Unemployed in Louisiana? Benefits Not Being Paid While Site Down

So, it looks like the check is not in the mail.  If you are currently one of the thousands of unemployed adults in Louisiana, insult has just been added to injury.

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You are probably at one of the lowest points of your life, totally dependent on your unemployment benefits while you desperately seek a new job, and now the State of Louisiana has informed you that those benefits will be delayed through no fault of their own.

Regardless of who's fault it is, you need your money, but it could be a bit before those funds are in your hands.

Unemployment Benefits Site Is Under Cyberattack

According to wafb.com, the Louisiana Workforce Commission is one of the many state unemployment offices serviced by the company, Geographic Solutions, and due to an attempted malware attack on their "HiRE" website, the site is down and could be out for another day or two.

Going to the Louisiana Workforce Commission's website, laworks.net, you'll see this message at the top of the page.

VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE

Our HiRE site is down due to technical difficulties.

During this time our call center will remain open for any questions or concerns you may have.
To file a weekly certification for benefits, call 1-866-783-5567 and follow the appropriate prompts.

The HiRE website is the one needed to file unemployment claims, job searches and other important functions and according to the LWC, this outage is affecting nearly 11,000 people in Louisiana alone, but it's also used by approximately forty other states and Washington D.C. so hundreds of thousands are likely without the service.

When Will This Be Fixed?

Officials state that work continues around the clock and hope to have the site restored in the next 24 to 48 hours, but cautions that payments will be delayed.  LWC will continue to provide updates on their homepage and social media as information becomes available.