Federal Unemployment Insurance Integrity Act Creates Tough New Standards for Employers Responding to State Unemployment Insurance Claim Notices

In 2011, Congress passed the Unemployment Insurance Integrity Act (Act) as part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 (TAAEA).1 While the TAAEA was primarily concerned with extending retraining assistance for employees displaced by foreign workers, the roughly three-page Act requires states to incorporate provisions into their own unemployment insurance (UI) laws to (1) enhance penalties for fraudulent UI claimants; (2) revise the timing of “new hire” reports; and (3) impose new obligations on employers (and their agents) with respect to responding to unemployment insurance claim notices.