2/2/23

 

The Virginia Employment Commission is sorting through a large backlog of cases after the pandemic exposed concerning operational flaws.

A 2022 J-LARC  report revealed that nearly 98-thousand unemployment insurance appeals have accumulated at the V-E-C, many of which came in during pandemic-era shutdowns. A report one year prior by the same agency found that the Commission was underfunded, short-staffed and working with outdated technology.

Pat Levy-Lavelle, an attorney with the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center, says taxpayers are seeing the effects of a neglected government service.

He says the Commission is hiring more workers, but there have been challenges.