The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry announced an unemployment compensation amnesty program entitled “Make it Right” on July 1, 2017. The program runs through September 30, 2017 and will not be an annual occurrence.
Parties eligible to participate in the program are claimants with overpayments established on or before Dec. 31, 2016; employers with unpaid contributions through the third quarter of 2016; and employers with unpaid reimbursements due on or before Oct. 31, 2016.
During the three-month amnesty, at fault claimants (who knowingly gave false information that allowed them to receive more benefits than they were entitled to) will receive a discount of half off interest accrued on their balances. They will be required to pay the full overpayment balance, lien costs, a 15 percent penalty and the remaining 50 percent interest. Non-fault claimants (who unknowingly accepted more compensation than they were entitled to) will receive a half-off discount on their entire overpayment balance. Employers will owe all contribution or reimbursement balances, lien costs and half of the interest accrued.
According to Pennsylvania DOL Secretary Kathy Manderino, “It’s an opportunity for claimants and for employers to do the right thing, to pay what they owe, and to end up with a clean slate.”
Visit the program’s website for more details: http://www.uc.pa.gov/Pages/UC-Amnesty.aspx