Comptroller’s Audit Finds Massive UI Failures at Department of Labor

November 17th, 2022

On Tuesday, November 15, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli published a damning audit of describing numerous failures involving the New York State Department of Labor’s unemployment insurance claims.

“The agency resorted to stop-gap measures to paper over problems, and this proved to be costly to the state, businesses, and New Yorkers. The department needs to recoup fraudulent payments and correct its mistakes.” DiNapoli said.

The audit, which looked at the period from January 2020 to March 2022, criticized DOL for using outdated UI processing system which ultimately led to at least $11 billion in fraudulent UI payments.

That last part bears repeating: at least $11 billion in in fraudulent UI payments.

As a leading voice for Upstate employers and taxpayers, we were compelled to issue a statement in response to the Comptroller’s audit. We’ve also covered New York’s UI crisis extensively in our Troubling Trends series.

New York’s employers should not be on the hook for the Department of Labor’s stunning incompetence. Moving forward, New York State should fully refund the $159 million that employers were forced to pay through an interest assessment surcharge in September. We also renew our calls for Governor Hochul and legislative leaders to pay down the state’s $7.7 billion UI debt to the federal government. It’s clear that Washington will not deliver a UI bailout that many elected officials have requested. Any and all money that is recovered from the state’s pursuit of the $11 billion fraudulent payment must be applied to the UI crisis.

We appreciate the extraordinary work of the Comptroller’s office on this important issue and encourage them to monitor DOL operations moving forward.