Our Office examined payment requests processed by the Department of Labor for the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefit and related Unemployment Insurance programs during the period April 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009. The objective of our examination was to determine whether payment requests are free from processing errors and comply with applicable Federal and State laws and DOL regulations. We found 16 instances where it appeared someone obtained UI benefit payments through illegal acts, including 14 individuals who collected $12,268 in unemployment insurance benefits by certifying a claimant’s eligibility after the claimant died. We also found 772 payment requests either did not comply with applicable Federal and State laws and DOL regulations or were processed in error. This resulted in DOL’s approving $362,571 in overpayments to claimants. Of this we stopped $71,907 before payment. We also prevented an additional $247,841 in overpayments when DOL took corrective action with the errors we identified. In addition, our matching the DOL UI Benefit Overpayment Accounts Receivable file to the New York State Payroll file led to the recovery of $355,102 in UI benefits overpaid to New York State employees and identified $91,391 in future recoveries from newly hired employees. DOL Officials agreed with our recommendations and have pursued recovery of overpayments identified.
For a complete copy of Report 2009-BSE-3A-004, click here.