Tag: Kansas Department of Labor

Gov. Laura Kelly has appointed an acting secretary of labor, Brett Flachsbarth, who is currently deputy secretary of labor.

According to the governor, Flachsbarth will serve as temporary secretary until a permanent secretary is announced.

“Brett is a Department of Labor veteran, and he knows the ins-and-outs of the issues KDOL faces,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “I’m confident he will be able to continue the progress made and ensure Kansas families receive the relief they need.”

The state Department of Labor faced challenges this past year, with unprecedented numbers of residents applying for unemployment benefits. The state was swamped with people applying for benefit, but the software at the time was not adequate to handle the demand.

At a 4 p.m. news conference, Gov. Kelly said the state continues to hear about individual cases involving the Department of Labor.

“I can tell you that things are not as bad as the anecdotal information presents to you,” she said.

The state Labor Department has processed $3.4 million in claims weekly since March, an incredible workload, according to the governor. The backlog or wait list has gone from 25,000 to 1,800, she said. They hope to eliminate the backlog by the first of the year. Tremendous progress has been made, the governor said.

The department also has instituted a fraud program, which has stopped more than 200,000 fradulent claims, according to a news release from the governor.
The department has added hundreds of new operators for the call center and has streamlined operations, according to the governor.

There are still problems, but it is how they approach problem-solving that is important, she said.

Flachsbarth has been with the KDOL since 2005, on the legal team. He was appointed deputy secretary of labor in January 2019. Hehas worked in several positions at the department. A graduate of the University of Kansas and Washburn University School of Law, he also has been involved in national efforts to enhance the effective use of technology within the unemployment insurance system.

Gov. Kelly said state law allowed a person to be appointed acting secretary for six months.

“We are in the process of seeking a permanent secretary of labor,” Gov. Kelly said.

People had trouble applying for benefits both over the phone and on the Kansas Department of Labor’s website.

by Jim McLean, Kansas News Service

Topeka, Kansas — The head of the agency that’s overseeing Kansas’ response to historic unemployment rates during the coronavirus pandemic resigned Monday.

Gov. Laura Kelly said in a statement that Kansas Department of Labor Secretary Delía García “inherited an agency that had its funding, its technology and its staff gutted by the previous administration.”

She did not say whether García’s resignation was requested, and at a news conference later Monday, she said: “I met with Secretary Garcia Sunday night, and she offered her resignation and I accepted it.”

Gov. Kelly’s release noted that more than 4,500 people received duplicate payments this month, worth $7 million total. While her release said the Department of Labor did not consult her office before trying to reverse the mistake on June 18, the governor said at the news conference that the agency was told not to reverse the mistake. It did anyway, and some people’s bank accounts were overdrawn.

“We have a responsibility to the people we represent to get it right,” Gov. Kelly said. “And when we don’t, we’ll make the changes needed to fix the problems.”

Gov. Kelly framed the move as part of “immediate action” to change the unemployment system, adding that she’ll bring in people to help “improve response times,” “implement new processes to manage the caseload” and “mitigate future backlogs and errors.”

García spent just over a year in the role as the head of the labor department, which was beset by issues when Kansas’ unemployment skyrocketed as the coronavirus shut down businesses.

More than 300,000 Kansans have lost their jobs and filed for benefits through the Department of Labor, which was understaffed and had to add four times more people to work in the call center. Plus, Kansas’ unemployment website and telephone portals weren’t designed to handle such a heavy load, so people were slow to see the money.

Senate President Susan Wagle said she was glad Gov. Kelly “finally recognized the Department of Labor is broken” and is “waiting expectantly to see what the next chapter” of the agency.

A new Kansas Department of Labor report said Kansas has regained about a fifth of the jobs lost in the initial unemployment spike.

García could not immediately be reached for comment. Before joining Kelly’s cabinet, the Democrat was the first Latina elected to the Kansas Legislature, where she was a member of the House for six years.

Ryan Wright, the governor’s deputy chief of staff and who had been the liaison with the Labor Department, will lead the agency while the state looks for a permanent replacement.

This story has been updated.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.

See more at https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-06-22/kansas-labor-secretary-resigns-after-slow-rollout-of-pandemic-unemployment-benefits.