CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina man is raising a red flag about the unemployment process for people who’ve worked out of state.
Kevin Winn said he struggled to receive payments because North Carolina overlooked his salary from Tennessee. North Carolina unemployment officials acknowledge combining wages from different states can be a complex process. However, Winn believes the state should reform the unemployment system to work better.
He reached out to WCNC Charlotte for help when he couldn’t get answers.
Winn said he submitted all the right paperwork, but kept getting the wrong answer from North Carolina’s unemployment system, which wasn’t counting his out-of-state work.
“I dotted every I, I crossed every T,” Winn said.
Despite his efforts, Winn said he couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I feel like I’m in this abyss,” Winn said. “I just want my money, I need my money.”
Winn applied for unemployment benefits in North Carolina after a job at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tennessee ended.
“I was working as a chaplain fellow, which was a one-year fellowship program,” Winn said.
However, Winn said he struggled to collect his benefits because he believes North Carolina didn’t communicate with its neighbor.
“It’s a blatant error because I’m submitting everything to you,” Winn said.
Winn said North Carolina unemployment officials overlooked his salary from Tennessee, and only counted his wages from a job in North Carolina where he worked just two months. He received a letter from the state saying he didn’t have sufficient income to receive benefits.
“I feel like if someone had just taken the time to do their job and confirm my wages and verify what I said, this would not have happened,” Winn said.
WCNC Charlotte went to the North Carolina Division of Employment Security to get answers. A department spokesperson sent the following statement:
“There is a national network that the N.C. Division of Employment Security uses to verify wages reported in other states. However, However, if a person filing for unemployment in North Carolina claims to have earned wages in another state and those wages have not been reported to the other state, DES must submit a wage protest to the other state for investigation. The process of combining wages into a single unemployment claim requires coordination with other states and/or the federal government. This process may be complicated; for instance, when a person files a separate claim in each state where they worked instead of choosing one, the requests for information may cross paths and the state in which the claim should be filed must be determined."
During the pandemic, combining wages has been a challenge for all states. Response times vary with agencies experiencing very high claim volumes and with state and federal staff adjusting to working remotely. Also, some states manually key in information and are working through backlogs.
Combined wage claims make up a very small portion of the overall claimant population. Currently, about 0.2%, or approximately 950 claimants, are filing for benefits based on combined wages.
Winn said when he called unemployment agents, he couldn’t get a clear explanation.
“When somebody answers the phone, you get a different answer,” Winn said.
However, when WCNC Charlotte started digging into his case, Winn finally got the answer he was looking for.
“Thanks to your intervention my claim has been paid,” said Winn. “I can smile now and I’m very happy.”
After WCNC Charlotte reached out to the state on his behalf, Winn said he received 12 weeks of back pay in his bank account.
“It was a wonderful thing to see,” Winn said. “I really appreciate you and the good work you do and you’ve done for me and for others.”
However, Winn said he’s also convinced North Carolina’s unemployment system needs reform to help others who are struggling in a similar situation.
“Communicating better with other states, having alternative mechanisms in place to confirm wages,” he said. “I think there is some opportunity to make the system better and eliminate needless suffering and wait time.”