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UI Integrity / Improper Payments Joint Federal/State Task Force

UI Integrity / Improper Payments Joint Federal/State Task Force. State Presentation: IOWA. October 28, 2011. Areas of National Focus:. Benefit Year Earnings (BYE): Root Causes Identified: Agency Causes Failure to properly investigate earnings in a timely manner

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UI Integrity / Improper Payments Joint Federal/State Task Force

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  1. UI Integrity / Improper PaymentsJoint Federal/State Task Force State Presentation: IOWA October 28, 2011

  2. Areas of National Focus: • Benefit Year Earnings (BYE): Root Causes Identified: • Agency Causes • Failure to properly investigate earnings in a timely manner • Failure to educate claimants on penalties of fraud • Claimant Causes • Failure to report or incorrectly report wages • Failure to notify when return to work • Week claim vs. week earned • Employer Causes • Incorrect week/wage reporting

  3. Areas of National Focus: • Benefit Year Earnings (BYE): Planned actions to address: • Encourage employer use of the electronic verification system for cross match purposes • Milestone: January 2012 • Issue press releases, create a fraud link on our website, and post signs in the offices about penalties in order to discourage fraudulent activities • Milestone: November 2011 • Implement the NDNH in our weekly filing system to encourage wage reporting • Milestone: December 2011 3

  4. Areas of National Focus: • Benefit Year Earnings (BYE): Planned actions to address: • Weekly claim questions will be shuffled and/or reworded to ensure that the claimant is listening to each question • Milestone: July 2012 • Propose a legislative change that would make all vacation, severance, pension and holiday pay non-deductible and non-taxable. • Milestone: July 2012 • Send a daily notification to the NDNH and SDNH instead of weekly notification. • Milestone: December 2011 4

  5. Areas of National Focus: • Separations (SEPs): Root Causes Identified: • Agency Causes • Incorrectly adjudicated decisions • Failure to gather enough information in fact finding hearing • Claimant Causes • Incorrect separation reason reported when filing • Employer Causes • Timeliness of protests • Failure to respond • Quality of responses 5

  6. Areas of National Focus: • Separations: • Planned actions to address: • Assess staff and implement Go To Trainings • Milestones: assessment/development (May 2011) and training (June 2011-ongoing) • Review the language of the administrative rules to make them more specific and less open to interpretation. • Milestone: July 2012 • Collaborate with the appeals sections to improve adjudication (mini BTQ) • Milestone: October 2011-ongoing 6

  7. Areas of National Focus: • Separations: • Planned actions to address: • Improve the UI claims application with more separation options • Milestones: Development and testing complete by April 2012 • Agency phone number will no longer show up as “unavailable” on caller ID • Milestone: October 2011 • Propose a legislative change that employers will not be relieved of charges if they do not participate in the adjudication process • Milestone: July 2012 • Implement SIDES • Milestones: Testing (July 2012) and Go Live (March 2012) 7

  8. Areas of National Focus: • Work Search Issues: Root Causes Identified: • Agency Causes • Failure to investigate work search issues due to staff reductions. • Claimant Causes • Failure to complete the number of job searches that is required. 8

  9. Areas of National Focus: • Work Search Issues : • Planned actions to address: • Make web-based reporting mandatory • December 2012 • Propose an increase in the number of weekly job contacts required from two to five. • July 2012 • Claimants are required to input specific job contacts on weekly claim filing • Easier for agency to investigate • Claimant accountability • Milestone: April 2012 9

  10. State-Specific Issues • Issue 1: Dependency Errors • Root causes identified: • Lack of correct knowledge of staff • Lack of knowledge of claimants • Planned actions to address issue • Change Iowa law so the number of dependents does not affect the weekly amount in benefits • Milestone: July 2012 • Educate staff with quick reference guides • Milestone: November 2011 • Change application to include a more clear message about who can be claimed • Milestone: April 2012 • Collect more information about dependents • Milestone: April 2012

  11. State-Specific Issues • Issue 2: Second Benefit Year Disqualifications • Root causes identified: • Lack of communication between field staff and service center • System failure to properly identify and lock claims • Planned actions to address issue • Increase the 2nd benefit year earnings requirement from $250 to $1,500 • Milestone: July 2012 • Open communication and notify employee of errors • Milestone: immediately • Create new criteria for kick-outs for educated staff to work. • Milestone: November 2011

  12. State-Specific Issues • Issue 3: Enforcement of Collections • Root causes identified: • Failure to collect on outstanding overpayment balances • Planned actions to address issue • TOP’s (Treasury Offset Program) February 2012 • Legislation will impose a 15% penalty on all outstanding overpayments • Non-issue of drivers, hunting, gaming, or fishing licenses to anyone with an outstanding overpayment • Work with the state employment service to prevent a state agency from hiring an individual with an outstanding overpayment balance. • Milestone for all above: July 2012

  13. Everybody Owns Integrity • Strategies to Support Owning UI Integrity: • Empower, encourage and educate every staff member to understand how their jobs connect to UI integrity. • Global E-Mails/Newsletters • Staff meetings • Develop processes that encourage staff to recommend solutions to reduce improper payments • Open door policy • Quarterly staff meetings • Continue the Integrity Task Force with monthly meetings • Implement and maintain management oversight. • Weekly management meetings

  14. Communications • Communications Strategies: • To public: • Press Releases on fraud prosecutions • Fraud link on agency website • Use social media to promote integrity (facebook, twitter) • To claimant: • Update Workers Guide with integrity message and reduce its size • Use phone “hold time” to educate claimants • Create quick reference guides and video messages • To employer: • Create an employer advisor committee /Liaison • Use new employer packets and annual rate notice mailings as opportunity to inform employers of integrity & use of electronic crossmatch submission.

  15. Communications • Communications Strategies: • To state UI staff: • Global E-mails and meetings • Integrity Training • To state leaders: • Inform state leaders of our integrity message and get them “on board” • Propose legislative change that could reduce overpayments

  16. Summary and Q&A “Integrity: Own It!” • Questions? • State Contact for follow-up: Matt Mardesen: matthew.mardesen@iwd.iowa.gov Phone: 515-281-5792

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