While millions of people lost their jobs in New York, the Cuomo government paid people from abroad at low wages to process their jobless claims, the Post wrote.
One company that does work for the state Department of Labor, Provalus, has an office in Jasper, Texas; Manning, South Carolina; and Brewton, Alabama – and the company pays entry-level workers for only $ 9 per hour, sources with the company told The Post.
That’s far lower than the New York minimum wage – $ 15 an hour in the city and $ 12.50 up north.
However, state workers who are sunbathing are happy to get money from New York.
“We are in Texas. It is very exciting for many people to be employed and help New Yorkers and fellow Americans,” said Christine Gobert, site administrator who works on New York unemployment insurance claims.
Manning Major Julia Wilson even posted Provalus recruitment field on its Facebook page.
“Provalus, in partnership with the State of New York, is looking to employ ENTRY RESOURCES to support the New York State Unemployment Office. This position is a full-time position with hourly rates starting at $ 9 / hour, “the May 3 post said.
A worker at the Provalus data center in Manning, S.C., said he was hired on Sunday a few weeks ago and began handling unemployment claims for New Yorkers two days later.
In an internal e-chat exchange between Provalus workers, it was revealed that 159 employees were assigned to handle New York unemployment claims.
During the conversation, one employee said as many as 800 workers might be involved, while including three other state companies also under contract or subcontract with the New York State Department of Labor.
“I don’t think these people know about us from an outsourcing company,” said a data entry specialist about unemployed New Yorkers in e-chat.
Workers in South Carolina specifically handle claims that are withheld because they contain incomplete or incorrect information. New York workers must revise their claims so they can be approved, said the worker who spoke to The Post.
New York’s decision to outsource some jobless claims while two million New Yorkers are unemployed.
“There is no reason why we send up to 2,000 jobs out of New York while 2 million New Yorkers are unemployed,” said Assemblyman David DiPietro, a Republican from Buffalo.
Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) said, “I am confused why they have to hire state workers when we have so many people who need jobs in New York.”
A northern physical therapist at the Saint Lawrence Health System who took leave last month and applied for unemployment benefits said he was stunned.
“I am going through an online process. I did it over the telephone, called two days later and initially he was [claims processor] said I was ready. I am not ready. They say, ‘keep calling and calling and calling.’ Finally, I contacted someone and I had to talk to him. He said, ‘Oh, you have to work with my wife and we have to have a casual chat,’ said the woman, who only wanted to be identified as Terri S.
He said the claims processor spent time discussing his wife’s hip problem.
“Then he said, ‘One of the disclaimers is that we live in Omaha, Nebraska.'”
“After that, I thought, ‘Wow. We have millions of unemployed people in New York. Why is he the one who called me? “Terri said.
The Department of Labor has no direct comment on how many contract workers are employed outside the country of employment.
DOL has also recruited thousands of additional workers to assist in the claim process, with a total of 3,100 public and private employees, up from 400 workers employed by staff before the pre-pandemic.
The fighting department has paid $ 9.2 billion in unemployment insurance benefits to two million New Yorkers who have filed unemployment claims since the start of the COVID outbreak, when the country was locked down and imposed distancing social rules.
Measures to contain killer bugs cause massive unemployment when Broadway theaters, hotels, restaurants and retail stores and mom and pop shops close.
The department was initially overwhelmed by a tidal wave of claims, which caused the website portal to crash and telephone lines to a standstill.
Then move quickly to hire thousands of additional workers to begin cleaning up the pile of claims.
