Ridgefield state Representative John Frey says the state Department of Labor is providing updates on their website in response to the coronavirus pandemic.  He notes that the agency is currently working to process an unprecedented number of claims.

Unfortunately, Frey says the large number of new claims is taxing the system and delays are being reported.  To date, the agency has received more than 343,000 claims, and has released an average of $44 million per week in benefits for each of the last two weeks. The backlog to process claims remains around 5-6 weeks, however Frey says the benefits will be made retroactive to when the application was filed. 

While the federal CARES Act provides unemployment benefits to self-employed and independent contractors, the state Department of Labor is not yet set up to receive applications for these persons.