House Republicans Move UI Fraud Overpayment Recovery Legislation through Ways and Means Committee
On Tuesday, February 28th, the House Ways and Means Committee held a mark-up that included HR 1163, the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act. H.R.1163 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): To provide incentives for States to recover fraudulently paid Federal and State unemployment compensation, and for other purposes. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress In a vote along party lines the committee [...]
US House Republicans Propose Legislation to Improve Unemployment Fraud and Overpayment Recovery
On Friday, February 24, 2023, House republican leadership introduced the Protecting Taxpayers and Victims of Unemployment Fraud Act. The bill is intended to provide states with incentives to investigate and recover lost funds, fight and prevent future fraud, and extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting fraud. See the release from the House Ways and Means Committee below. The bill [...]
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 [...]