HARRISBURG — Complaints are mounting over Pennsylvania’s new online system for filing appeals in workers’ compensation cases, with critics saying hearings are being delayed because the system often cannot upload documents or sometimes makes paperwork disappear, a newspaper reported Monday.

A state Department of Labor and Industry spokesman said the agency is working on clearing glitches from the system created by Deloitte Consulting LLC. Glitches are to be expected with the advent of a big, new online system, and the system ultimately will make the process more efficient, said the spokesman, Sara Goulet.

She could not say when the problems will be fixed.

“We’re working on it every day,” Goulet said.

Lawyers, judges and others who use the system say injured workers are unable to get hearings amid a backlog of cases. In some cases, lawyers for workers, employers and insurance companies are not being notified of decisions, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, judges or their staffs have been unable to upload important documents into the online system.

“The intent was good, but the delivery has failed,” said Philadelphia attorney Leonard A. Cohen, who represents injured workers and sits on a steering committee helping the state oversee the system’s introduction. “We are all in favor of hanging in here. But in the meantime, the (new software) is causing the system to almost come to a halt.”

The system debuted Sept. 9 and was designed by Deloitte on a $45 million contract. Goulet said the department recently signed Deloitte to a separate contract to oversee routine maintenance and enhancements to the system.