Check in the mail for jobless Nevadans, or they can wait in line

Nevadans receiving unemployment benefits likely will experience delays at the end of this month because state officials are in the process of switching to a new computer system.

However, recipients can cut down the delay time if they personally deliver their biweekly claim card to a local Employment Service office on Monday or Tuesday.

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation's Employment Security Division plans the install the new millennium-compliant computer system next week.

It will require taking the existing system off line while the new system is tested.

About 18,000 people statewide receive unemployment benefits, including 4,000 in Washoe County.

ESD spokeswoman Karen Rhodes said the division plans to spend 16 hours a day hand processing the claims and is hoping no long lines will result. She said better parking and access to the Sparks office should make that site less congested, but warned that lines will likely be long at the Reno office.

"The system is designed to bring the division into the year 2000 without the millennium bug wreaking havoc on the unemployment insurance system," Rhodes told the Daily Sparks Tribune.

Nevada ESD purchased the software program from its counterpart in Utah.

About one-third of state unemployment agencies already are using the program which contains thousands of lines of code. But the program has to be adapted to conditions unique to Nevada, requiring extensive labor by ESD staff and programmers, Rhodes said.

There is no way of knowing how long checks will be delayed if they are not hand delivered during the two-day window of opportunity, she said.

"If the system is bug-free, checks will only be a couple of days late," Rhodes said, "but if there are problems, who knows?"

"Truthfully, I don't expect the system to be bug free. If Microsoft can't release a bug-free program, we're not likely to either."

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