Relief Plan Coming for Unemployment Overpayment

HYANNIS – Massachusetts announced plans to provide partial relief to unemployment claimants affected by overpayment obligations.

The state is aiming to make it streamlined for claimants to be free of some obligations with a “one-click” option to request a waiver from the state.  

In early 2021, when thousands in the state were receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, federal rules changed and made it necessary for claimants to provide documentation of prior employment.

This change was put in place because of instances of fraud related to the program.

Massachusetts gave notice to claimants in March and informed them of the new requirement, but some legitimate claimants failed to respond or didn’t provide sufficient documentation, leading to the overpayment obligations.

In February 2022, Massachusetts requested to issue a blanket waiver for overpayments resulting from the federal rule change.

The state pushed for complete relief, but the U.S. Department of Labor only partially granted the Commonwealth’s request.

Officials decided that Massachusetts gave claimants enough notice to provide documents, but a waiver will be allowed for overpayments that happened before the state notified people of the federal rule change.

Most claimants with overpayment obligations will receive partial relief with this ruling. The federal and state determinations should allow for $1.6 billion in overpayments to be resolved.

The Department of Unemployment Assistance will contact claimants in the coming days with more information.

By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

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