MACON, Ga. — We've been getting questions and phone calls from people across Central Georgia having problems with unemployment payments. One of them is a Warner Robins man who hasn't worked in almost two months.
Sean Dinkins says he hasn't worked since March 29, and he filed for unemployment almost immediately.
Now, it's been almost two months and he says he has yet to receive a single payment from the Georgia Department of Labor.
"It's just like a dead end, everything I try is just a dead end," he says.
Dinkins is a father of three who worked full time as a cook at a restaurant.
For the last eight weeks, he's been waiting on unemployment money. "Right now, I'm kind of hesitant to cut my air conditioning on because I don't know how high the bill is gonna go and I can't afford to pay. My wife can't do it by herself with the job she's doing right now, so it's putting me in a really bad bind."
Dinkins says his employer filed for him and he received an email on April 16 that his claim was processed, but since then, he hasn't been able to get in touch with anyone to help.
"I can't do what I'm supposed to do as a man, pay bills on time, to have everything that my kids need, everything that my wife needs, the normal to take care of your family and I can't do that right now," says Dinkins.
Dinkins is not the only one... When we called the state department of labor number on the website, it asks you to leave a voicemail because of high call volumes....
Financial advisor Sherri Goss says this is a nationwide problem, but there are some things to double check with your claim status online.
She says once you get a confirmation email from the Department of Labor saying your claim was approved, you need to log in with your assigned PIN number to check your claim status.
Also, she says to make sure that you put your direct deposit information into the website correctly.
Goss adds that it's important to know whether your employer will be filing for you or if you can file as an individual.
To check your unemployment claim status, you can check the Georgia Department of Labor website.
We also called the Department of Labor's Macon, Houston County, and Atlanta offices but did not receive a response.
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