Georgia Labor Commissioner responds to complaints regarding Macon office

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Earlier this month, we told you about Georgia residents who were upset about not receiving a response from the state’s Department of Labor when they had questions about not receiving unemployment benefits. 

Some say they heard nothing since submitting their application in March.  

41NBC caught up with the department’s commissioner to set the record straight. 

“First of all, they are answering the phone,” Commissioner Mark Butler said. “They are answering email. The problem is, right now has to do with a share of volume. Some of the phone calls we are getting are complicated cases which take a long time over the phone to get all the facts.”

Butler says some problems take a while to fix. For example, you may have a hold on your account known as an I.D stop if an employer made a mistake on a wage and tax report.

Butler says most people who applied for unemployment benefits received them and people who were laid off from work got them quickly. He explained that delays happen when claims have issues such as if someone says they were laid off when they were actually fired or they quit.

Butler also told 41NBC that his office is seeing a large number of attempted fraud or identity theft. 

“That’s not an exaggeration,” said Butler.  

Butler told 41NBC why some people have received only one payment since March. 

“It could be that we got a response from the person’s employer which happens in most of these cases,” said the department commissioner. 

If the employer and former employees don’t agree on how an employee left the job, the Department of Labor will decide after a hearing between the two. 

Butler says employers pay unemployment premiums, so the employer has the right to fight a claim.  

We asked about the lack of service available at the Macon office. Butler says the office has 20 people trained to handle unemployment claims and that his office hasn’t hired more people, because they can only hire people with years of experience.

Butler adds if you filed once already, do not file again because it could mess up previous claims.