The problems with the Colorado Department of Labor and
Employment (CDLE) continue to get worse, not better. In the wake of several
television reports about the problems at the CDLE going back to at least May
2011, we were promised that the continuing problems at the CDLE would be fixed,
yet now in October 2012, not only have they not been fixed, they have gotten
worse. We were promised that the CDLE was hiring new people to answer their
customer service phones, and still today, it is nearly impossible to get
through.
Two important words that the CDLE does not understand in the English language are:
- Insurance. The unemployment insurance branch of the CDLE is possibly the most inept agency in the entire country. Insurance means just that, insurance. In this case the insurance premiums were paid into a fund by employers so that employees would have the unemployment benefits as a safety net in the event of a job loss.
- Customer service: The CDLE’s customer service phone lines are anything but customer service. The lines are actually an ongoing living hell for anyone who tries to call in. Anyone trying to call the CDLE customer service phone number can be on hold for hours only to be disconnected. Many have tried for hours and days on end without ever getting through. There is no way to get answers to any questions, and the resultant delay in making contact creates a “Catch-22” situation for the caller, since the CDLE has deadlines by which contact must be established.
CDLE Causes More
Unemployment
According to the CDLE, the solution to the customer service
phone problems is to go downtown to their offices and talk to someone. In order
to do that, one must arrive very early in the morning and stand in line. And
then they cut the line off at about 25 people.
Are the unemployed tax paying citizens of Colorado
supposed to be going to job interviews or sitting on the phone all day long?
Are the unemployed in Colorado
supposed to be out looking for a job, or going downtown every day?
Please answer that for us, CDLE.
Colorado Department
of Labor and Employment Causes Hunger and Homelessness
Many unemployed rely on their unemployment insurance
benefits to survive. Yes, there is that foreign word again, Insurance. Many
unemployed of Colorado rely on
their unemployment insurance benefits for food, gas and the legally mandated
car insurance. Many also rely on this money for their rent or mortgage
payments. When you cannot get through to their customer service number, you
cannot gain access to any of your benefits. Because the CDLE cannot do their
job properly, people cannot pay for food, transportation or housing. Coloradans
are going hungry. People are being made homeless. For these people, this is an
emergency situation just as real as a tornado or forest fire and requires the
same leadership and decisive sense of urgency in its resolution. Not the ho-hum
attitude of the Governor.
The Colorado
Department of Labor and Excuses
For the past several years, all we have heard from the CDLE
is excuses.
- We are using outdated computers.
- We are using an operating system from the 1980’s.
- We need to hire and train more people to answer the customer service phones.
- With the increased unemployed in the state, we cannot keep up.
- We don’t have the money to fix any of the above problems.
Yet they found the money to hire a motivational consultant.
Conclusion
Recently, a story on a Denver
television station found out one reason why the telephones at CDLE are not
answered. The employees at CDLE were using their time to browse other websites
include porn and gambling sites. Watch the news story at KMGH ABC 7 Denver.
