North Carolina law requires restaurants to be to-go and/or delivery only to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The loss of revenue and no need for front of house staff has led to massive layoffs in the industry. | By Breawycker
North Carolina law requires restaurants to be to-go and/or delivery only to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The loss of revenue and no need for front of house staff has led to massive layoffs in the industry. | By Breawycker
Many Cape Fear workers laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic found it difficult to file for unemployment benefits.
Chris Franz, a chef until the coronavirus pandemic caused his layoff, told WWAY he was stressed. Before restaurants were ordered to close, he worked at two restaurants, with his hours about 70 hours a week. He’s been a chef for 30 years.
“Usually if you lose your job, get fired or quit, you can go get another job, it’s not that hard. But there’s nothing open,” Franz told WWAY.
When he went online to file for unemployment, he incorrectly entered his password multiple times resulting in getting locked out of his account.
“I just need somebody to unlock my account so that I can reset my password,” he said to WWAY.
Calling Division of Employment Security hasn’t worked. The agency suggested using its customer contact form, which hasn’t provide positive results.
“I did the customer contact form several times and still haven’t heard back from them,” Franz told WWAY.
Successfully filing for unemployment doesn't mean payments have started for applicants. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said on March 29 that for coronavirus-related unemployment, payments would begin this week. However, this hasn’t happened for some applicants.
“I filed for it finally on the 15th and it went through and I was approved for it the 16th,” Jay Frazier told WWAY. “I still haven’t gotten anything in the mail, still haven’t gotten anything in my bank account. My bank account is negative $412.”
The DES website states it takes 14 days to receive your first payment after filing a claim.
A private call center began helping DES taking calls. Training its employees continues so they can handle more tasks, DES spokesman Larry Parker told WWAY.
In response to problems like Franz has, Parker said the DES hopes to soon have easier ways for applicants to unlock their accounts.