New Jersey Lessens the Anxiety of Waiting for the Check in the Mail

 How much human creativity is squandered waiting for a check in the mail?  Anxiety ensues with every sound waiting for the mail carrier.  Sometimes, the trip to cash a check leaves you feeling frustrated that you had to spend money to get money.  Likewise that money that is meant to ease your recuperation after a surgery is actually difficult to access when leaving your home feels like a herculean task.

If you are a recruiter in information technology, it may startle you every time you realize how antiquated a current system seems.  That is what New Jersey noticed and decided to do something about.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced that its Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Family Leave Insurance (FLI) benefit programs are replacing paper checks with electronic debit cards.  The department first issued debit cards for Unemployment Insurance benefits last November. By the end of March 2011, all unemployment insurance claimants were receiving their benefits electronically through either a debit card or direct deposit to a bank account.  Now, TDI and FLI claimants will move to electronic delivery of benefits.