Like hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans, Jan Meyer lost her job at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. She filed for unemployment benefits in early April 2020, but for some reason, her claim date was April 26. She needed to get it fixed so she’d get benefits for the three weeks prior, starting on April 5, when she first filed her claim. At a time when the state Labor Department’s antiquated computer system struggled under the weight of an unprecedented number of claims, workers found it hard to get through to a human at the call center. After weeks of trying, the Union City woman finall…
