Filed under: Human Resources, Landrum, Landrum Lagniappe | Tags: employees, Florida, Human Resources, PEO, Unemployment
Gayle Meacham, PHR
Unemployment Compensation Administrator
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) is a federal unemployment program that provides benefits to individuals who have exhausted regular state benefits. As well-publicized by the press, the program has been modified or extended several times. Most recently, on July 22, 2010, the President signed the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010, which extended the expiration date of the EUC program to November 30, 2010. In some ways this seems not only an extension of benefits, but an expansion of unemployment insurance (UI) woes.
For some people, EUC has been a lifeline; however, the repeated program extensions seem to have created an attitude of “entitlement” versus “insurance.” State agencies report that fraudulent claims and uncollected overpayments have increased dramatically. Martha Johnson, Alabama Department of Industrial Relations, recently reported that every person in the agency with unemployment insurance experience spends two hours each day focusing on overpayments and fraudulent claims.
Some individuals seem to have an unclear interpretation of a simple question such as, “Did you work or have any earnings?” For example, one person who accumulated a sizable overpayment recently argued that she didn’t think she had to report earnings from a temporary help firm assignment. Claimants who file fraudulent claims give varying excuses. Here are a few of the actual excuses reported by claimants:
• I was desperate.
• I will pay it back when I get a job.
• You don’t know what a tough time I was having.
• I didn’t do anything wrong. The state made a mistake.
• It wasn’t a guaranteed job.
• I didn’t know how I was going to be paid.
Keep in mind, employers cannot be excused from their contribution to the UI woes. Some employers erroneously classify workers as “contract” workers. However, when one of those workers files for unemployment and no wages have been reported, red flags start flying. If the determination is made that a claimant should have been an “employee,” the result is back taxes and penalties.
Adding to the mix of UI woes, overpayments are also fueled by state agency inefficiencies. While agencies might argue lack of funding, lack of manpower, etc., the fact remains that overpayments result when an unemployment claim is not promptly and properly determined. By the time an employer detects an incorrect charge to the tax account, the claimant likely has been paid benefits to which he/she was not entitled. While there are provisions for recoupment of improper benefits, the amount of uncollected funds is staggering.
So, is EUC an extension of benefits—or and expansion of woes? A much talked about topic nowadays is “UI Integrity.” It appears integrity is needed across the board — the agency, the employer, and the unemployed individual.
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Gayle Meacham is the Unemployment Compensation Administrator for Landrum Companies. She is a certified professional in human resources (PHR) and has more than twenty years of human resources experience, specializing in unemployment compensation.
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