OESC Working On Upgrades To Unemployment Filing Process

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission says it’s starting work on upgrades to its unemployment filing system after many people ran into problems with the process.

The commission says it is working with state officials on funding and making sure they’re fully and correctly staffed to make these changes.

The OESC says it’s testing a new digital ID verification system, which is expected to cut down on fraud situations.

They’ve also added 25 people to its call center in Tulsa and interim director Shelley Zumwalt says that should help with a lot of the call problems.

Zumwalt says they’ve made the goal of getting at least half of all problems solved in just one phone call. Right now she says they’re close to that goal.

"We've hit around 44 percent right now, which is a really great number because when I got to the agency, it was hovering under 10 percent," Zumwalt said.

The commission says it had problems earlier this week with delays in weekly payments for those who made claims.

Leaders say they’ve worked with the company who makes the payments to get that resolved.