A programming error caused more than 4,000 jobless in Louisiana to receive notices saying they had been overpaid thousands of dollars in unemployment compensation and had to return the money, according to reports.
“I have no idea what’s going on and it’s really terrifying,” said Stephens, who added that she was unable to reach the LWC by phone to clarify the matter.
Many people received two letters, according to WBRZ-TV, one for unemployment insurance, the other for Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. Stephens received two letters, saying she owed the state $4,278 and the federal government $9,600.
“They’re essentially asking me for $14,000, and I have 15 days to either pay it or appeal,” she said.
The error was discovered after people began to contact the agency about the overpayment letters, prompting the commission to begin sending out notifications about the mistake.
“There are around 20 overpayment cases that have not been canceled yet. There are variations within these cases which require further steps to be taken before canceling,” she wrote.
“LWC is working with the vendor to correct this technical issue. We apologize for any confusion,” the commission stated in the release, adding that “the vast majority of individuals will not owe anything related to this issue.”
The erroneous notices were sent on Sept. 9 and 10. The commission, which administers unemployment compensation and tax funds in Louisiana, said it had set up a dedicated email account for people dealing with the problem.
“I apologize,” Dejoie told The Advocate.
Dejoie told the publication that the week in March when the people who were affected by the computer error applied for benefits was an unusually busy week for the commission, which received some 97,000 jobless benefit applications. She added that, before the pandemic delivered its colossal hit to the economy, 2,000 new jobless claims would be considered a very busy week.
Nationwide, the week of March 28 saw a record 6.87 million Americans apply for unemployment benefits.