House Ways and Means Hearing Demonstrates the Need for UI Integrity and Accountability
On February 8th, the US House Ways and Means Committee held a compelling hearing reviewing the dramatic increase in UI and temporary unemployment benefit programs enacted in response to COVID-19. The hearing, entitled “Hearing on the Greatest Theft of Tax Payer Dollars: Unchecked Unemployment Fraud” included testimony from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the USDOL Office of Inspector General (OIG), [...]
UWC Asks USDOL to Delete UI and Workers’ Comp from “Employee” and “Independent Contractor” Definitions in proposed FLSA Rules
On December 12, 2022, UWC submitted comments to the US Department of Labor asking that references to UI and Workers’ Compensation in the definition of “employee” and “independent contractor” be removed. (see attached).The comments make the fundamental points that. The US Department of Labor is not authorized under the FLSA to adopt rules under which to determine whether individuals are [...]
US DOL Considers and Rejects ABC Test for Employee Classification
On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, the United States Department of Labor released a proposed rule designed to more specifically define the circumstances under which an individual may be classified as an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. See 2022-21454.pdf (federalregister.gov). The proposal has been viewed by some commentators as intended to restrict the use of [...]
State CARES Act Program Reporting Failures May Raise Audit and Corrections Issues
On August 2, 2022 the US DOL Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an Alert Memo from the Assistant Inspector General for Audit indicating that many states had not submitted reports required under the CARES Act or had reported no activity for periods in which the programs were in operation. See FINAL ALERT MEMO STATES COMPLIANCE CARES ACT (dol.gov) Although the USDOL [...]
Republican Leaders Introduce Bill to Avoid Unemployment Fraud and Recover Overpayments
On June 9, 2022, US House Republican Leadership announced legislation to improve the financing and systems used to address UI fraud, benefit integrity and overpayment recovery. The “Chase COVID Unemployment Fraud Act of 2022” includes the following provisions. Incentivizes states to recover fraudulent unemployment payments. • Allows states to retain 25 percent of federal funds recovered from federal COVID unemployment programs. [...]
States Planning to Reduce Employer Tax Burden from the Pandemic
The first quarter state UI contributions have been received for the most part, enabling states to increase state UI trust fund account balances, and pay off or pay down unemployment trust fund account loan balances. For states with outstanding loan balances there remains an amount of interest to be paid that is due on September 30, 2022. See https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/tfmp/tfmp_advactivitiessched.htm Interest Payment [...]