Labor Dept. seeking IT provider for new online unemployment solution
The Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources is seeking an IT Solutions provider, to develop a new customizable online platform that “supports all functions and processes” of the agency’s unemployment insurance benefits program.
The solution must include unemployment tax, benefits payments, and case management features, the agency said in a press release announcing the start of the Request for Proposal process. The document may be downloaded from the Labor Department’s website, and must be submitted via e-mail by Feb. 19.
“This request for proposals has been under development for several months to include all of the technological and services that both the public and the agency expect,” Puerto Rico Labor Secretary Carlos Rivera-Santiago said.
“Our biggest interest is that the Department of Labor have a platform that integrates the highest technological level so that claimants have simple, but safe access to process their claims,” he said.
“We hope that this new system meets the needs of the public and allows us to respond in an agile way to an emergency such as that caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rivera-Santiago.
The agency is seeking an IT Solution provider firm, “with extensive experience with systems of this type in other states and/or jurisdictions of the United States.”
“Our main objective is to respond in an agile way. That has also been the biggest complaint from people. So, we’re hopeful that with a new platform we’ll offer a better service and, in turn, comply with all federal requirements,” he added.
Last year, when the federal government announced new benefits for people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Labor’s platforms crashed, and it was virtually impossible to reach agency representatives to fill out required paperwork.
