Oregon unexpectedly withheld $600 federal bonus checks for more than 10,000 laid-off Oregonians this week, the latest stumble in a series of mistakes at the troubled employment department.

The Oregon Employment Department withheld the $600 bonus check for some workers this week because it had accidentally paid workers an extra check in a prior week, according to Gail Krumenauer, the department’s communications director.

“A bunch of people got double-paid that first time, so they got paid $1,200 instead of $600,” Krumenauer said. To correct that mistake, she said, the department didn’t pay the $600 federal bonus this week.

However, Krumenauer said the department did not issue a broad notification of why laid-off workers did not receive the $600 they expected this week. After inquiries from The Oregonian/OregonLive Wednesday, she said the department will post information about its error on its website.

It’s not clear just how many jobless Oregonians missed their expected $600 bonus checks this week but Krumenauer said “It’s big. It’s more than 1,000. It’s more than 10,000.”

Complicating matters, Krumenauer said some workers were paid appropriately in prior weeks and received regular $600 checks this week.

And others who had their checks withheld this week may receive an additional $600 check in the future because the state plans to waive the standard one-week waiting period before laid-off workers receive benefits. Oregon is working to adapt its ancient computer systems to enable the waiver and plans to pay workers benefits for that first week retroactively.

Adding to the confusion, several unemployed Oregonians immediately disputed the department’s explanation. Some have claims documents that appear to indicate they were not double-paid at any point -- but but had their $600 withheld this week anyway.

The department said Thursday it will look into that issue.

Congress funded the $600 weekly checks for laid-off workers last month as part of the CARES Act coronavirus rescue package. Oregon began distributing the federal money to laid-off workers earlier this month.

“For the past two weeks we have received the extra $600 as an adjustment to our claim, and were all anticipating receiving the same money this morning,” Shelley Bowers, 38, wrote in an email Wednesday.

“But it is not there,” said Bowers, 38, who lost her bartending job March 16. “There is no explanation as to why on the website. I am assuming it is a glitch, but getting through to talk to someone about it is pretty much impossible.”

The missing checks are the latest setback for the Oregon Employment Department, which has been laboring under a deluge of jobless claims and antiquated computer systems throughout the outbreak.

Even before the $600 checks went missing this week, the state owed laid-off Oregonians at least $100 million in unpaid benefits.

That’s partly because the state has yet to begin processing claims from contractors and self-employed workers, who are newly eligible for benefits under the CARES Act. The employment department is adapting its computer systems to handle those applications.

Oregon has denied many other claims erroneously, in large part because its computer systems – which date to the 1990s – cannot handle many situations where a worker has an unusual work history or other complications.

The department has added hundreds of workers to its staff to speed claims processing but many laid-off workers still cannot reach the department to resolve problems. For workers whose phone calls get through, the average hold time is around two hours.

Gov. Kate Brown has stood by the employment department throughout the crisis, asking laid-off Oregonians for “patience.”

However, members of Oregon’s congressional delegation and the Legislature have been highly critical. On Wednesday, the office of House Speaker Tina Kotek said “She is frustrated for Oregonians who need their benefits.”

The speaker “understands the administrative challenges facing the department, but is not satisfied,” according to a statement from her office.

The statement said Kotek won’t be satisfied until self-employed workers receive their benefits and “there is no longer a backlog of applications and Oregonians have received the benefits they are due.”

In a separate statement, Senate President Peter Courtney said “No one could have predicted the employment situation we are in now, but here we are. People are hurting.

“The only way we can help them is by getting more employees working to process the claims,” Courtney wrote. “The Legislature stands ready and willing to help the Employment Department in any way we can.“

This article has been updated to note that some beneficiaries appear to have had their weekly $600 withheld despite not being double-paid in prior weeks.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway |

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