OAR 471-030-0210: Interstate Reciprocal Overpayment Recovery Arrangement

(1) The following rules shall govern the Oregon Employment Department in its administrative cooperation with other States adopting similar regulations for the recovery of overpayments. (2) Definitions: As used in these rules unless the context clearly requires otherwise: (a) "State" includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. (b) "Offset" means the withholding of an amount against benefits which would otherwise be payable for a compensable week of unemployment. (c) "Overpayment" means an improper payment of benefits, from a State or Federal unemployment compensation fund that has been determined recoverable under the Requesting State's law. (d) "Participating State" means a State which has subscribed to the Interstate Reciprocal Overpayment Recovery Arrangement. (e) "Paying State" means the State under whose law a claim for unemployment benefits has been established on the basis of combining wages and employment covered in more than one State. (f) "Recovering State" means the state that has received a request for assistance from a "Requesting State". (g) "Requesting State" means the State that has issued a final determination of overpayment and is requesting another State to assist it in recovering the outstanding balance from the overpaid individual. (h) "Transferring State" means a State in which a Combined Wage claimant had covered employment and wages in the base period of a paying State, and which transfers such employment and wages to the paying State for its use in determining the benefit rights of such claimant under its law. (i) "Liable State" means any state against which an individual files, through another state, a claim for benefits. (3) Recovery of State or Federal Benefit Overpayments: (a) Duties of the Requesting State. The requesting State shall: (A) Send the recovering State a written request or a request using an approved electronic application for overpayment recovery assistance which includes: (i) Certification that the overpayment is legally collectable under the requesting State's law; (ii) Certification that the determination is final and that any rights to postponement of recoupment have been exhausted or have expired; (iii) A statement as to whether the State is participating in cross-program offset by agreement with the U.S. Secretary of Labor; and, (iv) A copy of the initial overpayment determination and a statement of the outstanding balance. (B) Send notice of this request to the claimant; and (C) Send to the recovering State a new outstanding overpayment balance whenever the requesting State receives any amount of repayment from a source other than the recovering State (e.g., interception of tax refund, etc.). (b) Duties of Recovering State. The Recovering State shall: (A) Issue an overpayment recovery determination to the claimant which includes at a minimum: (i) The statutory authority for the offset; (ii) The name of the State requesting recoupment; (iii) The date of the original overpayment determination; (iv) Type of overpayment (fraud or nonfraud); (v) Program type (UI, UCFE, UCX, TRA, etc.) (vi) Total amount to be offset; (vii) The amount to be offset weekly; (viii) The right to request redetermination and appeal of the determination to recover the overpayment by offset. (B) Offset benefits payable for each week claimed in the amount determined under State law; and (C) Provide the claimant with a notice of the amount offset; and, (D) Prepare and forward, no less than once a month, a payment representing the amount recovered made payable to the requesting State, except as provided in section (c) below. (E) Retain a record of the overpayment balance in its files no later than the exhaustion of benefits, end of the benefit year, exhaustion or end of an additional or extended benefits period, or other extensions of benefits, whichever is later. (F) The Recovering State shall not redetermine the original overpayment determination. (c) Combined Wage Claims. When processing combined wage claims, the following shall apply: (A) Recovery of Outstanding Overpayment in Transferring State. The paying State shall: (i) Offset any outstanding overpayment in a Transferring State(s) prior to honoring a request from any other "Participating State" under this Arrangement. (ii) Credit the deductions against the Statement Of Benefits Paid To Combined Wage Claimants, Form IB-6 or forward a check to the Transferring State as described in (b)(D). (B) Withdrawal of Combined Wage Claim After Benefits Have Been Paid. Withdrawal of a Combined Wage Claim after benefits have been paid shall be honored only if the combined wage claimant has repaid any benefits paid or authorizes the new liable State to offset the overpayment. (i) The Paying State shall issue an overpayment determination and forward a copy, together with an overpayment recovery request and an authorization to offset, with the initial claim to the new liable State. (ii) The Recovering State (which is the new liable State) shall: (I) Offset the total amount of any overpayment, resulting from the withdrawal of a Combined Wage claim, prior to the release of any payments to the claimant; (II) Offset the total amount of any overpayment, resulting from the withdrawal of a Combined Wage Claim prior to honoring a request from any other Participating State under this arrangement; (III) Provide the claimant with a notice for the amount offset; and, (IV) Prepare and forward a check representing the amount recovered to the Requesting State as described in (b)(D). (d) Cross-Program Offset: The Recovering State shall offset benefits payable under a State unemployment compensation program to recover any benefits overpaid under a Federal unemployment compensation program (as described in the Recovering State's Agreement with the Secretary of Labor) and vice versa, in the same manner as required under subsection (3)(b) and (c) of this Section, as appropriate, if the Recovering State and Requesting State have entered into an agreement with the U.S. Secretary of Labor to implement Section 303(g)(2) of the Social Security Act.