US DOL Unemployment Weekly Claims Report
| Seasonally Adjusted (SA) Initial Claims Volume | Change from Prior Week | Year over Year Change in SA Initial Claims Volume | Unadjusted Insured UI Rate | Insured UI Volume | Year over Year Change in
Insured UI Volume |
||
| 2/12/2022 | 248,000 | +23,000 | -599,000 | 2/05/2022 | 1.4% | 1,975,407 | -2,995,921 |
| 2/13/2021 | 847,000 | -16,000 | 2/06/2021 | 3.5% | 4,971,328 |
For more information, please visit https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20220280.pdf
US DOL – States Can Issue Waivers to Relieve UI Overpayment Burden for Claimants Not at Fault
- The US DOL issued guidance to State Workforce Agencies on five scenarios where the state may waive the recovery of unemployment overpayments. While the burden still falls on the claimant to take actions, this is good news for those individuals who may be faced with significant overpayments through no fault of their own. The five scenarios are:
- An individual responded “no” to being able and available for work and the state issued payment for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation without adjudicating the eligibility issue.
- An individual was eligible for payment and the state issued payment at a higher rate Weekly Benefit Amount under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
- The individual responded “no” to being unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work due to the approved coronavirus-related reasons, and the state paid Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. When asked to self-certify, the individual did not respond or confirmed that none of the approved coronavirus-related reasons applied and the state issued payment, resulting in overpayment for the week.
- The individual submitted required proof of earnings used to calculate Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Weekly Benefit Amount and the state incorrectly processed the calculation resulting in a higher weekly benefit amount under the PUA program.
- The individual submitted proof of self-employment earnings to establish eligibility for Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation Program and the state incorrectly processed the information, resulting in overpayment.
For a complete copy of the US DOL press release, please visit https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20220207
US DOL – Federal Unemployment Tax Increases Likely for Employers in Nine States for 2022
Many states have borrowed federal funds to pay for the surge in unemployment benefit claims caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the federal unemployment tax impact may be delayed until 2022.
Nine states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands have loan balances that did not have balances at the start of 2020, according to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, & Pennsylvania.
For a state to be assessed a FUTA credit reduction, it must have a balance from the federal unemployment tax account on January 1st of two consecutive years and on November 10th of the year that the reduction would be assessed.
States that started borrowing in 2020 would be assessed a credit reduction of 0.30% for 2022 if balances remain January 1, 2021; January 1, 2022; and November 10, 2022, with the additional amounts due January 31, 2023. The credit reductions would raise federal unemployment tax costs per employee to $63 from $42 for employers in affected states.
CALIFORNIA – COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave Extended through September 30, 2022
- California Governor Newsom signed new legislation that ensures employees continue to have access to up to 80 hours of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave through September 30, 2022. This leave may be used by employees who have been advised to quarantine, those caring for COVID-impacted family members, attending a COVID-19 vaccination appointment, and more. The legislation covers employers with 25 or more workers and is retroactive to January 1, 2022. For more specifics on the legislation signed, please visit https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB114
MARYLAND – Unemployment Insurance Scams on the Rise
- Maryland State Police have uncovered a scheme where fraudsters are asking legitimate claimants to log into a fake website so they can capture the user’s information and use it to steal UI benefits or divert benefits into the fraudster’s bank account. The claimant will receive a SMS text message asking them to log in to their account to perform some action. The MD Department of Labor does not provide UI assistance via text message, nor will they send any links in a text. For more information on this fraud scheme or for recommended steps, please visit https://news.maryland.gov/msp/2022/02/16/maryland-state-police-department-of-labor-warn-of-rise-in-unemployment-insurance-scams/
MINNESOTA – Senate Approves Plan to Repay Federal Loans
- On February 14, the MN Senate approved a plan to use $2.7 billion to repay federal loans and replenish the state’s trust fund total up to $1.3 billion. If this plan, now in the House under review, passes by March 15, 2022, MN employers will not see a tax hike for 2022. Without this funding, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) calculates it would take nearly 10 years of additional higher taxes on businesses to replenish the UI trust funds in order to end the federal government tax penalty.
WEST VIRGINIA – Taxable Wage Base Will Decrease for 2022
- West Virginia will decrease the taxable wage base for taxable employers to $9,000 retroactive to January 1, 2022. The previous taxable wage was set at $12,000 per employee and is reviewed annually. If the reserve in the state’s trust fund exceeds $220 million on February 15 of each year, the state can adjust the wage base to $9,000 per employee for that tax year.
