Unemployment Insurance (UI) Improper Payments

Progress

In the past few years the Department has increased efforts to reduce improper payments by addressing the most common causes. People continuing to make claims even after returning to work make up close to 30% of all improper payments. Failing to register with the state employment service or meet state work search requirements makes up nearly another 30%. And untimely or inaccurate separation information from employers or third party administrators adds up to nearly 20%.

In many cases these are problems that can be addressed by providing and sharing information better. To address inaccurate or untimely information on separations, DOL has already helped Utah, Georgia, Colorado, New Jersey and Ohio implement the State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES), which allows electronic transmission of UI information requests from state agencies to multi-state employers and third party administrators. To address the issue of continuing claimants after they return to work, DOL has encouraged the use of the National Directory of New Hires to electronically identify who has returned to work. DOL is also providing messaging to claimants to make them aware of their responsibilities. In addition, we also announced a new pilot project using financial monitoring services to identify unusual payroll deposits.

Improved information sharing and targeted assistance to the states who need it most is working. Eight of the states with the highest Employment Service registration error rates have now seen a reduction of more than 35%.

Key:
	Complete
	On Track
	Not on Track

State	Cross-Functional Task Force	SQSP / Strategic Plan Development	NDNH Standard Operating Procedures	SIDES	Claimant	Employer Messaging	ES Registration	Implementation of Performance Measures	State-Specific Strategies	Using TOP
Alabama
Alaska										**
Arkansas							*
Arizona							*
California							*			**
Colorado							*			**
Connecticut							*
District of Columbia							*
Delaware							*
Florida							*
Georgia
Hawaii							*
Iowa							*
Idaho							*
Illinois							*
Indiana										**
Kansas							*
Kentucky							*
Louisiana
Massachusetts							*			**
Maryland							*
Maine							*			**
Michigan							*
Minnesota							*
Missouri							*			**
Mississippi
Montana							*			**
North Carolina							*
North Dakota							*			**
Nebraska										**
New Hampshire							*			**
New Jersey							*
New Mexico										**
Nevada							*
New York							*
Ohio
Oklahoma							*			**
Oregon							*
Pennsylvania							*
Puerto Rico							*
Rhode Island							*			**
South Carolina							*			**
South Dakota							*
Tennessee
Texas							*			**
Utah							*
Virginia							*			**
Vermont							*
Washington							*
Wisconsin							*
West Virginia
Wyoming							*			**

* For FY 2011 activities, Employment Service registration is not a core strategy for states with an error rate below 3% (based on Jan-Dec 2010 data).
** For FY 2011, TOP implementation was not a core activity required of states.

Strategies

Learn more about the nine core strategies to reduce improper payments.

Progress

Track state plans and implementation.

Data

Download recent and historic improper payment data.

Tools

Download products for communicating with UI claimants and employers.