October 14, 2011

State Presentation:

Benefit Year Earnings (BYE): Root Causes Identified:

Agency Causes Inadequately educating claimants on reporting requirements Allowing continued payments after identifying unreported wages Not effectively requesting information from claimant

Claimant Causes Confusion about when to report earnings Confusion about what type of earnings to report (tips, gross, etc…) Willful misrepresentation

Employer Causes Misclassification of employee status Unreported earnings (paying under table) Lack of timely responses to

Department Inquiries2

Benefit Year Earnings (BYE):

Planned action(s) to address: Increase cross match frequency from monthly to weekly Clarify weekly claim certification language Better communication to the public and employers about

responsibilities Requesting information from claimants on new hire hits and stopping

benefits for failing to respond Incorporate earnings detection procedures in tax audits

Principal milestones: More accurately reported earnings by claimants Increased response by employers to requested info Decreased overpaid weeks from new hire hits

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Separations (SEPs): Root Causes Identified:

Agency Causes Adjudication errors Inaccurate delivery of filing notices to employers Mishandling of information, preventing timely adjudication Not prioritizing other than Lack of Work filing notice responses

Claimant Causes Incorrect information at IC/AC Providing misleading information Providing fraudulent information

Employer Causes Lack of response to Notice of Claim Filed Late response to Notice of Claim Filed Incorrect/incomplete information during adjudication

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Separations:

Planned action(s) to address: Ongoing claims taker and adjudication training Communication to employers regarding response importance (including

tax staff training) Gather more accurate separation information at the time of the IC/AC Implement SIDES for increased data exchange

Principal milestones: SIDES Implemented Review and modify current training practices Create and deliver information to employers Revising information gathering from claimants

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Work Search Issues: Root Causes Identified:

Agency Causes Documenting and advising of work seeking requirements Under-utilizing “step-down” provisions Vague work search standard Lack of work search audits

Claimant Causes Not understanding requirements Not “actively” seeking work Poor record keeping

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Work Search Issues :

Planned action(s) to address: Requiring work search on weekly certifications Random reviews of work search Specific advisement of what is required at IC Improved ES/UI Connectivity

Principal milestones: Weekly certification modification complete Process in place for individual advisement Create an ES/UI Connectivity Task Force

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Able/Available

Root cause(s) identified: Claimants do not understand what it means to be “able and available” Fraud Staff fails to correctly identify potential issues

Planned action(s) to address issue Improved systems to identify incarcerated claimants Ongoing staff training and feedback Clarified claimant communication Not allowing online reopens Stop benefits when there are earnings in one week, and zero

earnings in the following Principle milestones

Decreased payouts to incarcerated claimants Weekly certification questions in place New communication methods in place

Strategies to Support Owning UI Integrity:

Foster integrity by: Showing staff that their actions impact integrity Focusing on integrity from the start Providing feedback to staff Accountability for performance issues Committing to including integrity in all training Having an ongoing access point for suggestions

including acknowledgementback to staff

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Develop processes Periodic “Integrity Newsletter” Published Improper Payment Data Creating a web access point for suggestions Internal fraud referral system

Maintain management oversight Create an audit and feedback process Develop improved cross-sectional communication Ensure managers are held accountable Ensure managers hold staff

accountable

Communications Strategies:

To claimants Present information more clearly at the Initial Claim Make videos available for various topics Analyze and adopt tools as appropriate from the “Claimant Messaging Project” Locate and utilize partner groups and media to spread information Utilize social media outlets

To employers Ongoing emphasis on the benefits of timely response in regards to individual and

collective tax rates, along with trust fund solvency Create attractive, easy to read information to be included with periodic mailers Utilizing partners who already contact employers Update the “Employer Handbook” to include impact information, fraud reporting, etc…

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Communications Strategies, Continued:

To state UI staff Improved communication for process changes An agency commitment to reciprocating communication lines

between sections Update, clarify, and maintain policy and procedure manuals

To state leaders (Governor, state legislature, etc.) A readily available prepared summary of info for inquiries Distribute numbers to legislators showing

efforts and improvements, and statusof projects

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“Integrity is U & I!”

Questions?

State Contact for follow-up:

Pat Brost: patrick.m.brost@state.or.us

Phone: 503/947-3104

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