The House and Senate chairs of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development called on Governor Baker to pause the collection of UI overpayments made to recipients during the pandemic. The Boston Globe ran a story last month calculating $2.7 billion in UI overpayments were made in Massachusetts, with $367 million attributable to the state UI fund (the majority being federal pandemic benefits).

Lawmakers pushed legislation that would automatically waive overpayments made to UI recipients several times last year, and again in the early months of 2022. While sympathetic to the financial hardship experienced by laid off workers, NFIB stressed that any waived overpayments should not be billed to the state UI trust that is funded by employer UI taxes. Instead, NFIB urged legislators to use some of the $2.3 billion in leftover American rescue Plan Act funds to cover the cost of any forgiven overpayments.  It is not the responsibility of employers, already charged with replenishing the UI fund and repaying a $2.3 billion federal loan, to pay for UI overpayments.

We ask that you act now to let lawmakers know: Massachusetts employers should not be financially liable for waived UI overpayments.