Virginia Employment Commission, Online Unemployment Benefit Claims

Background

The mission of the Virginia Employment Commission is to promote economic growth and stability by delivering and coordinating workforce services throughout the commonwealth. The Commission is responsible for providing policy development, job placement and transition and training services as well as temporary income support and workforce information to citizens.

A long standing and highly beneficial service of VEC is the Online Unemployment Benefit Claims system. The service began as a pilot project in May 2002 between the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) and Virginia Interactive. "The Internet claims process is saving time and money for unemployment insurance claimants and for the Commonwealth," said then Governor Mark Warner. "We believe that Internet claims filings will save Virginia and its claimants more than $2 million annually. We are making unemployment insurance services more accessible to Virginia citizens -- and are enhancing the VEC's efficiency. We will continue to innovate and reform the way Virginia government operates through programs like this."

Outcome

To measure the initial effectiveness of the online unemployment benefit claim service, a customer satisfaction survey was developed. Of the 6,000 survey responses received, the service recorded a 95% overall approval rating. In particular, the convenience of the online system has resonated with users, and 93% of respondents said they would prefer to use the Internet to file future claims with the VEC.

"I was not aware of your online unemployment capabilities and being a single mom I was trying to figure out how I could make it in the office to file a claim," said one respondent. "Being online took less than 10 minutes and saved me the hassle of wasting time." Another filer was equally pleased with the Internet-based system: "It was very fast and convenient, and I don't have to wait in a line at an office. Instead, I'm on the phone networking for a new position while I fill out the online claim for benefits."

Before the online service was introduced, unemployment benefit claims could only be filed in person at a VEC office. With millions of claims filed annually, this was an enormous and costly undertaking. The Online Unemployment Benefit Claims system has indeed saved the Commonwealth many millions of dollars over the years. From 2009 through 2013, for example, it has processed over 10,350,000 weekly claims. That's an average of over two million claims annually.