Tennessee is suspending paying unemployment benefits to at least 12,000 unemployed workers due to a computer network breakdown by the vendor that handles the data processing for the state’s unemployment benefits program.
The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said that it cannot access jobless claims data to make weekly unemployment benefit payments until its contract vendor, Geographic Solutions Inc., is able to restore network service for the state’s unemployment system and labor data exchange, known as Jobs4TN.gov.
State Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, the chairman of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, said the state’s labor department should have had a backup system to avoid such a shutdown in services.
“With a recession looming, it is unacceptable that Tennesseans cannot receive the unemployment benefits they deserve,” Bailey said in a statement Wednesday. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time there have been failures in the system. The Department of Labor needs a backup plan, so they are not completely dependent on a system proven to be unreliable.”
Bailey said Gov. Bill Lee’s administration should make it a priority to ensure Tennesseans receive benefits in a timely manner.