個體戶和零工工人需要長時間等待救濟(jì)核查

個體戶和零工工人需要長時間等待救濟(jì)核查

Crashing servers, outmoded software and overloaded call centers are among the barriers to millions of unemployed workers receiving government benefits.

服務(wù)器崩潰、軟件過時和呼叫中心過載是以百萬計(jì)的失業(yè)工人領(lǐng)取政府救濟(jì)得障礙。

With every passing week the problem is exacerbated by new waves of jobless or laid-off workers whose paychecks have vanished since the coronavirus pandemic crippled the U.S. economy.

隨著時間的推移，新的失業(yè)或下崗工人潮使這一問題進(jìn)一步惡化。自從冠狀病毒大流行使美國經(jīng)濟(jì)陷入癱瘓以來，這些工人已經(jīng)沒有了工資。

But the delays may be even longer for the self-employed, independent contractors and gig-economy workers who are not normally eligible for unemployment benefits, but are covered under two separate provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.

但對于那些通常沒有資格領(lǐng)取失業(yè)救濟(jì)金，但在《冠狀病毒援助、救濟(jì)和經(jīng)濟(jì)安全法》或《關(guān)懷法案》中有兩項(xiàng)單獨(dú)規(guī)定的自營職業(yè)者、獨(dú)立承包人和零工經(jīng)濟(jì)工作者來說，拖延時間可能更長。

New figures released by the Department of Labor show 22 million Americans have filed unemployment claims since mid-March. The staggering surge reflects how jobs, created during a decade-long economic expansion, have been wiped out.

美國勞工部公布的最新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自3月中旬以來，已有2200萬美國人申請失業(yè)救濟(jì)。這一驚人的增長反映了在長達(dá)10年的經(jīng)濟(jì)擴(kuò)張中創(chuàng)造的就業(yè)機(jī)會是如何消失的。

Meanwhile, state agencies say a large part of what is causing the technology problems leading to delays is the avalanche of newly eligible applicants that have overwhelmed existing systems. The crush of calls and online applications have proved to be too much for understaffed call centers and outdated benefit programs running on old software.

與此同時，州政府機(jī)構(gòu)表示，造成技術(shù)問題而導(dǎo)致延誤的很大一部分原因是新合格申請者的大量涌入，這些申請者現(xiàn)有系統(tǒng)癱瘓。事實(shí)證明，電話和在線應(yīng)用程序的擁擠對于人手不足的呼叫中心和運(yùn)行在舊軟件上的過時的福利程序來說是太多了。

Among those caught in the fiscal melee is Ted, a self-employed consultant.

在陷入財(cái)政混亂的人中，有一位叫泰德的人，他是一名個體經(jīng)營顧問。

Ted, who asked that his last name be withheld to protect future job prospects, said that over the span of six days he made 991 calls to the New York State Department of Labor before finally connecting with a human being to complete an online application.

為了保護(hù)未來的就業(yè)前景，泰德要求隱去他的姓。他說，在6天的時間里，他給紐約州勞工部打了991個電話，最后才聯(lián)系上一個人，完成了一份網(wǎng)上申請。

According to the chart that he made by downloading his cellphone call logs into an app, 845 of those calls resulted in a busy signal.

根據(jù)他將手機(jī)通話記錄下載到一個應(yīng)用程序中的圖表，其中845個通話通話結(jié)果是占線。

"A sound I haven't heard since the '90s," he laughed.

“這種聲音我從90年代就沒聽過了，”他笑著說。

On 147 of the calls, he made it through to a message saying the line was too busy, before it severed the connection. In 68 attempts, Ted managed to make it into the automated system, but was disconnected as he was transferred to an agent.

在147個電話中，他成功接通了一條信息，說線路太忙了，然后就斷開了。在68次嘗試中，泰德成功地進(jìn)入了自動系統(tǒng)，但是當(dāng)他被轉(zhuǎn)移到一個代理時，系統(tǒng)被斷開了。

"So my last call, the 992nd call, was when I typed in my Social Security number, dialed in my pin number and instead of saying, 'We're sorry. We're too busy. Call back again,' it actually said, 'We're transferring the call to a representative.' "

“所以我的最后一個電話，第992個電話，是當(dāng)我輸入我的社會安全號碼，輸入我的密碼，(通話中)沒有說，‘對不起。系統(tǒng)繁忙。稍后再次撥通，’而是在說，我們正在把電話轉(zhuǎn)給一位代表(工作人員)。’”

He was told the wait time was between six and eight minutes.

他被告知等待時間在6到8分鐘之間。

He waited an hour.

他等了一個小時。

He was elated.

他特別激動。

In the end, "It was not six minutes," he said. "But I was gleeful for the whole time because finally, something different was happening. Even if at the end of it they disconnected me again, at least it was something different."

最后，“還不到六分鐘，”他說。“但我一直都很高興，因?yàn)榻K于，發(fā)生了一些不同的事情。即使到最后他們又給我掛斷了，至少情況有所不同。”

When Ted got through, he was told: that he is eligible for $600 per week under one provision of the CARES Act.

當(dāng)泰德接通電話時，他被告知：他有資格根據(jù)《關(guān)懷法案》的一項(xiàng)條款每周獲得600美元。

The New York labor department requires staffers to conduct phone interviews to certify eligibility for regular unemployment insurance or the federal PUA program.

紐約勞工部要求工作人員進(jìn)行電話面試，以證明他們有資格獲得常規(guī)失業(yè)保險(xiǎn)或聯(lián)邦公共事業(yè)保險(xiǎn)計(jì)劃。