WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) - Molokai’s unemployment office is losing its sole employee, leaving residents on the island with the state’s highest unemployment rate without access to face-to-face services when filing claims.
Chocho Kaupu was set to retire Tuesday after more than 30 years on the job. No one has been hired to fill the vacancy, The Maui News reported (https://bit.ly/2jRBZMD ).
“We’re not closing the office,” said Linda Chu Takayama, director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. “We’re just not at this point immediately filling this position … we don’t have the funding stream solidified.”
Takayama said residents can still access unemployment services online and by phone.
“It’s faster, easier and more efficient for all the parties involved,” Takayama said. “There are a lot of people out there who are able to get whatever benefits and services they need without physically having to come to the office.”
But Hawaii Rep. Lynn DeCoite said some things needed to be handled face-to-face. She has suggested having the department request funding from Hawaii’s congressional delegation to hire a replacement for Kaupu.
“Once that ask is made, then I am willing to work with DLIR on our end,” DeCoite said.
Molokai’s unemployment rate was 5.4 percent in December, according to statistics from the department. That compares to the state’s 2.9 percent unemployment rate reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Molokai may have the state’s highest unemployment rate, but the number of annual claims “is rather small,” Takayama said.
Last year, 9,077 people in Maui County qualified for benefits, including 8,284 on Maui, 568 on Molokai and 225 from Lanai. Many of the claimants have gotten jobs, moved away or exhausted their benefits, leaving about 50 active claims a year on Molokai.
“In terms of the workload, maybe it doesn’t signify having a full-time staffer there,” Takayama said.
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Information from: The Maui News, https://www.mauinews.com
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