Unemployment checks may be in the mail, but there’s going to be a delay.

Saturday, February 16, 2002

Unemployment checks may be in the mail, but there’s going to be a delay.

The processing and mailing of about 50,000 unemployment compensation checks will be backed up a few days this week because of a computer hardware problem, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Wednesday in a prepared statement released to the media on the department’s Web site.

A power supply in the Unemployment Compensation computer system failed Monday evening. According to the department, engineers from Unisys replaced the power supply, but the system still did not resume operation. Additional technical staff from Unisys arrived in Columbus Wednesday to work with ODJFS staffers to repair the system as quickly as possible.

"We take most seriously our responsibility to provide Unemployment Compensation checks to families," ODJFS Director Tom Hayes said. "We’re putting forth every effort, and working around the clock, to ensure this delay is kept to a bare minimum."

As a result of the power failure, about 50,000 checks that were supposed to be processed Monday and Tuesday evenings and mailed the following mornings were not processed.

The department expected the problem to be fixed Wednesday, meaning the checks would be processed that evening and mailed this morning.

Under this scenario, all three days worth of checks would be mailed today.

The computer system dates to the 1980s and is scheduled for replacement next year.