Scott Murakami, the head of the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said that 141,077 Unemployment Insurance claims were processed as of Wednesday, May 5, which represents 63% of the total claims received. Of that number, 100,602 claims were paid out.   Around 37% of the state’s workers have filed for unemployment, with more than 228,000 claims filed so far.

DLIR is asking anyone who is filing weekly certifications for their unemployment claims to file on designated days based on their last names to avoid overloading the system. The schedule is A-G (Mondays), H-O (Tuesdays), P-Z (Wednesdays), with Thursday through Sunday designated as open days for anyone.  Murakami said DLIR is also expanding its call center with an additional 150 phones to handle more questions.

Murakami also said the weekly certifications will ask if the applicant has looked for work.  He said applicants should check “Yes,” whether or not they had, as the system was not set up to deal with “No.”  Murakami said although the department has improved access for filing and certifying claims, the State’s 40-year-old mainframe computer remains cumbersome.

The State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations website has details on filing.

There is a separate application for those workers who are independent contractors or gig workers who are not eligible for the standard Unemployment Insurance for those workers laid off by an employer. Individuals whose sole income is through self-employed activities can file for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)  without first being denied for Unemployment Insurance.  However, individuals who have income from other employment, like being an employee of an employer that took taxes out of your paycheck, must file for regular UI and must be found ineligible for regular UI first, before filing for PUA,

It includes those seeking part-time employment, individuals lacking sufficient work history, and those who otherwise do not qualify for regular unemployment compensation or extended benefits.   There is a tutorial online that explains more about eligibility and about how to file for PUA  at tax.hawaii.gov/PUA, which explains how to fill out the application step by step. Once on this website, click on “PUA Application” in the left column and scroll down to read the guide before filling out the form.

To ask questions by phone, call  (833) 901-2275. A second call center will help those needing to reset passwords if they filed unemployment before and already have an account. That number is (808) 762-5751.  There is a third phone bank to assist newly out-of-work residents who do not have access to the online forms. To reach that phone bank, call (808) 762-5752.