UIPL_25-20.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION ADVISORY SYSTEM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Washington D.C. 20210 CLASSIFICATION Unemployment Insurance CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL OUI DPM DATE June 15 2020 RESCISSIONS None EXPIRATION DATE Continuing ADVISORY TO FROM SUBJECT UNEMPLOYMENT INSURAN CE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 25-20 STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES JOHN PALLASCH Assistant Secretary Benefit Accuracy Measurement BAM Program Operations in Response to the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 COVID-19 Pandemic 1. Purpose. The purpose of this Unemployment Insurance Program Letter UIPL is to provide guidance to State Workforce Agencies on changes in the operation of the BAM program including BAM sample selection and case management applications as a result of issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. These COVID-19-related issues include the unprecedented increases in Unemployment Insurance UI program workloads and the new Unemployment Compensation UC programs created in the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security CARES Act Public Law 116-136 including the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation FPUC program which provides a federal payment of 600 in addition to the state Weekly Benefit Amount WBA . 2. Action Requested. The U.S. Department of Labor s Department Employment and Training Administration ETA requests that State Workforce Administrators provide the information in this UIPL and its attachments to the appropriate program staff in order to guide the state in reprogramming and modifying the BAM software applications to ensure the continued proper operation of the BAM program. 3. Summary and Background. a.Summary This UIPL provides guidance to states on the operation of the BAM program including 1 required modifications of the BAM software application due to increases in UI claims workload and the enactment of the FPUC program 2 required revisions to existing BAM sample selection population count and case management software applications and 3 answers to questions received regarding BAM program operations. b.Background On March 27 2020 the President signed into law the CARES Act which includes the Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act set out in Title II Subtitle A.The CARES Act was designed to respond to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Section 2104 of the CARES Act authorizes the temporary FPUC program providing eligible individuals with 600 per week in addition to the WBA received from 2 designated UC programs. States play a fundamental role in ensuring the integrity of the UI program. In the midst of current extraordinary workloads it remains vital that states continue to operate their programs both new and existing in conformity and compliance with federal laws and guidance and promote program integrity. The BAM program is one of the most important tools to measure UI payment integrity. The large increase in UI workloads and the additional provisions of the CARES Act present unique challenges to the accurate and timely reporting of BAM data. This UIPL describes the changes that are required in the BAM sample selection population counts and case management software applications. 4. Changes in the BAM Program. The BAM program is an integrity assessment tool. Representative samples of UI payments and disqualifying ineligibility determinations are drawn and comprehensively investigated to determine whether they were properly administered to claimants and whether these claimants were paid the proper amounts or appropriately denied. Based on the errors identified and information gathered states can develop and implement corrective actions to ensure accurate administration of state law rules and procedures. See BAM State Operations Handbook ET Handbook No. 395 5th edition ET Handbook 395 for additional details about BAM program administration. Questions and Answers related to BAM program operations are provided in Attachment IV of this UIPL. a. BAM Sample Selection and Population Counts. The state selects weekly samples of BAM paid weeks and monetary separation and nonseparation denials using either a Common Business-Oriented Language COBOL program provided by the Department or a software application developed by the state that complies with the Department s specifications in the ET Handbook 395. With the large increase in UC claims as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic several data elements in the current software cannot accommodate the population workload counts or the paid benefit amounts that states must report. The State UI Transaction file includes all records that meet the definition for inclusion in one of the four BAM populations paid benefits monetary denials separation denials and non-separation denials . The weekly sfsum.dat file consists of aggregate sample and population data for the four BAM populations. This data includes selected characteristics that are used to conduct statistical tests of sample validity. The weekly rec1.dat file consists of claimant data obtained from the state database for cases selected for the four BAM populations. See Chapter III of ET Handbook 395 for additional information on the State UI Transaction file sfsum.dat file and rec1.dat file. The UI Transaction file sfsum.dat file and rec1.dat files are interdependent and so an error in any of these files creates an issue for administration of the entire BAM program. The BAM COBOL program can accommodate only six digits for all population fields and nine digits for the population amount of benefits paid in the sfsum.dat file. Therefore states where the number of weeks paid exceeds 999 999 or the amount of payments exceeds 999 999 999 should temporarily suspend the BAM sampling process until changes to the sfsum.dat rec1.dat and BAM case management software have been completed. States should retain each week s UI Transaction file so that these samples and population counts 3 can be reconstructed retroactively when changes to the software application have been completed. States with workload counts that can be accommodated by the existing sfsum.dat file that is UI weeks paid less than or equal to 999 999 and UC payments less than or equal to 999 999 999 should continue to enter UC payment amounts based on ONLY the state WBA i.e. not include the 600 FPUC in the following files Max Pay field positions 57 to 59 of the COBOL Control Record or the equivalent in a State-developed program Amount Paid to Claimant Item 13 in the UI Transaction file Amount of Offset Applied Item 14 in the UI Transaction file Amount of Intercept or Withholding Item 15 in the UI Transaction file Total Amount Paid to Claimant Item 21 in the UI Transaction file WBA Before Investigation Item 29 in the rec1.dat file and Amount Paid and or Offset Item 62 in the rec1.dat file. Required Changes to the BAM Files Every state must make the following changes to either the BAM COBOL program or the state-developed Sample Selection and Population Count software by BAM Batch 202027 i.e. the week ending July 4 2020 . The Department will revise and deploy the BAM case management software applications Case Conversion Update Cases Reopen Cases and Environment Settings in June 2020. i. UI Transaction file States must make the following changes to the UI Transaction file. The following data elements will increase from three positions to four positions Item No. Name 13 Amount Paid to Claimant 14 Amount Offset 15 Amount of Intercept 21 Total Amount Paid Sum of items 13 14 and 15 The UI Transaction file specifications are provided in Attachment I of this UIPL. ii. sfsum.dat file States must make the following changes to the sfsum.dat file. o Increase all population fields from six positions to seven positions. o Increase the Amount of Population UI Benefits Paid from nine positions to ten positions. 4 The sfsum.dat file specifications are provided in Attachment II of this UIPL. iii. rec1.dat file States must make the following change to the rec1.dat file. WBA Before Investigation Item 29 will increase from 3 positions to 4 positions. The rec1.dat specifications are provided in Attachment III of this UIPL. iv. Control Record The BAM COBOL sample selection and population count programs require a Control Record. The purpose of the file is to specify the batch from which the BAM paid monetary separation and nonseparation samples are selected the sample sizes and random start numbers for these samples the beginning and ending dates of the requested batch and the maximum WBA in the state including dependents allowances referred to as Max Pay in the file . The record format of the Control Record is included in Chapter III of the ET Handbook 395. States using the existing COBOL programs must modify the Control Record to increase the Max Pay field from three to four positions positions 57 to 60 . States that have developed their own BAM sample selection and population count programs will have to ensure the same functionality as the Control Record. Whether a state modifies the BAM COBOL program or a program developed by the state that is the functional equivalent of the BAM COBOL program the state must ensure that the modified sfsum.dat and rec1.dat files conform to the specifications required in this UIPL. Specifically each state must ensure that each record in the files consists of 80-character lines. Positions 1 through 79 of each line must contain data or spaces HEX 20 Octal 040 for example . Position 80 on each line must be coded with a line feed for example ASCII - 10 HEX 0A EBCDIC 25 or Octal 012 . b. BAM Data Elements. Data from each case sampled for BAM are entered into a database on the state s Unemployment Insurance Database System Sun Server . The data are obtained both from existing records and from case investigations. See Chapter IV of ET Handbook 395. The following section describes specific data elements that must be updated to accommodate the large increase in UI workload. Additionally the Department will modify the BAM Case Conversion Update Cases Reopen Cases and Environment Settings software with a planned release in June 2020. States must reopen completed BAM cases to revise data as a result of the release of the revised software for example entering the FPUC amount or improper payments that exceed 999 will reopen these cases using Reopen Code 9 . Case completion timeliness will not be recalculated. 5 i. For sampled UC payments where FPUC was paid to the claimant for that week states must enter the amount of this supplemental federal payment in data element d7. This data element is currently defined as Tax Rate for Last Employer. As of the release of the BAM revised software associated with this UIPL states should stop collecting the tax rate information for the d7 element. The data element will be redefined as d7 Federal Supplemental Payment Definition Enter the amount of any federal supplemental payment associated with the UI claim for example FPUC dollars that are paid to the claimant for the Key Week KW whether paid in a single payment or as a separate payment for the KW sampled. Enter whole dollar amount of the federal supplemental payment. Format money 4 0 ii. Other changes to data elements in the BAM database are summarized in the following tables. Data Elements in b master as Currently defined as of May 2020 Data Elements in b master as Revised in June 2020 Element Name Data Type Item Name Element Name Data Type Item Name e9 money 3 0 WBA Before e9 money 4 0 WBA Before e10 money 3 0 WBA After e10 money 4 0 WBA After h2 money 3 0 Amount Should Have Been Paid h2 money 4 0 Amount Should Have Been Paid h3 50 000 Total Amount OP h3 99 999 Total Amount OP h5 money 3 0 Tot KW OP h5 money 4 0 Tot KW OP h6 money 3 0 Tot KW UP h6 money 4 0 Tot KW UP Data Element in b errisu as Currently defined in May 2020 Data Elements in b master as Revised in June 2020 Column Type Name Column Type Name ei1 money 3 0 Amount of KW Error ei1 money 4 0 Amount of KW Error Data Elements in b dca master as Currently defined in May 2020 Data Elements in b dca master as Revised in June 2020 Element Name Data Type Item Name Element Name Data Type Item Name Wbabef money 3 0 WBA Before wbabef money 4 0 WBA Before Wbaaft money 3 0 WBA After wbaaft money 4 0 WBA After 5. Inquiries. Please direct questions to the appropriate Regional Office. 6 6. References. Section 2104 of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security CARES Act Pub. L. 116-136 including Title II Subtitle A Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act The Families First Coronavirus Act Public Law 116-127 specifically Division D the Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020 20 C.F.R. Part 602 Quality Control in the Federal-State Unemployment Insurance System UIPL No 10-20 Unemployment Compensation UC for Individuals Affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 COVID-19 issued March 12 2020 https wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 8893 UIPL No. 13-20 Families First Coronavirus Response Act Division D Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020 issued March 22 2020 https wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 8634 UIPL No. 13-20 Change 1 Families First Coronavirus Response Act Division D Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020 issued May 4 2020 https wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm docn 5374 UIPL No. 15-20 Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security CARES Act of 2020 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation FPUC Program Operating Financial and Reporting Instructions issued April 4 2020 https wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 9297 UIPL No. 15-20 Change 1 Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security CARES Act of 2020 - Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation FPUC Program Reporting Instructions and Questions and Answers issued May 9 2020 https wdr.doleta.gov directives corr doc.cfm DOCN 3946 and Employment and Training ET Handbook No. 395 5th Edition Benefit Accuracy Measurement State Operations Handbook November 2009 . 7. Attachments. Attachment I UI Transaction file Attachment II sfsum.dat file Attachment III rec1.dat file Attachment IV BAM Program Operation Questions and Answers Attachment I to UIPL No. 25-20 I-1 UI Transaction File Item Name Field Length Positions Formats 1 State I.D. 2 1-2 FIPS Code 2 Batch 6 3-8 YYYYWW 3 Social Security 9 9-17 Actual 4 Claim Date 8 18-25 MMDDYYYY 5 Transaction Date 8 26-33 MMDDYYYY 6 Sample Select. Ind. 1 34 1 or 2 7 Transaction Type 1 35 1 to 4 8 Gender 1 36 1 2 or 8 9 Date of Birth 6 37-42 MMYYYY or 010001 10 Ethnicity 1 43 1 to 5 or 8 11 Program Type 1 44 1 to 9 12 UI Duration 1 45 1 to 5 13 Amount Paid to Claimant 4 46-49 Whole Dollars 14 Amount Offset 4 50-53 Whole Dollars 15 Amount of Intercept 4 54-57 Whole Dollars 16 Claim Type 2 58-59 00-04 11-15 17 Filing Status 1 60 1 to 3 18 Workshare Pct. 2 61-62 00 to 99 19 Run Date 8 63-70 MMDDYYYY 20 Adjustment Ind. 1 71 1 or 2 21 Total Amount Paid Sum of items 13 14 and 15 4 72-75 Whole Dollars --- Filler 5 76-80 Zero-filled can be used by state for edit codes Attachment II to UIPL No. 25-20 II-1 sfsum.dat File Record Format for sfsum.dat file All Fields are Numeric Item Name Field Size Positions 1 Batch 6 1-6 21 Sample Type 1 7 3 Sample Size 2 8-9 4 Population Size 7 10-16 52 Random Start 6 17-22 63 Skip Interval 6 23-28 7 Initial Case Selected 6 29-34 8 Sample Male 2 35-36 9 Population Male 7 37-43 10 Sample Female 2 44-45 11 Population Female 7 46-52 12 Sample Gender Missing 2 53-54 13 Population Gender Missing 7 55-61 14 Sample White 2 62-63 15 Population White 7 64-70 16 Sample Non-white 2 71-72 17 Population Non-white 7 73-79 18 Sample Ethnicity Missing 2 80-81 19 Population Ethnicity Missing 7 82-88 20 Sample Age 25 2 89-90 21 Population Age 25 7 91-97 22 Sample Age 25-34 2 98-99 23 Population Age 25-34 7 100-106 24 Sample Age 35-44 2 107-108 25 Population Age 35-44 7 109-115 26 Sample Age 45-64 2 116-117 27 Population Age 45-64 7 118-124 28 Sample Age 65 2 125-126 29 Population Age 65 7 127-133 30 Sample Age Missing 2 134-135 31 Population Age Missing 7 136-142 Attachment II to UIPL No. 25-20 II-2 324 Sample UI Program 2 143-144 334 Population UI Program 7 145-151 345 Sample UCFE UCX 2 152-153 355 Population UCFE UCX 7 154-160 36 Sample Program Missing 2 161-162 37 Population Program Missing 7 163-169 386 Sample - 50 Paid 2 170-171 396 Population - 50 Paid 7 172-178 406 Sample - 51-100 Paid 2 179-180 416 Population - 51-100 Paid 7 181-187 426 Sample - 101-150 Paid 2 188-189 436 Population - 101-150 Paid 7 190-196 446 Sample - 151-200 Paid 2 197-198 456 Population - 151-200 Paid 7 199-205 466 Sample - 200 Paid 2 206-207 476 Population - 200 Paid 7 208-214 486 Sample Amount Paid Missing 2 215-216 496 Population - Amount Paid Missing 7 217-223 506 Sample Amount Paid 5 224-228 516 Population Amount Paid 10 229-238 526 7 Sample Amount Paid Variance 8 239-246 536 7 Population Amount Paid Variance 8 247-254 1 The first records are UI paid claims sample type 1 followed by monetary denials sample type 2 separation denials sample type 3 and nonseparation denials sample type 4 . 2 Reported with six digits implied decimal .xxxxxx . 3 Reported with one implied decimal xxxx.xx . 4 UI program codes include regular UI UI-UCFE UI-UCX or UI-UCFE-UCX program type codes 1 2 3 and 4 in the UI transaction file . 5 Program codes include UCFE and or UCX only program type codes 5 6 and 7 in the UI transaction file . 6 For the monetary separation and non-separation denials this item must equal zero. 7 Reported with three implied decimal places xxxxx.xxx . Attachment III to UIPL No. 25-20 III-1 Rec1.dat File Record Format for rec1.dat file Item Flag Name Field Size Positions Formats Codes1 1 Social Security 9 1-9 9-digit SSN state use only 2 State ID 2 10-11 2-digit FIPS Code 3 Batch Number 6 12-17 YYYYWW 4 Claim Date Week Ending or Effective Date 8 18-25 MMDDYYYY 5 Local Office Number 4 26-29 State-assigned 6 U.S. Citizen 1 30 1 to 3 or Blank 7 Education 2 31-32 00 to 12 14 to 16 20 or Blank 8 2 Voc Tech Training 1 33 1 to 3 or Blank 9 2 In Training 2 34-35 00 11 to 14 21 to 24 or Blank 10 2 Occupation Code Last Employer 3 36-38 3-digit major and minor O NET code or Blank 11 Date of Birth 8 39-46 MMDDYYYY or Blank 12 Gender 1 47 1 2 or Blank 13 Ethnicity Classification 1 48 1 to 6 9 or Blank 14 Program Code 1 49 1 to 8 or Blank 15 Combined Wage 1 50 1 to 6 or Blank 16 Benefit Yr. Beginning 8 51-58 MMDDYYYY or Blank 17 Initial Claim Filing Method 1 59 1 to 6 or Blank 18 2 Prior Nonsep Issues 2 60-61 2 digits or Blank 19 2 Prior Nonsep Issues Disqualifying 2 62-63 2 digits or Blank 20 Reason for Separation Before Investigation 2 64-65 10 to 69 or Blank 21 Date of Separation Before Investigation 8 66-73 MMDDYYYY or Blank 22 2 Recall Status Before Investigation 1 74 0 1 2 or Blank 23 2 NAICS Last Employer 4 75-78 NAICS code first 4 digits or Blank 24 Base Period Employers Before Investigation 2 79-80 2 digits or Blank 25 Base Period Wages Before Investigation 6 81-86 6 digits whole dollars or Blank 26 2 NAICS Primary Base Period Employer 4 87-90 NAICS code first 4 digits or Blank 27 High Quarter Wages Before Investigation 5 91-95 5 digits whole dollars or Blank 28 Weeks Worked in BP Before Investigation 3 96-98 3 digits or Blank 29 WBA Before Investigation 4 99-102 4 digits whole dollars or Blank Attachment III to UIPL No. 25-20 III-2 30 MBA Before Invest. 5 103-107 5 digits whole dollars or Blank 31 Monetary Redeterm. Before Investigation 1 108 1 2 or Blank 32 Remaining Balance As of week paid or denial 5 109-113 5 digits whole dollars or Blank determination 33 Dependents Claimed Before Investigation 2 114-115 2 digits 00 or Blank 34 Dependents Allowance Before Investigation 3 116-118 3 digits whole dollars or Blank 35 2 First CWE Date 8 119-126 MMDDYYYY or Blank 36 2 Date of First Payment 8 127-134 MMDDYYYY or Blank 37 2 Key Week Cert. Method 1 135 1 to 3 or Blank 38 3 Filing Method Week Claimed Paid 1 136 1 to 6 or Blank 39 Relocated to Item 62 3 137-139 Blank 40 Relocated to Item 63 3 140-142 Blank 41 Relocated to Item 64 3 143-145 Blank 42 Relocated to Item 65 3 146-148 Blank 43 Relocated to Item 66 3 149-151 Blank 44 2 Required to Seek Work 1 152 1 to 5 or Blank 45 2 ES Registration Required 1 153 1 to 4 or Blank 46 2 Actively Currently Registered w ES 1 154 1 to 4 or Blank 47 2 Reason ES Reg. Deferred 1 155 1 to 6 or Blank 48 2 of ES Referrals 2 156-157 2 digits or Blank 49 2 Union Referral Status 1 158 0 to 3 or Blank 50 5 Union Service 1 159 0 to 3 or Blank 51 5 Union Assistance Requested 1 160 0 to 4 or Blank 52 5 Claimant Union Assisted 1 161 0 1 2 or Blank 53 5 Monetary Denial Reason 2 162-163 00 thru 59 or Blank 54 5 Nonmonetary-Nonseparation Denial Reason 2 164-165 00 thru 79 or Blank 55 5 Claim Type 1 166 0 to 5 56 5 Initial Determination Appealed6 1 167 0 to 3 or Blank 57 5 Result of Initial Determination Appeal6 1 168 0 to 6 or Blank 58 5 Sample Type 1 169 1 to 4 59 Ethnicity 1 170 0 1 or Blank 60 5 Separation Issue No. 2 171-172 0 to 99 -2 or Blank 61 5 Nonseparation Issue No. 2 173-174 0 to 99 -2 or Blank 62 4 Amount Paid and or Offset 5 175-179 5 digits whole dollars or Blank 63 Total Earnings Before Investigation 4 180-183 4 digits whole dollars or Blank 64 Earnings Deduction Before Investigation 4 184-187 4 digits whole dollars or Blank Attachment III to UIPL No. 25-20 III-3 65 Other Deductible Income Before Investigation 6 188-193 6 digits whole dollars or Blank 66 Other Deduction Before Investigation 5 194-198 5 digits whole dollars or Blank 1 Unless otherwise noted refer to ET Handbook No. 395 Chapter IV for paid claims and Chapter VIII for denied claims for data element codes. Flags 2 Required for UI paid claims cases only optional for denial cases. 3 Required for UI paid claims cases and any denial decision when a week was claimed leave blank for denial decisions if no week was claimed. 4 Required for UI paid claims cases. For denial cases leave blank if there is no payment associated with the denial determination. Otherwise enter the amount paid offset intercepted withheld or deducted for the weeks affected by denial determination. 5 Data element added for denied claims. 6 Appeal status at time case was selected for sample data element can be updated if status changes before case is closed. Attachment IV to UIPL No. 25-20 IV-1 BAM Program Operation Questions and Answers A. FPUC Payments 1. Question If the BAM unit finds the Key Week KW is totally overpaid that is h2 Amount That Claimant Should Have Been Paid is 0 for regular UC and element ei2 10 11 or 12 after investigation due to earnings or failure to meet other eligibility requirements is the claimant still eligible for FPUC for the KW Answer No. The claimant must be eligible for at least 1 of underlying state benefits for the KW to be eligible to receive the FPUC payment for that week see UIPL No. 15-20 Change 1 Attachment Section A. Issuing Payments Q As . If the amount due to the claimant for regular UC is zero dollars the BAM unit must ensure the agency also addresses the FPUC dollars for the period of denial. This should be addressed in the case summary and recorded appropriately in element h3 . Note that FPUC is not treated as deductible income. If the BAM unit is reviewing a denied claim and finds that the claimant is eligible for at least 1 of underlying benefits then the FPUC payment is also due for the weeks affected by the denial. This information should be resolved by the BAM unit or referred to the appropriate department to ensure payment is made when it is due. 2. Question How should FPUC payments be handled within the BAM program Answer FPUC dollars are from a temporary federally-funded program and must be excluded from the BAM population. Therefore elements e9 Weekly Benefit Amount Before Investigation e10 Weekly Benefit Amount After Investigation f13 Original Amount Paid and or Offset for Key Week h2 Amount That Claimant Should Have Been Paid h5 Total Overpayment Amount for the Key Week h6 Total Underpayment Amount for the Key Week and ei1 Dollar Amount of Key Week Error will exclude the amount of FPUC dollars paid. Similarly the coding for improper denials which result in payment will exclude the FPUC dollars paid. However FPUC dollars paid must be recorded into elements h3 Total Whole Amount of Overpayments include Key Week and h4 Total Whole Amount of Underpayments include Key Week . The case summary should include a brief statement on FPUC dollars paid. Effective with the release of the revised BAM software by the Department announced in this UIPL the state must enter the FPUC dollar amount in the newly-defined element d7 Federal Supplemental Payment described in section 4.b.i. of this UIPL. For any cases that include FPUC payments that a state has already closed e.g. generally all cases with a key week on or after week-ending April 4 2020 the state must reopen and update the record using Reopen Code 9 . As stated in this UIPi BAM units will no longer record the tax rate in the BAM PCA investigation. Attachment IV to UIPL No. 25-20 IV-2 3. Question Should the amount of FPUC dollars paid be included in the comparison tables b comparison elements cm3 Sample Dollars Paid and element cm4 Population Dollars Paid Answer No. FPUC dollars are from a temporary federally-funded program and should be excluded from the BAM population and sample. Pursuant to UIPL No. 15- 20 Attachment I the FPUC amount paid is also excluded from the ETA 5159 report i.e. ar5159 . The BAM sfsum file must exclude these FPUC dollars in these positions 506 Sample Amount Paid 5 202-206 516 Population Amount Paid 9 207-215 These fields are used in calculating the weighted dollars paid for estimates. Additionally the rec1.dat file should exclude the FPUC amount from DCI elements prepopulated. For example it may prepopulate elements e9 e11 and f13 etc. . 29 WBA Before Investigation 4 99-102 4 digits whole dollars or Blank 30 MBA Before Invest. 5 103-107 5 digits whole dollars or Blank 62 Amount Paid and or Offset 5 175-179 5 digits whole dollars or Blank If the record includes FPUC dollars in any of these fields then the BAM unit must update such elements using the appropriate BAM application. B. PEUC and PUA Claims in BAM 4. Question Should UC claims filed for the sole purpose of checking eligibility for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation PEUC Pandemic Unemployment Assistance PUA Extended Benefits EB and Trade Readjustment Allowances TRA be included in the BAM samples Answer No. UC claims filed for the sole purpose of checking eligibility for PEUC PUA EB and TRA should not be included in the BAM samples. 5. Question Are PEUC and PUA claims excluded from the BAM samples How should PEUC PUA claims be handled if selected in the BAM sample Answer Yes. All paid and denied PEUC and PUA claims will be excluded from the BAM Paid Claims Accuracy PCA and Denied Claims Accuracy DCA sampling frames. This is consistent with the policy followed for previous temporary programs. Per the instructions in ET Handbook 395 Chapter III the State UI Transaction file Program Type Data Element 11 must be coded 8 Other and Unemployment Duration Code Data Element 12 must be coded 5 Other federal extended benefits program . Attachment IV to UIPL No. 25-20 IV-3 If a PEUC or a PUA claim is selected for the BAM sample PCA or DCA because it was not properly coded in the State UI Transaction file it must be coded as such PCA data element c1 Program Code equals 8 or DCA data element 22 Program Code equals 8 . Such cases will not be investigated by the BAM unit and the BAM supervisor will not sign-off on them. The BAM unit must sample additional cases in subsequent batches to compensate for the number of PCA and DCA sample cases deleted due to improper coding of a PEUC or PUA claims in the State UI Transaction file. C. Impacts following Temporary BAM Suspension 6. Question My state received approval from the Department to suspend the BAM program for Batch Range 202014 through 202026 so that BAM investigators could help process initial claims and adjudication in Operations. Now that the BAM investigator has returned to the BAM unit what should happen if he or she is assigned one of the cases he or she processed while helping in Operations Answer Any case that an individual BAM investigator handled while helping in Operations should be assigned to another BAM staff member to complete the investigation. 7. Question My state received approval from the Department to suspend BAM investigations for the quarter-ending June 30 2020. How does this suspension affect the minimum annual sampling number of cases Answer If the state received approval from the Department to temporarily suspend BAM investigations the state is not be expected to make-up cases for the period to which the suspension applies. The minimum annual sampling requirement is reduced by the total number of cases that would have been sampled during the period that the approved temporary suspension covered. 8. Question My state received approval from the Department to suspend BAM investigations for the quarter-ending June 30 2020. How does this suspension affect the timeliness performance measures Answer The state is expected to complete sampled PCA cases Batch 201927 through Batch 202013 no later than September 30 2020. Additionally BAM units must complete outstanding open Batch range 201927 through 202013 DCA cases by October 28 2020. If the state experiences any timeliness issues in completing BAM cases the Department will consider the circumstances including the approved BAM suspension when determining the state s corrective action as part of the State Quality Service Plan activities. D. Work Search Verifications 9. Question Given the economic effects of COVID-19 my state is having challenges in receiving responses to requests for information when conducting work search Attachment IV to UIPL No. 25-20 IV-4 verifications. In some cases the businesses are closed. In many others checking to see if someone applied for work in prior weeks is not a priority for the business. Is there a possibility of modifying the verification requirement for the current time Answer An employer statement that providing the information is not a priority is not the same as the employer indicating no information will be provided. The BAM unit must make an exhaustive attempt to obtain information from an employer listed as a contact. If the employer responds that the entity does not have the information or does not know whether the claimant made a contact then the investigator has met the exhaustive attempt requirement and the contact should be coded as unverifiable. If the business is closed then the investigation could conclude the contact is unverifiable once the exhaustive attempt has been made. 10. Question My state allowed for permissible flexibilities in determining whether an individual met the able to work and available to work requirements during periods of the pandemic. The state also modified and suspended the work search requirements. How should a BAM investigator account for these temporary policy changes Answer Section 4102 b of the Families First Coronavirus Act specifically Division D the Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020 EUISAA Public Law 116-127 provides states with emergency temporary flexibility to modify or suspend the work search requirement in response to the spread of COVID-19. See UIPL Nos. 10-20 13-20 and 13-20 Change 1 for additional details. If the state chooses to exercise such flexibility regarding work search the BAM unit should apply the law and policies in effect in the state during the temporary emergency in evaluating able available and work search compliance. If the claimant s satisfaction of the work search requirement is established under such a provision the case file must have a copy of the emergency declaration or applicable official policy See ET Handbook 395 Chapter VI p. VI-4 as supporting documentation for the determination made as a result of the BAM investigation. However if the key week was paid prior to the start of or after the lapse of state s emergency temporary modification then the investigation must enforce established law during the period of payment and follow normal BAM investigative procedures. See UIPL No. 13-20 Change 1 Attachment 1 Q A 8 .