A Legislative Auditor’s report finds that approximately 98-thousand individuals received $405 million in unemployment benefits and it appears they were not eligible in Louisiana from the end of March until the end of 2020. Auditor Chris Magee says they found the error by using the program Wage Data.
“Which employers report to Louisiana Workforce Commission for their employees we found that there were individuals who earned more than $247 a week but were receiving these unemployment benefits.”
$247 weekly is the maximum one can earn, anymore they are not eligible.
Magee says the Louisiana Workforce Commission reports benefit filings were unprecedented and rose more than two-hundred thousand percent from pre-pandemic levels which led to the oversite.
“Also, there’s a process where employers need to submit certain information, this caused a back log in looking through that paperwork and that led to some of the improper payments.”
Magee says another factor for the oversight is the 2020 legislative instrument that gave employers an additional 45 days to report wages.
Magee says once the LWC determines if the error is administrative or fraud, they will enter into repayment agreements with those individuals. And if they don’t make repayments…
“It is found that those individuals truly owe this money back then they can collect on that individuals state or federal taxes.”
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