In a display of the state’s customer refocus, the Labor Department is expanding operating hours — even taking the rare step of being open every Saturday in January — to handle seasonably heavy volume of jobless claims.
The agency’s TeleBenefits call centers will be staffed from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 7 to provide assistance to callers who need to speak to a live person to file an initial claim or reopen one, authorities said.
To further assist callers, the agency’s call centers are open extended hours, from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
On Fridays, the centers are open 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The agency’s Call Centers will also be open on subsequent Saturdays in January to assist claimants that need to file for benefits.
Labor Commissioner Glenn Marshall said the new year typically is backlogged with initial and recurring jobless claims. So far, the agency is processing more than 112,000 claims weekly, Marshall said.
Information also can be found at the Labor Department’s Web site, www.ct.gov/dol.
