Social Security Administration Inspector General Releases Report
Report Recommends SSA Access Workers' Comp Data to Apply Offset On September 18, 2023, the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report of its review of the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) offset for workers’ compensation and public disability benefits. The report recommended that SSA Determine whether SSA made inaccurate WC/PDB offset determinations and improperly [...]
USDOL Requests Comments on Overpayment and Fraud Reporting
On September 12, 2023, the US Department of Labor posted a notice requesting comments on ETA 227. This form is used for quarterly data collection concerned with identifying fraud. Data cells describe fraud identified through tools (State and National Directories of New Hires) and breaks out fraud cases in the Federal-State Extended Benefits program. See the notice posting at 2023-19553.pdf [...]
USDOL Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs Posts Notice of Proposed Rules for Longshore Civil Monetary Penalties
On September 12, 2023, the US DOL Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) posted new rules in the Federal Register with respect to Civil Monetary Penalties for failure to report. Background of This Rulemaking On April 28, 2020, OWCP hosted a public outreach webinar to solicit stakeholders' views on how OWCP could improve its processes. See E.O. 13563, sec. 2(c) (January [...]
Strikes Raise UI Legal Questions
In recent weeks there have been news reports about labor disputes in the entertainment industry and the auto industry. Union representatives have advocated for the payment of unemployment compensation to individuals who are striking despite the accepted norm that individuals who become unemployed due to a labor dispute and are not available for work are not eligible for unemployment compensation. [...]
New Jersey Act Sets New Reporting Requirements and Penalties for Employers (NJ S2357)
On November 3, 2022, the New Jersey legislature enacted S 2357 concerning the timely payment of unemployment compensation and amending unemployment law with respect to employer reporting, notices, determination of overpayments and recovery of overpaid benefit amounts. The amendments enacted in this legislation become effective July 31, 2023. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development recently posted a [...]
US DOL Cancels Much of the Funding for UI Modernization due to the Fiscal Responsibility Act
On July 13, 2023, USDOL announced that much of the UI Modernization funding to states was being cancelled. See Cancellation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Related Guidance, including Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 22-21, Change 2; UIPL No. 23-21, Change 5; UIPL No. 02-22, Change 3; and UIPL No. 07-23 (dol.gov) The UIPL cancels the series of previous program [...]