The U.S. Department of Labor Complied with The Payment Integrity Information Act for FY 2020, but Reported Unemployment Insurance Information Did Not Represent Total Program Year Expenses

DOL's reported Unemployment Insurance improper payment rate of 9.17 percent is compliant with Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, it is not representative of total unemployment expenses for program year 2020. This occurred for the following reasons: (1) DOL excluded CARES Act of 2020 because these unemployment payments were not in existence for more than 12 months, and (2) DOL received direction from Office of Management and Budget to utilize the results from the first three quarters of the program year. This allowed state workforce agencies to suspend work on improper payment sampling to reduce the burden on program resources. The DOL-OIG's initial pandemic audit and investigation work indicate UI program improper payments, including fraudulent payments, is likely higher than 10 percent.