DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
DAVID Y. IGE
GOVERNOR
SCOTT T. MURAKAMI
DIRECTOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2020
STATE RELEASES UPDATED UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE INFORMATION
State Has Issued $1.85 Billion in Benefits Since March 1
HONOLULU — The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) today announced updated unemployment insurance claims information, including paying $ 1,853,823,044 and 1,739,559 weeks claimed since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic on March 1, 2020.
“Despite nearly a thousand new claims a day over the past week, the department has managed to maintain a ninety-three percent (93%) level of payouts of the valid unemployment insurance claims that have come in since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” said Deputy Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio. “We also reduced the number of clean claims without certification by 950 so we still have 10,455 clean claims ready for payment of benefits by filing weekly claim certifications at https://huiclaims.hawaii.gov/#/”.
| No. of claims filed statewide: | 245,519 |
| No. of invalid claims filed statewide: | – 71,953 |
| No. of valid claims awaiting claimant to verify: | – 10,455 |
| No. of valid claims requiring DLIR action | 163,471 |
| No. of claims paid: | 151,542 |
| No. of claims requiring DLIR action 7/1/20 | 11,929 |
“One major issue preventing claimants from receiving benefits is the use of devices with out-of-state IPs (Internet Protocol address) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) software,” said Deputy Perreira-Eustaquio. “Benefits are stopped when it appears claimants are filing outside of Hawaii so claimants should allow the system to detect their location when filing certifications.”
The Department’s operations continue to evolve including the following common issues:
- Persons working full-time and therefore ineligible for benefits but filing for the loss of part-time work,
- Incorrect deposit information supplied by claimants,
- No weekly certifications filed by claimants,
- Claim backdate issues,
- Separation from work that requires investigation,
- Not allowing location information while filing certifications,
- Claimants that have filed multiple claims, and
- Failure to create a username and password in the claimant online portal.
As reported across the nation, fraudsters are targeting state unemployment insurance systems in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic through various schemes and identity theft. Bad actors are using stolen personal information from sources outside of the department, such as from massive external data breaches like the Equifax breach, to apply for benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and attempt to route payments to their own bank accounts.
As of June 24, the department has blocked $95M in possible fraudulent payments and detected a potential of $18M paid out in PUA benefits. Investigations are ongoing and will confirm the exact total of erroneously paid benefits.
“Unfortunately, bad actors including organized crime continue to attack the program designed to support our vulnerable residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” said Deputy Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio. “We are working with the U.S. DOL Inspector General and the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General to find those perpetrating fraud and will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
If you received a letter regarding a claim for PUA and you did NOT apply for benefits, please follow the instructions on the letter to report potential identity theft at pua.hawaii.gov. The DLIR is not able to detect how or when your identity was stolen and cannot prevent it from being used elsewhere. If you suspect that you have been a victim of identity theft, file a report with the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov. You may also check to see if your email has been breached by visiting https://haveibeenpwned.com.
For more information about identity theft and PUA benefits please visit https://labor.hawaii.gov/pua-fraud-faqs/.
For more information about unemployment insurance and other labor issues please visit: https://labor.hawaii.gov/covid-19-labor-faqs/.
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TDD/TTY Dial 711 then ask for (808) 586-8866
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View DLIR news releases:
https://labor.hawaii.gov/blog/category/news/
Media Contact:
Bill Kunstman
Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
(808) 586-8845
[email protected]
https://labor.hawaii.gov
