CNMI Department of Labor Secretary Vicky I. Benavente appeared before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government, Law, and Federal Relations on Wednesday to discuss the status of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation programs.
CNMI Labor Secretary Vicky I. Benavente, fourth right, and her CNMI DOL team pose for a photo with the chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government, Law, and Federal Relations, Karl King-Nabors, in the Senate chamber of Wednesday.
Photo by K-Andrea Evarose S. Limol
She said for the PUA program, the department has formed six divisions: reviewers, adjudicators, benefit payment control unit, hearing office, call center and an email response team.
Since February of last year, CNMI DOL has been gathering employer and employee data, including the total number of employees furloughed, laid off, or on reduced hours as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, she said.
The data also included permanent or temporary business closures as well as reduction of business operation hours, Benavente added.
She said in the first 10 months of data collection, CNMI DOL received notices from 128 businesses reporting that they had been affected by the pandemic.
The highest period of unemployment or partial unemployment was reported in April 2020 with 4,447 employees affected, she said.
In November 2020, data showed a total of 3,261 employees were either furloughed, laid off, or on reduced hours.
Of these 3,261 employees, 1,288 were foreign nationals and 1,973 were U.S. status qualified workers.
Benavente said the decline in the number of affected workers affected may be attributable to the reopening of some businesses.
As for the second round of PUA payments, she said the Koblerville Youth Center, the Chalan Kanoa Youth Center, the San Vicente Youth Center, Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, and the Northern Marianas College campuses on Saipan, Tinian and Rota will serve as additional distribution centers.
The process
Benavente said the initial claim and adjudication process begins with general claims taking and adjudication.
Then comes the initial claim or weekly certification filed by the claimant, which then leads to internal processing when claims are sorted, reviewed, and inputted into the system.
Any issues, such as fraud, flawed application, or missing documents, are flagged for adjudicators or benefit payment control investigators.
These issues may arise from an internal audit, anonymous tips, or targeted or random investigations.
Adjudicators then conduct fact-finding interviews to determine eligibility.
In order for an application to be approved, the claimant must be a US citizen or qualified alien who is partially or totally unemployed, unable or unavailable to work as a direct result of the pandemic, and making less than $494 weekly.
Foreign workers must be verified through the SAVE system.
If issues are not cleared within 48 hours, determination of the claimant’s eligibility can still be made with the information provided.
Written determinations are issued by the adjudicators within 21 days, notifying claimants of their eligibility.
If a claim is approved, authorization is transmitted from CNMI DOL to the Department of Finance for payout, a process that is said to take about seven to 10 days.
Payouts might subtract federal withholdings, child support, or other wage garnishments.
If a claim is not approved, the claimant can file a request for reconsideration or appeal within 10 days or within 30 days if the claimant shows good cause.
Funding source
For the PUA and FPUC programs, the Commonwealth requested a total of $239,145,876, of which $198,110,164 has been received.
• $86,574,600 was allocated for the PUA program, $109,555,000 for the FPUC program, and $1,980,564 for administration.
• 37,092 applications were received, of which 19,090 were CNMI applications. Of the 19,090, 13,996 were eligible and 12,501 have been paid.
• 5,094 applications were potentially eligible pending further adjudication. Of this number, however, 2,113 applications were identified as fraudulent or non-CNMI claims, leaving a total of 2,981 potentially eligible CNMI claims.
• Of the 2,981 potentially eligible claims, 1,659 have completed final adjudication while 1,322 claims are still pending final adjudication.
• About 5,000 paper applications were reviewed, of which 4,795 were serviced or inputted.
• A total of $183,289,666 in PUA or FPUC benefits have been paid, of which $92,216,640 went to the PUA program and $91,073,026 to the FPUC program.
Overpayments
and fraudulent cases
Secretary Benavente said the benefit payment control or BPC unit issues a notice of overpayment if an investigation shows that an overpayment occurred.
If the claimant agrees that an overpayment occurred, the BPC may recover the full lump sum amount, or recover the overpayment in partial amounts according to a payment schedule made.
The payment schedule is dependent on the claimant’s capability to pay.
If the claimant does not agree that an overpayment occurred, the claimant must file an appeal with the CNMI DOL Administrative Hearing Office or AHO.
An administrative hearing will be held and a written decision should be issued within 30 days of filing the appeal.
For fraudulent cases, the BPC notifies the regional office and the Office of Inspector General for federal prosecution.
As of Sunday, there had been a total of 2,018 overpayment cases, including those with misfiled earnings, ineligible claimants, customary wages, and out-of-state cases.
CNMI DOL said 1,238 cases were identified as out-of-state cases, resulting in the interception of $12,334,966.31 in fraudulent claims while 312 cases were identified as ineligible claimants, or claimants who do not fall under the “qualified alien” requirement.
These include those with CW-1, EAD, H-1B, or H-2B status, as well as those with no legal working status.
CNMI DOL said 468 cases were identified as disqualified claims, misfiled and/or unclaimed earnings, and customary wages.
A total of $14,994,019.47 has been collected from overpayment cases, of which $7,905,976.95 was for the PUA program and $7,088,042.52 was for the FPUC program, Secretary Benavente said, adding that CNMI DOL is required to return these recovered funds to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The second round
Through the Continued Assistance Act, or CAA, the PUA program will run from Dec. 27, 2020 through March 13, 2021.
Secretary Benavente said the CNMI has not yet received the funding for the second round of PUA.
She also noted that although CW-1s were ineligible for the first round of unemployment benefits, they are eligible for the second round of unemployment benefits.
Qualified aliens also include aliens admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act, aliens granted asylum, and refugees.
A claimant is considered covered under the CAA if he or she is not eligible for regular unemployment compensation, extended benefits, or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC.
The covered individual may also self-certify that he or she is unemployed, partially unemployed, unable or unavailable to work as a direct result of a qualifying Covid-19 reason.
He or she must provide required documentation of employment or self-employment by the applicable deadline.
