East Tennessee Area Counties Now Able to File Unemployment Claims By Phone

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development announces Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Monroe, Sevier, and Union counties in East Tennessee will be added to the telephone claims program beginning Monday April 7, 2008. Residents in those counties will now be able to file claims for unemployment insurance by telephone or using the Internet at https://www.tennesseeanytime.org/labor/.  

 “By using the telephone and internet to file claims, clients do not have to travel long distances to a claims office, complete a lot of paper forms, or stand in line for long periods of time,” said Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner James Neeley. “In addition to providing better service, this system will also reduce overhead expenses in the unemployment insurance program.”

 East Tennesseans living in Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Monroe, Sevier, and Union counties who formerly filed claims at the local Tennessee Department of Labor offices in Alcoa, Dandridge, Gatlinburg, Jacksboro, Knoxville, Newport, Oak Ridge, Talbott, Tazewell and Vonore will no longer be able to do so in those offices.  They may now file claims by telephone, Internet or mail. Residents must call 1-877-813-0950 or file on the Internet at https://www.tennesseeanytime.org/labor/ or file by mail. Before calling, a claimant should have ready his social security number, driver’s license number, and employment data for the last 18 months of employment, including employers’ addresses and phone numbers.

 Claimants are able to complete much of the benefit application via touch-tone phone. Callers are guided through a series of questions they answer by pressing numbers on the telephone keypad. They are then routed to a departmental interviewer who will complete the claims-taking process. The claimant’s handbook, other helpful information, and any follow-up documentation will be sent through the mail.

 This brings the total number of counties to 91 across the state that can now use the telephone filing process or Internet filing. Residents of these counties are no longer required to travel to a department office to file their claims.