States should develop and implement criteria to determine if a waiver is necessary and granted to a claimant. The process of assessing whether to waive an overpayment includes conducting sufficient fact-finding and an eligibility decision on a non-fraud issue.
Summary – An overpayment occurs and must be established when a state determines that the individual received a payment, or a portion of a payment, to which they were not entitled. To consider a waiver of the recovery of an overpayment, states must first establish an overpayment.
Any overpayments resulting from fraud are not eligible for waiver. If you are eligible for a waiver, we will send you a written notice. Additionally, any money that was collected on this overpayment will be refunded to you. Additional information regarding any refund you may be owed will be included in this written notice.
· The unemployment insurance program is a federal-state partnership, with states responsible for accepting, processing, and paying claims. Direct all eligibility questions to state employment agencies.
· Learn how to navigate Alabama’s unemploymentoverpaymentwaiver process, including eligibilityrequirements, application steps, and appeal options.
· A waiver is a request to forgive the overpayment debt, which is distinct from an appeal that disputes the debt’s existence. Waivereligibility rests on two primary criteria: the overpayment was not the claimant’s fault, and recovery of the debt would be contrary to equity and good conscience.
· In recognition of the enormity of the challenge the pandemic placed on claimants and State Workforce Agencies, the department’s Employment and Training Administration updated its waiver guidance to approve five new scenarios under which states may apply blanket waiver of recovery of overpayments:
