On March 13, 2020 N.H. Gov. Christopher Sununu declared a state of emergency in response to the outbreak of a novel Coronavirus, SARS-Cov-2 (Covid-19) in New Hampshire.  That order has been renewed several times and is still in effect today.

Prior to March 17, New Hampshire had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, and since March 17, at least one in five New Hampshire workers have lost their jobs and many businesses have shut their doors, perhaps permanently leaving thousands of New Hampshire citizens out of work.  As of the date of this writing, NH experiences an unemployment rate of 6.2% with roughly 48,500 still unemployed, through no fault of their own, filing for unemployment benefits. 

On March 17, 2020, NH Gov. Christopher Sununu issued emergency order #5, opening up unemployment benefits for those who would not normally qualify for Unemployment Benefits.  Included in this order was the following clause:

7. In the event that the Federal government should pass any legislation amending or establishing a federal program providing eligibility for any week of benefits similar to those provided in this Order, or should the President declare a national emergency resulting in the institution or implementation of Disaster Unemployment Assistance, Emergency Paid Leave Benefits, Emergency Unemployment Assistance, Extended Unemployment Compensation, Paid Sick Days for Public Health Emergencies, or Personal and Family Care Act payments or any similar type program, eligibility for unemployment benefits pursuant to this Order shall be immediately terminated and benefits shall be paid under such Federal program unless and to the extent this Order provides eligibility for benefits not provided by the Federal program, in which case such benefits provided under this Order shall continue.

Upon enactment of the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and  signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2020, emergency order #5 should have been null and void.  This order did not expire until June 15, 2020 causing further confusion amongst department staff and creating more disruption for claimants. 

While we understand that New Hampshire Unemployment Security(NHES) experienced an unprecedented number of claims that no antiquated system was prepared to handle, we believe that the actions taken by NHES and its representatives have failed the citizens of New Hampshire in the following ways:

• Extreme delays in the processing of claims.  Claimants filing in March or April waited 12 or more weeks to receive initial payment with little to no communication from the department.  Voicemails went unreturned, emails unanswered.  Calls to the hotline provided no relief and conflicting information.
• To date several claimants who have STILL not received payment on claims initially filed in March or April as of September 16, 2020.  These claimants have not received any communication from the department including an approval or denial.  They are left feeling hopeless, unable to keep their homes, unable to secure employment and no relief is coming.
• Lack of proper communication.  Claimants have been hung up on, laughed at, told to get a job, told “there is no covid”, been advised a supervisor would call them back and are still waiting, sometimes weeks, for that call that has not and will not come.  Department employees are uneducated on current guidelines and are providing inaccurate information and no guidance on how claimant should proceed.  One person says one thing, the next says another.
• Claims are tied up in an appeals process for weeks to months, again with no communication from the department.  Emails and voicemails go unreturned leaving claimants without answers, with no source of income coming in, and with no idea what the future hold for them.
• Sudden demands for overpayments in exorbitant amounts(thousands of dollars) on claims that should be qualified under the CARES act as claimant has a valid Covid-19 reason for being unemployed.  Again, upon reaching out to the department, emails are ignored, voicemail boxes are full and claimants, already in a desperate situation, are left with no answers, no income, no hope.  
• Weekly pay being “held” for 6 or more weeks with no explanation.  
• Multiple system failures
• Notices being sent that are unable to be accessed.  

The claimants of New Hampshire are suffering due to the inadequate and inefficient processes that are ongoing inside NHES.  They are at risk of utility shutoff, eviction, foreclosure and vehicle repossession.  They are unable to provide food for their children, many of who have been forced into remote learning therefore requiring a parent to stay home, and there is no relief in site.  

Govenor Christopher Sununu is an advocate for transparency in government, in fact dedicating an entire page of his website to it.  NHES, Commissioner George Copadis, Deputy Commissioner Richard Lavers and staff have been anything but transparent.  It’s time they be held accountable for the lack of transparency and disorganization and a complete overhaul of the department is warranted.  

We dutifully request that the powers that be, Govenor Christopher Sununu, Attorney General Gordon MacDonald and the New Hampshire Department of Labor investigative the improper and mishandled processing of claims by NHES and bring the residents the relief that was intended for them.