The Virginia Employment Commission is offering unemployment assistance to individuals who lost their job or business due to the destruction of Hurricane Helene.

A Yankee Candle outlet in Blairs could be closing soon, leaving many without a job.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has named Carrie Roth as head of the Virginia Employment Commission, which has had trouble processing and paying nearly 2 million unemployment benefit claims during the pandemic.

A Virginia man is fighting to hang on to $9,000 in unemployment benefits that the state gave him when his compressor plant closed in 2018.

The Virginia Employment Commission shut down its claims system in an effort to launch a new and improved one.

A review has found persistent problems at the Virginia Employment Commission since the pandemic began.

In May, a judge ordered the Virginia Employment Commission to resolve a backlog of unemployment cases by Labor Day.

More southwest Virginia residents who prosecutors say conspired with dozens of others to file fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits have pleaded guilty.

VEC claim processing backlog reduced to 40,000

Workers at the beleaguered Virginia Employment Commission are still responding to only a "small portion" of calls for help related to unemployment benefits, a state official told lawmakers Tuesday, presenting troubling preliminary findings from an ongoing agency audit.

The Virginia Poverty Law Center says they believe there are 30,000 new claims piling up on that backlog.

If you're receiving unemployment benefits -- there's something new to keep in mind. You're now required to submit your job search to the Virginia Employment Commission.

On Tuesday, a judge signed an order requiring the Virginia Employment Commission to speed up the processing of unemployment claims.

Virginians who filed for unemployment may not have to wait as long as anticipated to receive benefits.

Legislators don’t want to wait until fall for a report on the Virginia Employment Commission’s progress in processing unemployment claims.

The class-action lawsuit alleges plaintiffs stopped receiving benefits from the Virginia Employment Commission due to “failures in the insurance systems.”

The Virginia Employment Commission says that jobless workers collecting unemployment compensation will soon have to look for jobs again to receive benefits.

RICHMOND, Va. – After being threatened with a lawsuit, Virginia has begun paying unemployment benefits to tens of thousands of people whose claims had previously been on hold because they were awaiting a staff review. State officials decided to go ahead and pay the applicants while their claims make their way through the determination process. A spokeswoman for the Virginia Employment Commission says payments started going out Tuesday night. The move will certainly be a relief for many Virginians. But if the determination process finds the recipients were not due the money, they will have to pay it back, possibly along with interest and fees.

(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. A program that provided extended unemployment benefits to out-of-work Virginians will end Saturday. The Virginia Employment Commission on Wednesday announced the end of the state’s Extended Benefits program. The federally-funded program provided up to an addition 13 weeks of benefits to people who had already exhausted their regular benefits and any Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits. It is ending because employment in Virginia has improved and no longer meets a federal threshold for the program to be funded.

A Virginia state agency that has faced criticism for its handling of an unprecedented flood of claims for unemployment benefits has hired a well-connected lobbying and communications firm to help with public relations, according to a purchase order. Dozens of Democratic Virginia lawmakers called for reforms at the agency last week, saying in a letter that they were worried about its ability to "adequately address" the high volume of claims sparked by the COVID-19 crisis. Republican state lawmakers and Democratic U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin have also separately raised concerns. The legislators say their offices have been flooded with calls and emails from constituents having trouble accessing unemployment benefits or reaching anyone at the commission for help. A persistent complaint from laid-off workers has been with getting in touch with the commission by phone.

ROANOKE, Va. - Furloughed Norfolk Southern workers may be feeling a little better tonight thanks to help from their local union. The 130 Roanoke workers had the opportunity to stop by the union office Friday and meet with employers and representatives from the Virginia Employment Commission. That means a lot," furloughed employee John Thornsberry said. "We're trying to bring everybody here together and try to get these men and women working as soon as possible," International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 165 President Ed Matney said. Norfolk Southern says the furlough is due to fewer locomotives being used.