Unemployment insurance under-reporting

[mmarr12]

State: Maryland

I was receiving unemployment benefits for a couple of months but then I got a part-time job where I worked only 2 to 3 days a week for about 12 to 15 weeks. Out of ignorance and misunderstanding, I did not report the hours that I worked. What I did instead was I simply did not file for benefits for the week in which I got paid for my part-time work (I got paid once a month for my work). I got confused and didn't think it meant that I had to report my weekly hours even though I wasn't getting paid for another 3 to 4 weeks.

My part-time employer contacted me letting me know that State of MD wants to know all the hours I worked in a given quarter.

How worried do I need to be? I have yet to receive any notification or letter from the agency about this. Of course, if I have done something wrong I would happily pay any amount of overpayment and/or penalties. I just don't know what will happen if anything.

Just wanted some advice.

Thanks

 

[Eekamouse]

State: Maryland

I was receiving unemployment benefits for a couple of months but then I got a part-time job where I worked only 2 to 3 days a week for about 12 to 15 weeks. Out of ignorance and misunderstanding, I did not report the hours that I worked. What I did instead was I simply did not file for benefits for the week in which I got paid for my part-time work (I got paid once a month for my work). I got confused and didn't think it meant that I had to report my weekly hours even though I wasn't getting paid for another 3 to 4 weeks.

My part-time employer contacted me letting me know that State of MD wants to know all the hours I worked in a given quarter.

How worried do I need to be? I have yet to receive any notification or letter from the agency about this. Of course, if I have done something wrong I would happily pay any amount of overpayment and/or penalties. I just don't know what will happen if anything.

Just wanted some advice.

Thanks

That's a handy excuse but really not at all believable. You knew what you were doing.

 

[LdiJ]

That's a handy excuse but really not at all believable. You knew what you were doing.

I dunno, it sounds pretty believable to me.

 

[justalayman]

One of two things is likely to happen


The state will accept it as an error and want you to return the benefits paid due to the error

Or

The state will see it as intentional fraud. What they do at that point is up to them but will surely include repayment of the ill gotten gains and could go as far as criminal prosecution.



Most states are quite clear on the rules regarding the obligation to report earnings in the week earned regardless of when, or even if, they are paid. If your states system is as clear as mine on the matter, you have no real valid argument you misunderstood the requirement.



Good luck.

 

[commentator]

Quote: "What I did instead was I simply did not file for benefits for the week in which I got paid for my part-time work (I got paid once a month for my work)."

Are you SURE you did this? If there is what is called a "break" in the claim series, in every system I've ever seen, it stops the claim and the claim must be reopened. How often did you do the weekly certifications? Did you have to reopen the claim after missing that week you didn't report?

All claims weeks for unemployment purposes run from Sunday to Saturday, and each week that you certify for, you are supposed to report all gross wages earned from work during the week it was worked, NOT the week you received the pay.

And every state explains this VERY clearly in the information that you sign off on that you have read and understand when you are filing a claim. The most basic examination of your claim will produce evidence of deliberate misreporting, which is FRAUD. And unemployment overpayment with a fraud designation means that you will be subject to both the demand for the total amount of money back, and significant penalties as well. An "I was mistaken, I didn't understand" is not going to work very well as a defense in this case. And the system will cross match wages paid with unemployment drawn and catch you automatically.

Sadly, if you had reported the earnings appropriately, they might very well have not affected your claim at all, or only slightly, so that you would have been able to draw part of your weekly benefit, plus your money made working, and have been completely legal. If you were off by a few dollars and had to guess at the amount you'd worked and were going to be paid for, that would not have been considered unemployment fraud, they'd just have corrected the errors and given you an overpayment for the bit of money you were overpaid if you were.

But what I fear may happen if you tarry is that you will receive communication saying that you are found to be overpaid in the amount of xxxxxxx, and that will be the WHOLE amount of unemployment you drew in the whole claim. I would suggest that you contact them, quickly, and explain that you have discovered you have made a mistake, before they call you. Be ready, willing and able to work with them, and perhaps, they'll be willing work with you about not making you pay back the whole claim with penalties. It is not a criminal case, though if they wanted to, the agency could eventually press to have you prosecuted for fraud. But the more ready you are to help them get the mistake settled, the easier it is for them to reach you and work with you to resolve this "mistake" the more ready they will be to think leniency.

If you avoid them, do not respond to their first contacts, refuse to cooperate, you're making the situation worse and worse for yourself. Admit your "mistake" quickly and take steps to repay, they'll very likely work with you, and may not instigate quite such severe penalties as they may otherwise.

 

[justalayman]

Commentator

In my state you can go at least one reporting period (2 weeks) without there being a break in the,claim. I don’t know,if it is longer than that but it is at least that

 

[commentator]

Yes, some of them, especially the two week certifiers will probably let him do that. But that the person did that (skip a week) is just a giveaway that they did know they were supposed to report these earnings, no matter how small, in some size shape or fashion. Sometimes people will say, "I thought it was so little an amount that I didn't need to report it," and that's a bit more believable to me than, "Oh, I tried to cover it by skipping the week I got paid for it." Either way, it is totally ignoring, or very much misreading the instructions, but about the best you can hope for in this situation is the sympathy vote somewhere in the fraud investigation process. As I heard one person told, "Look, we're giving you some slack for stupidity, but if this happens again, we are going to prosecute."

 

[Eekamouse]

I dunno, it sounds pretty believable to me.

Why does it seem pretty believable to you? Is it because you want to play devil's advocate on EVERY post that comes through this site? Haha. Just kidding, LdiJ.

 

[LdiJ]

Why does it seem pretty believable to you? Is it because you want to play devil's advocate on EVERY post that comes through this site? Haha. Just kidding, LdiJ.

No, it just sounded a bit believable to me. I am not an expert on unemployment by any means so I think that I tend to look at things from a more naïve point of view, therefore a point of view more likely to be shared by new posters. I did collect unemployment for a short time in my life and I could see myself making that kind of mistake...the mistake of reporting things when I got paid rather than when I worked.

 

[mmarr12]

Hi guys, OP here, thank you all for your responses. Based on the advice in this thread, I will be calling the unemployment office on Monday first thing in the morning and letting them know that I think I've made a mistake in how I was doing my claims and have gotten over-paid as a result. I'm not trying to ruin my record or get into any hot water with the law over a few thousand dollars. I want to fix this issue asap. Thanks for all the help!

 

[commentator]

Yes, a whole lot of people, especially those who had the idea that income amount was more important than when the work was done did try to cover their self employment by reporting it the week it was paid instead of the week it was earned which is the correct way to do it. Some would say they were unsure exactly how much they were going to earn, which is quite reasonable, so they would say they'd waited to be sure of the amount before reporting. This person just skipped reporting at all, which of course they'll be able to see that he did this, and he can always say he believed this to be the most accurate or correct or honest way to do it. And maybe they will give him the benefit of the doubt and allow for his not having read the material closely, especially if he does what he says he's doing, which is contact them and try to take care of it proactively. Hope it works out well for you.