MEDIA RELEASE

All Claims May Now Be Filed Online Without Delays

HONOLULU- The Hawai‘i State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) expanded its online services to allow people to reactivate their unemployment claims on the internet beginning July 11, 2011, which will reduce their wait either at the unemployment office or via the telephone. This new option applies to people restarting their existing unemployment claim.

Until now, people could file new claims online but had to come to an unemployment office or call to reactivate their existing claims. More than 50 percent of the weekly initial claims are from those reactivating their existing claims, and moving this process online will streamline services significantly for DLIR.

“Expanding our online system will improve access to our services while increasing the efficiency of our processes,” said DLIR Director Dwight Takamine. “Our focus is to continue to find ways to provide better services for the people of Hawai‘i and becoming more efficient to save taxpayer dollars.”

“The internet claim filing system was developed as a convenient, efficient option for people to completely self-file their claims,” said Unemployment Insurance Division Administrator Linda Uesato. “We urge people filing for unemployment benefits to file online and avoid coming into the office and standing in line or calling the telephone system until a line is available.”

This is the third of four phases in DLIR’s efforts to migrate claims processes online. The fourth phase, scheduled for implementation in October, entails providing claims office staff with access to the internet claim filing application to take initial claims filed over the telephone or in person. This will significantly reduce the amount of time required of staff to process unemployment claims and allow DLIR personnel to focus on improving other services offered by DLIR.