Thousands of false unemployment insurance claims are being made in the names of unknowing employees due to identity theft. When these claims go unnoticed, it puts your unemployment insurance account at risk for an increase in your rate, in addition to what could be happening to your employee’s important information.
Fraud claims against Michigan employers’ Unemployment Insurance accounts, due to Identity theft, have reached epidemic proportions. This fraud harms employees as well as employers because your worker will end up with IRS problems and damage to their credit rating. Most of the time both the worker and the employer are unaware of the problem until the Unemployment Agency notifies the employer and the employer sees the charge against their account.
In most cases, the employee is still employed when the claim is noticed. Last year, NFIB supported legislation (Public Act 225 of 2017) that provides protection for employers and employees with identity theft claims. This bill has been signed into law.
The Michigan Unemployment Agency has released two fact sheets to help employers and employees deal with ID theft and false unemployment insurance claims:
Go HERE to download Unemployment Agency Fact Sheet.
Go HERE for more information on Protecting Your Business from UI Identity Theft.
Free Webinar
Unemployment Insurance and ID Theft
How You Can Protect Yourself and Your Employees
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Noon to 1 p.m. EST.
REGISTER HERE
Thank you to our Webinar Sponsor:
Michigan Association of Health Plans
Also, NFIB is offering a free webinar on Thursday, March 8, 2018, from Noon to 1 p.m. EST. It will inform employers of the steps to take if they think they have a false claim due to ID theft. Webinar presenters are Michelle Beebe, director of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), and Tim Kolar, investigations administrator for the UIA. They will share:
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how the ID theft is happening
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what the UIA is doing to stop it
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how you, as a business owner, can help.
