when you find yourself applying for unemployment, you’re already facing tough times, but for the last few years, Alabama has made that process even tougher. AL.com’s Sarah Whites-Koditscheck reports that just 10% of unemployed Alabamians are receiving benefits, according to federal data analyzed by the nonprofit Century Foundation. That puts Alabama second to last in the nation, following North Carolina. At the other end of the spectrum, 57% of unemployed New Jersey residents were getting benefits last year.
The problems date back several years, when the system buckled under the pandemic. It’s never worked well again. While struggling to pay people in need of support, Alabama today continues to review old payments and demand people pay back money given out during lockdown.
Alabamians recently out of work told AL.com that when they applied for unemployment, it took months for the department to do the necessary verifications with their employers –- meaning the money arrived too late.
And to make matters worse, Alabama is also still demanding that some Alabamians pay back money handed out during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, even though Gov. Kay Ivey chastised the state’s Labor Department in 2022 for demanding repayment.
And there is no easy way to argue with Alabama. As of last year, the wait to appeal a repayment demand by the Alabama Department of Labor was the longest in the nation, according to an analysis of federal data by Century Foundation. On average, it takes Alabama 685 days to hear an appeal. So almost two years for a $275 a week pay out.
