Pa. to refund $19 million to 109,000 people it overcharged in unemployment error – By Angela Couloumbis (Spotlight PA) / Sept 3 2021
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HARRISBURG — The state Department of Labor and Industry will pay out more than $19 million in refunds after it overcharged nearly 110,000 people for unemployment interest payments over a decade.
Department officials said notices were mailed out Aug. 27 to 109,554 people, informing them of the mistake and instructing them on how they can receive a refund. Refund amounts go as high as $13,500, with the majority of people owed less than $500, according to the agency’s calculations.
In all, the department is obligated to repay just under $19.4 million — $5 million more than it originally estimated it owed in refunds when Spotlight PA questioned Wolf administration officials about the issue this past summer. Labor and Industry officials first identified the error five years ago but did not tell the public until the news organization began asking questions about it.
Department head Jennifer Berrier has said the delay in informing the public was not a “cover-up,” but instead reflected the amount of time it took to identify a solution. Former Labor and Industry employees who were tasked with addressing the problem once it was discovered told Spotlight PA they were directed to keep it secret, an assertion officials have denied.
