During a recent conversation with one of my clients, I was told that an employee who had been furloughed received a letter from the unemployment agency citing an overpayment of benefits. Shortly after that conference, I received a few more inquires asserting the same.
I was led to research why this sudden influx in overpayment inquiries, and to my surprise, Florida DEO (Department of Economic Opportunity) is seeking money back after overpaying claimants what looks to be estimated in the millions. In my findings, many overpayment cases were valid; however, some were not.
While this may be a shocker, seeing the pandemic caused an unprecedented number of Florida employees to experience being furloughed, there are some steps your employees can take to avoid these unnecessary costs if they truly were not overpaid.
The CARES Act and the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act authorize the state of Florida to waive overpayments for claims if certain conditions are met for the following Federal Reemployment Assistance programs:
• Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
• Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)
• Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)
• Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC)
• Lost Wages Assistance (LWA)
To qualify for an overpayment waiver, eligible claimants must meet the following criteria:
• Claimant must not be at fault for the creation of the overpayment; and
• Recovery of the overpayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience.
The overpayment waiver is only available for claimants who have an overpayment with federal Reemployment Assistance benefits. The overpayment waiver will not apply to overpayments for state Reemployment Assistance benefits.
