If you received an overpayment notice from the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC), you might not actually have to repay your benefits.
Earlier this week approximately 7,600 Unemployment Insurance (UI) overpayment notices were mistakenly sent out by one of LWCs vendors, notifying people that they will be required to repay part or all of the UI benefits they had received. On Thursday, the agency released a statement saying that they are aware of the issue and that they will send a “Notice of Adjustment” withing the next week. In the meantime, check your HiRE dashboard. LWC noted that while the “vast majority” of people who received letters will not owe anything, some letters may not have been sent in error.
Many Louisianans who received these letters have expressed frustration at the fact that they couldn’t get ahold of anyone via phone in regards to this issue. However, the LWC has established an email inbox for overpayment related issues – though they are asking that anyone with questions wait until after they have received their Adjustment Notice before reaching out. If you still have questions then, you can email septovrpymtissue@lwc.la.gov.
Last week, the state announced that it has begun the process to borrow federal dollars in order to refill the unemployment trust fund, which is expected to run out of money later this month. According to LWC Secretary Ava Dejoie, there are over 400,000 unemployed individuals across the state, in addition to those receiving disaster UI benefits after being impacted by Hurricane Laura. Currently, the unemployment fund has “a little over $160 million,” Dejoie said.
“This time last year we were at over a billion dollars… In all of last year, we paid out $153 million from the state unemployment insurance trust fund, this year we’ve paid out over a billion dollars,” Dejoie told WAFB in an interview. “We have made an application to the federal government for borrowing money under Title X and we anticipate that Louisiana will begin borrowing money from the federal government mid-to-late September.”
No matter what happens, the LWC will continue paying those benefits, however.
“It’s is not an option about whether states pay unemployment insurance benefits. It’s federal law, so we must continue to pay weekly benefits. Our weekly benefit in Louisiana is $247 per week,” Dejoie stated.
