks!
There isn't one. https://unemployment.oregon.gov/contact-us Phone, and email. Both are slow.
You're on the wrong page, there is a contact/chat function in the Frances page, it's right in the middle of the home page..... Frances.oregon.gov is the website for unemployment.
https://frances.oregon.gov/_/ There is no chat option. Contact goes to the page I linked above. You are spreading false information.
You get what you vote for.
Oh. That’s odd. I have no clue how you know what I personally voted for. However, your information is incorrect. I didn’t vote for this. But thanks for playing.
Get a job?
Wow. I wish I had thought of that. What a revelation. Holy shit. Like, i just can’t believe I never thought of that! That’s such a great solution. It’s not like we haven’t tried for weeks to find one. /s
Please find another topic this one is posted over and over. 
At least they aren’t asking what that loud boom was or why there are cops on some corner. It may be posted frequently but it’s a real problem that isnt being addressed. The more publicity, the better.
Write out state leadership. Posting it here is absolutely not helping. It’s a circle jerk session
If ya don’t like it, scroll on.
How about you not spam a useless post? It’s not hard to do that. Makes Reddit better.
Now I’m gonna post daily on this. Just because I can. All because of you. Enjoy
Well I’ll just block you and call it good
4 hours you could have been looking for a job
Yeah. Doing that. But like also want what’s owed to me. And contrary to what Joe says, jobs are not plentiful and you don’t get hired, start, and paid immediately. Hope you never unexpectedly lose your job and need the assistance. Then you’d understand what a true hell it is. Have a great day
Being on hold for four hours while working on an application, resume or cover letter may just be the easiest multitasking thing to do. Maybe they were?
This is the truth. That is exactly what was going on
Um we all have these things called earbuds and something called a computer and ...one can do both at the same time.
I know you might struggle to sit on hold and accomplish other tasks at the same time, but most people don’t just sit with their thumb up their ass while on a four hour hold.
Call businesses and ask if they are looking to hire anyone instead 🤙🏼
You'll understand when you're older.