Idaho Department of Labor outlines UI rules, fraud recovery and workforce services

Janie Revere, director of the Idaho Department of Labor, told the Commerce and Human Resources Committee that Idaho’s unemployment insurance program is a federal–state partnership administered under state law and funded by employer taxes placed in a federal trust fund.

Revere said claimants in Idaho are eligible for between $72 and $590 per week for 10 to 21 weeks depending on the state unemployment rate, and that eligibility requires both monetary and personal qualifications. "Monetary eligibility means a claimant has worked and earned sufficient wages in Idaho in the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters," Revere said. She added that claimants must be "unemployed through no fault of your own, able and available for full time work, and either actively seeking work or returning to work for their employer."

Revere described the weekly certification process, the appeals path through hearing officers and the state Supreme Court, and how the compliance bureau investigates discrepancies and recovers overpayments. She said fraud and overpayments from the 2020 pandemic period produced a large backlog of cases that were largely established in 2021–2022 and that the department can pursue fraud investigations for up to five years and collection actions for up to ten years. "If the claimant is unable to repay the entire overpayment, labor will work with a claimant to establish a repayment plan," she said. She noted statutory collection tools include liens, offsets of tax refunds and wage garnishment.

Revere reported Idaho’s Disability Determination Services (DDS) is processing claims faster than the national average, with Idaho decision times cited at about 102 days and DDS processing time of 61 days, while some states' averages approach a year. On workforce services, Revere said the department operates eight offices with mobile or partner locations in 26 additional communities and runs programs for veterans, youth, apprenticeships and employer services such as job fairs and registered-apprenticeship assistance.

On labor-market conditions, Revere said Idaho added jobs faster than the nation since the pre-pandemic peak and had exceeded 2,000,000 residents in 2024. She noted roughly 38,000 Idahoans were unemployed and looking for work, but only about 5,000 of those were receiving unemployment benefits. Revere said the labor force participation rate in 2024 was about 63.6 percent and described demographic pressures from retiring baby boomers and continued in-migration that affects workforce supply.

Committee members asked follow-up questions about the size of the non‑participating population, the DDS performance trajectory, and how gig- or self‑employment interacts with unemployment benefits eligibility. Revere responded that much gig work is treated as self‑employment and generally not covered employment, though income from gig work must be reported if the claimant also has covered wages. "A lot of gig work is not covered employment because they're considered self employed," she said.

The presentation closed with committee members thanking Revere and proceeding to several bills on the agenda.