State collects nearly $14M for unemployment benefits

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations' Division of Employment Security announced that for the first six months of the year, it has collected $13.7 million in delinquent unemployment taxes, penalties, interest and overpayments from false or mistaken claims.

The department is tasked with making sure that only qualified, displaced workers receive unemployment benefits - and that Missouri employers are paying unemployment taxes owed in a timely manner.

Gov. Matt Blunt said the amount collected should send a strong message to those who would consider defrauding or abusing state programs that Missouri will track them down and make them pay.

"Missouri workers and businesses can be certain we will continue to aggressively uncover and root out those who attempt to cheat the unemployment insurance system," Blunt said in a news release.

In the first half of 2008, DES collected more than $8.1 million in restitution from claimants who cheated the system or received benefits they should not have received. The total includes both overpaid benefits and monetary penalties.

The most common reasons for improper payment are the collection of unemployment insurance benefits after returning to work or concealing information on the weekly claim that would have made an individual ineligible for benefits.

From January through June 2008, the division collected more than $5.5 million in delinquent taxes, penalties and interest from employers. Penalties are imposed if an employer fails to file any required report by the specified due date. Interest accrues on contributions that are due and unpaid after each quarterly due date.

"Claimants who abuse the unemployment insurance system and employers who fail to properly pay their taxes in a timely manner create a burden on other Missouri employers," DOLIR Director Todd Smith said in the release. "Our staff's collection efforts strengthen Missouri's unemployment insurance system, which benefits Missouri's workers and businesses."

For more news on insurance and employee benefits, see the Oct. 6 issue of Springfield Business Journal.[[In-content Ad]]