Accuracy of unemployment payments improved in 2005 - July 7, 2006

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Media contact: Hilary Young, 360-902-9454

OLYMPIA – Efforts to improve the accuracy of unemployment benefit payments seem to be paying off, according to Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee.

A recent study indicates that 92 percent of all unemployment claims in 2005 were paid properly, up from 89 percent in 2004. That is the highest accuracy rate in 10 years and the highest among the Western states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

“We’re here to provide a safety net for people who lose their jobs and are working to get back on their feet,” said Lee. “We must preserve the unemployment fund for those people who deserve it and this study helps us do that. It pinpoints problem areas so that we can focus our efforts and build solutions.”

The study is part of a national effort to measure and compare the accuracy of unemployment-insurance claims for each state. 

In Washington, the Employment Security Department (ESD) conducted an in-depth audit of 647 claims and identified an 8 percent overpayment rate. That figure was then used to estimate payment-accuracy rates for all claims. Of the $796 million ESD paid out in unemployment benefits over the year, the study suggests that some $64.5 million may have been overpayments.

Ninety percent of the overpayments occur because ESD determines that a person is eligible for benefits based on inaccurate information provided by the claimant or by the employer. Common issues include claimants not telling the truth about why they lost their jobs and employers misreporting wages on quarterly tax reports. Another primary cause of overpayments is claimants not actively looking for work while collecting benefits.

Agency errors, such as approving training for claimants who were not eligible and data-entry mistakes, accounted for a small percentage of all overpayments.

To reduce overpayments, ESD has focused on writing instructions that are easy to understand, encouraging employers to file taxes electronically to reduce errors and increasing fraud-prevention efforts, according to Lee. 

The full benefit-accuracy management report will be issued by the U.S. Department of Labor in August.