UIPL_09-19_Acc.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION ADVISORY SYSTEM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Washington D.C. 20210 CLASSIFICATION UI CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL OUI DUIO DATE March 15 2019 RESCISSIONS None EXPIRATION DATE Continuing ADVISORY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 09-19 TO STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES FROM MOLLY E. CONWAY s Acting Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Disaster Unemployment Assistance DUA DUA Claims Documentation and Late Appeals 1. Purpose. To provide additional guidance to state workforce agencies concerning 1 DUA documentation requirements for individuals filing DUA claims and 2 applying the state law provision s for late filing of regular Unemployment Compensation UC appeals to DUA appeals. 2. Action Requested. State Administrators should provide this information to appropriate staff and implement business processes necessary to carry out this guidance. 3. Summary and Background.a.DUA provides temporary income support to eligible individuals who are unemployed as a direct result of a major disaster declared by the President of the United States. To qualify for DUA individuals are required to submit documentation and demonstrate that they were employed self-employed or were scheduled to begin employment or self-employment at the time of the disaster referred to in this Unemployment Insurance Program Letter UIPL as employment . Individuals are also required to submit documentation of wages earned or paid to establish their monetary entitlement. b.The DUA regulations at 20 Code of Federal Regulations CFR Part 625 must be construed in a manner to allow states to achieve the purposes of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act Stafford Act in providing financial assistance to eligible individuals after a major disaster has occurred. The U.S. Department of Labor Department recognizes the difficulty and impracticality a d isaster may cause for many disaster-impacted individuals in providing the necessary documentation at the time of filing a DUA claim. Therefore the Department is providing further guidance to states regarding DUA program administration. 2 4. DUA Claim. This UIPL provides states with guidance on how to handle a variety of issues concerning late submissions of DUA claims. Specifically this guidance addresses a claimant s late submission of documentation of employment Section 4 b a claimant s submission of documentation of wages beyond the 21-day rule Section 4 c the process for a state to request an extension of the document submission deadline Section 4 d and the timing of appeals for DUA determinations or redeterminations Section 4 e . a. General DUA Claim Filing Requirements. When filing an initial DUA application if an individual does not have the required documentation to substantiate employment or wages DUA benefits are payable based on the individual s affidavit.1 The individual has 21 days to present the required documentation to continue receiving payments.2 If the 21st day ends on a holiday weekend or other non-business day then the individual has until the close of the next business day to submit the required documentation. If the individual is otherwise eligible the state will initially calculate the DUA weekly benefit amount WBA based on the individual s statement of earnings. b. Documentation of Employment to Determine Whether an Individual s Unemployment is Caused by a Major Disaster Submitted After the 21-Day Deadline. When an individual does not provide documentation demonstrating proof of employment within 21 days the state must discontinue payments issue a denial of benefits for any payments received by the individual and establish an overpayment as provided at 20 CFR 625.6 e 2 . As provided at 20 CFR 625.14 a the individual is liable to repay the established overpayment and the state must take all reasonable measures under the law to recover the total sum of the DUA payments made to the individual. UIPL No. 22-08 reinforced 20 CFR 625.9 c which provides DUA claimants with the same rights to a redetermination with respect to DUA that regular UC claimants in that state would have with respect to their regular UC claims. The UIPL also clarified the submittal of late documentation related to employment. While the DUA regulations are silent with respect to individuals submitting documentation proving employment after the 21-day deadline the Department has concluded that if a state has a provision in its law that allows for redeterminations for regular UC then the state must issue a redetermination and as appropriate cancel any overpayment.3 Sections 625.6 e 2 and 625.9 c of the DUA regulations work in conjunction to establish that a determination as well as a redetermination shall be issued promptly. The 21-day rule means that the individual may not receive DUA for more than 21 days 1 20 CFR 625.9 a 2 provides that an individual s eligibility for DUA shall be determined where a reliable record of employment self-employment and wages is not obtainable on the basis of an affidavit submitted to the State agency by the individual . 2 20 CFR 625.6 e 1 and ET Handbook No. 356 Chapter IV-4. 3 UIPL No. 22-08 Attachment Question 8 at page 4. 3 without documentation of employment. If a claimant however later submits documentation demonstrating proof of employment and if the state s law allows a redetermination then the state must reconsider the matter consistent with its law. The 21-day rule is not a limit on when the state can accept documentation if state law provides for redeterminations. Instead it is a limit on how long DUA is payable pending documentation of employment. If the state redetermination provision allows for submission after 21 days and the claimant provides sufficient documentation to substantiate employment at the time of the disaster then assuming all other eligibility requirements are met 1 The overpayment must be cancelled 2 The state must pay any gap week s the period of time beginning 21 days after a claim was filed and ending when the state redetermines that the individual s submitted documentation substantiates their employment at the time of the disaster and 3 The individual is eligible for benefits for the remainder of the period of eligibility as long as continuing eligibility requirements are met. c. Documentation of Wages to Determine the DUA Weekly Benefit Amount Submitted After the 21-day Deadline. 20 CFR 625.6 e 4 and Employment and Training ET Handbook No. 356 Chapter IV-5 make it clear that submitting proof of wages for purposes of calculating the DUA monetary entitlement can be done at any time prior to the end of the Disaster Assistance Period DAP . When an individual fails to submit documentation to substantiate earnings within 21 days documentation of wages earned or paid during the base period including those cases where the individual has not filed a tax return for the most recent tax year that has ended then the individual s DUA WBA will be the minimum DUA WBA which is equal to 50 percent of the average UC weekly amount.4 For purposes of DUA the base period used for calculating the DUA WBA is the individual s most recent complete tax year prior to the individual s unemployment that was a direct result of the major disaster. If the individual s DUA WBA was reduced because the individual only submitted employment and not wage documentation the individual may submit necessary documentation to substantiate wages earned or payment during the base period at any time prior to the end of the DAP. The state shall immediately issue a redetermination increasing the DUA WBA if proof of wages earned or paid for services performed in employment is sufficient to permit the higher DUA WBA computation under state UC law provisions. The higher redetermined DUA WBA will be applicable to all weeks during the disaster assistance period for which the individual was eligible for DUA.5 4 20 CFR 625.6 a b and e 3 ET Handbook No. 356 Chapter IV-4 and UIPL No. 22-08 Attachment Questions 6 and 7 at page 4. In addition the Department publishes quarterly the minimum DUA WBA. 5 20 CFR 625.6 e 4 and ET Handbook No. 356 Chapter IV-5. 4 d. ETA Flexibility to Extend the 21-day Document Submission Deadline. The Stafford Act and its implementing regulations permit the Department to modify or waive for a major disaster administrative conditions that would otherwise prevent the giving of federal assistance if the inability to meet such conditions is a result of the major disaster.6 To obtain this flexibility states must submit an application to their Regional Office requesting the flexibility and demonstrating that individuals seeking DUA benefits are unable to meet this administrative condition because of the major disaster. The Department may grant requests for extension of the 21-day period if a major disaster significantly devastates an impacted area such as the devastation experienced in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina Rita Sandy Irma and Maria . The Department considers a disaster to have significantly devastated an area if the disaster situation resulted in widespread displacement of disaster victims lack of electricity and destruction of infrastructure and the means of communication. The Department will consider these types of factors among others when reviewing requests for flexibility under the Stafford Act. For example as a result of the significant devastation related to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and upon the states requests the Department exercised this authority under the Stafford Act and extended the 21-day document submission deadline to 90 days. Due to the significant devastation that resulted from the hurricanes the Department found that it was difficult or impossible for many individuals to provide necessary documentation within the 21-day timeframe. In addition the government entities in these impacted areas had limited ability to replace such documents. The destruction of communications infrastructure magnified these challenges in the impacted areas. e. Appeals. The applicant may appeal a DUA determination or redetermination within 60 days from the date the determination or redetermination was issued in the same manner and to the same extent as provided to regular UC claimants under the applicable state law.7 If a state s UC law has a good cause provision or other similar provision or exception for late filing of regular UC appeals such provision also applies to DUA appeals. The state must examine the reason for the late filing in the same manner and to the same extent that it does for untimely filed regular UC appeals. 5. Inquiries. Please direct inquiries to the appropriate Regional Office. 6. References. Section 303 a 3 of the Social Security Act 6 42 U.S.C. 5141 and 44 CFR 206.5 h . 7 20 CFR 625.10 a . 5 Section s 301 410 and 423 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974 as amended 20 CFR Part 625 44 CFR Section 206 .5 ET Handbook No. 356 Disaster Unemp loyment Assistance and UIPL No. 22 -08 Disaster Unemployment Assistance - Questions and Answers dated July 2 2008 . 7. Attachments . Not applicable.