U-M law clinic meets high demand for unemployment benefit assistance

FACULTY Q&A Workers nationwide have struggled to receive unemployment benefits during the global pandemic that forced many businesses and organizations to close. Navigating through numerous phone calls for help and online snafus have frustrated many people, especially as government leaders seek to open businesses to revive an economy on life support. Rachael Kohl directs the University of Michigan Workers' Rights Project, a free law clinic that helps workers get unemployment benefits. Now in its 10th year, the clinic's students and staff have answered questions from more than 3,000 claimants-and the number continues to grow. Why have many states nationwide struggled to process claims in a timely manner? State agencies are under-resourced. Typically, the federal government pays for the state's administration costs based on the prior quarters' unemployment rate. Because unemployment exploded overnight, even with the additional administrative funding per the federal legislation (the CARES Act), the state agencies started this crisis extremely understaffed.