avoiding unwanted scrutiny against unemployment insurance laws
TRANSCRIPT
What’s going on
• US Department of Labor’s Unemployment Compensation Integrity Act
• Signed by President Obama in 2010
• Was intended to address the issue of employer indifference to the program
What to expect
• States were required to pass laws to punish employers who did not respond to UI claims “adequately”
• States are requiring more information to be provided and the initial stage of the UI claims process
Non relief of non-‐charging
Benefits already paid to the claimant has received prior to a UI
hearing
The UI Hearing officers reverse a previous
decision by the deputy which earlier allowed
benefits
Claimant ceases to receive benefits for future weeks, however the employer’s SUTA account does not receive an abatement of charging for benefits of prior weeks.
Request for separa@on
informa@on by State Agency Adjudica@on by
State Deputy
Considera@on by a UI Hearing Officer
Non-‐relief of benefit charges
Weeks Paid to claimant
Future benefits from the employer
Claimant does not need to payback benefits
$
What triggered this law
• Unscrupulous Third-‐party-‐Administrators (TPA)
• State Agencies looking for a scapegoat for shoddy UI decisions
• Circumvent having to collect overpayment
What is .mely?
Was the employer late in responding to the request for separa.on informa.on at the ini.al stage?
What is adequate?
• Assortment of HR documents • Write-‐ups, warnings • Copy of policies • Responding to state agency calls
What is adequate (cont.)
• Claimants are always provided the benefit of the doubt
• If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen • Don’t over engineer it • Focus on the direct-and-proximate cause • Make it very clear that termination is the likely
next step • Get witness statements • Give the employee an opportunity to offer
comments on write ups
.
What is a paNern
• States have different definition of a “pattern of failure”
• Calendar year period • In most states it is 2 or more instances
• In some states it is only once (ie: Hawaii)
Poll Ques.on
Have you ever responded to an unemployment insurance claim that you did NOT want to protest the claim?
Compliance
• The emphasis that employers need to consider when approaching UI claims management
• Cost-control is secondary
How is it being enforced?
• Currently, Texas has been the first to develop enforcement procedures
• An issue of adequacy is automatically set by the Texas Workforce Commission when employer files an appeal
Why?
By preventing the employer from filing an appeal to an unfavorable decision, a state agency does not have to engage in collection efforts on claimants who are on the losing side of a UI appeal
• Employers must adopt quality HR procedures
• Inconvenience on employers
• Documenta.on will be required
• Uncompromising deadlines
Challenges for employers
• Employers may no longer have the option to “opt out” of the UI process
• It is the “gotcha” game
Challenges for employers (cont)
Op.ons for employers
• Employers will now have to be much more selec.ve when considering filing an appeal
• Only appeal unfavorable decisions in which the employer knows that they have provided adequate informa.on
• Cannot include addi.onal documenta.on for the UI hearing that was not previously included in the ini.al claim response
• Ques.oning the appealing of decisions that were awarded to the claimant and the employers ini.al response was shoddy
How it impacts UI claims management
IMPORTANT!
We have to adopt a proactive approach to UI claims management:
• Hiring and interviewing (bad hiring decision = another UI claim)
• Performance evaluations • Documentation • Terminations
What all this means?
• UI claims management is shifting away from a primary concern of cost control to compliance
• If in compliance, than the rate will reflect that change
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