U.S. Department of Labor grants blanket waiver for CARES Act overpayments

Friday, December 06, 2024

U.S. Department of Labor grants blanket waiver for CARES Act overpayments

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) has received approval from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) to issue a blanket waiver, allowing the department to forgive certain overpayments made under the CARES Act.

This waiver offers necessary relief to New Mexicans who mistakenly received overpayments during the pandemic through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program.

“We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Labor for granting this blanket waiver, which allows the Department to continue reevaluating overpayments for claimants who were paid incorrectly due to the unprecedented expansion of benefits and rapidly changing rules of that time,” said NMDWS Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair. “This waiver provides much-needed relief to individuals who were overpaid pandemic benefits through no fault of their own.”
The blanket waiver applies to eligible individuals who received FPUC benefits, FPUC was one of a number of programs that the CARES Act and its legislative extensions established.

The NMDWS paid some FPUC benefits in error, which established an overpayment that some claimants were required to pay back. Recognizing the unfairness of requiring repayment from claimants who were not at fault for their overpayments, NMDWS petitioned the USDOL to waive these amounts. This request was granted on November 25, 2024.

FPUC overpayments related to fraud are not eligible to be waived and must be repaid in full. The blanket waiver only applies to the FPUC overpayments under the CARES Act and extension legislation and does not apply to any other overpayments. Federal pandemic benefits were federally funded and do not affect the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

NMDWS will send out information regarding the blanket waiver via claimants’ preferred correspondence method. DWS encourages all claimants to ensure their contact information is up to date with NMDWS by logging in to their Unemployment Insurance Tax & Claims System account at https://www.jobs.state.nm.us and clicking on View and Maintain Account Information on their claimant homepage or by calling the Unemployment Insurance Operations Center at 1-877-664-6984 Monday through Friday, 8am – 4:30pm.

The FPUC waiver is the latest effort by NMDWS to address the challenges stemming from the pandemic. The department is also re-evaluating other overpayment waivers, as well as collaborating with the Office of the Inspector General in the ongoing pursuit of fraudsters who proliferated during the pandemic.

If an individual suspects that their personal information has been stolen and used to file for Unemployment Insurance benefits, they are encouraged to immediately complete a Fraud Affidavit Form available on the NMDWS website: https://www.dws.state.nm.us/IdentityTheft.

Additional information regarding overpayments on CARES Act programs is available on the NMDWS website https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Unemployment/Overpayment-on-CARES-Act-Programs.