Vermont Labor Department begins rulemaking to allow waivers for unemployment overpayments

The Vermont Department of Labor has begun the administrative rulemaking process to let adjudicators waive some unemployment insurance overpayments under an "equity and good conscience" standard created after the COVID-19 pandemic, department officials updated the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee.

The rule change implements language from Act 184 and the federal CARES Act-era guidance, officials said. "The change that came out of, Act 184, was around amending our rules to include a provision called equity in good conscience," Robert Depper, chief general counsel for the Department of Labor, told the committee. The department filed required notices with the Secretary of State in March and the public-comment notice was published March 26; a public hearing is scheduled for April 30 and the comment period runs 30 days.

Why it matters: During the pandemic the state temporarily paid benefits far beyond typical volumes and federal guidance evolved repeatedly, creating situations where claimants were paid from the wrong program or received benefit “bumps” added by federal or state programs. Michael Harrington, commissioner for the Department of Labor, told the committee that Vermont typically paid…