Richmond — The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced that the organization is implementing a new unemployment insurance (UI) system designed for efficient delivery of benefits and services to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Modernizing the current UI system is a critical part of VEC’s commitment to improving the overall experience of its customers and serves as the foundation of the organization’s mission. 

 In order to complete the system conversion process, the current VEC UI System and its associated functions will be temporarily offline for all users starting September 29, 2021, at 12 noon EST. The VEC will notify users when the new system goes live the beginning of October. During this changeover period, users will be temporarily unable to complete online actions for unemployment insurance.  The Customer Contact Center will also be temporarily unavailable during this period.  There are no changes in how users receive their benefits during this time.

Customers will not be able to file initial/additional or reopened claims, weekly claims, or obtain inquiries on the IVR (telephone system) after 6 p.m. on 09/30/21, as our systems will be taken down to cutover to the new system.

Claimants and Employers can prepare for the system outage by taking any necessary time-sensitive actions prior to the changeover period. The VEC recommends filing and/or certifying weekly claims between September 26 and September 29 in order to avoid a delay in payment. Once the new system is live, users will be able to file a claim with an effective date retroactive to the day they became eligible for benefits.

Updates on the project can be found by visiting https://www.vec.virginia.gov.