Video promoting electronic UI information exchange

CLASSIFICATION
   EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION                 Unemployment Insurance
               ADVISORY SYSTEM                            CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
                                                          OUI
          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
                                                          DATE
             Washington, D.C. 20210                       July 1, 2013



ADVISORY:         UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 21-13

TO:               STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM:             GERRI FIALA /s/
                  Acting Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:          Unemployment Insurance (UI) State Information Data Exchange System
                  (SIDES) Messaging Video Availability

1. Purpose. To provide information on the availability of a messaging video that promotes the
   benefits and ease of use of UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response to employers and third-party
   administrators (TPAs) that deal with UI information requests.

2. References.
   • Executive Order (E.O.) 13520, Reducing Improper Payments (November 20, 2009);
   • Improper Payment Information Act of 2002 (IPIA), 31 U.S.C. 3321;
   • Improper Payment Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA), 31 U.S.C. 3301;
   • Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (IPERIA), 31
      U.S.C. 3321;
   • Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 19-11, National Effort to Reduce
      Improper Payments in the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program; and
   • UIPL No. 18-12, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Supplemental Funding Opportunity for
      Program Integrity and Performance and System Improvements.

3. Background. On November 20, 2009, President Obama signed E.O. 13520, Reducing
   Improper Payments. It emphasized the need to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in federally
   administered programs while protecting access to these programs by their intended
   beneficiaries. Subsequently, the IPIA, as amended by IPERA and later IPERIA, required
   Federal agencies to review their programs and program activities annually, identify programs
   and areas that may be susceptible to significant overpayments, and develop and implement
   corrective action plans for any “high-risk” programs. The UI program is a “high-risk”
   program. Under IPERA, an agency which reports an improper payment rate of 10 percent or
   higher for a program it administers will be determined to be out of compliance and will
   trigger oversight by Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office
   of the Inspector General.

   On June 10, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor (Department) issued UIPL No. 19-11,
   National Effort to Reduce Improper Payments in the UI Program, to notify stakeholders that
   UI integrity is a top priority and provide a strategic plan to reduce the rate of UI improper

 RESCISSIONS                                             EXPIRATION DATE
 None                                                    Continuing

   payments. One strategy the UIPL indicated the Department would undertake as part of this
   plan was the development of outreach and marketing tools for states to use with businesses
   and TPAs to promote participation in UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response.

   UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response were developed through a strategic partnership between
   the Department, employer representatives, and state UI agencies. UI SIDES is an integrated
   computer-to-computer interface between employers’ information technology systems and
   state agency networks, designed for employers and TPAs that typically handle a large
   volume of UI information requests. UI SIDES is especially helpful to those employers that
   operate in multiple states. For employers with a limited number of UI claims throughout the
   year, the SIDES E-Response Web site provides an easy and efficient portal for electronically
   posting responses to information requests from state agencies. SIDES E-Response is
   available in participating states to any employer or TPA with Internet access.

   In UIPL No. 18-12, the Department announced a supplemental funding opportunity to help
   states develop their own state-specific strategies to reduce the improper payment rate. As a
   condition of eligibility, those funding opportunities required states that had completed
   development of UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response to implement a messaging campaign
   targeting employers and TPAs, which includes specific messaging to improve employers’
   awareness of their responsibility to respond to state requests for separation information
   and/or earnings/wage verifications.

4. Messaging Video. The Department developed a messaging video that states can use to
   promote employer and TPA participation in UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response. The
   messaging video focuses on the numerous benefits these systems offer to employers and
   TPAs:

   •   Free of charge. Both systems are offered free of charge to employers and TPAs,
       although there are internal IT system development costs to integrate UI SIDES.
   •   Secure. Both systems have multiple layers of security to protect the sensitive data
       exchanged between the state UI agency and employers and TPAs.
   •   Ensure accurate information exchanges. Both systems provide a nationally-
       standardized format that ensures complete information is provided through standard edits,
       validations, and business rules.
   •   Reduce administrative costs. Both systems reduce the volume of time and resource-
       consuming paperwork, postage costs, follow-up phone calls, and unnecessary appeals.
   •   Save time. Both systems are electronic, eliminating delays related to mail delivery,
       reducing paper handling, and ensuring information requests are fully completed.
   •   Minimize UI rates. Both systems will help employers and TPAs keep UI tax rates as
       low as possible by providing timely and accurate information to the state UI agency,
       preventing payments to former workers who do not meet eligibility requirements.

   The video discusses the problems addressed by UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response,
   distinguishes the differences between the two systems, and includes a broad spectrum of
   workplace images to illustrate the benefits to all employers, large and small. Additionally,
   this four-minute messaging video provides a call to action for employers and TPAs to use UI


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   SIDES in participating states, and to encourage employers in states that do not offer UI
   SIDES and SIDES E-Response to contact their state to encourage them to offer these
   systems.

   States may use this video to meet the supplemental funding opportunity requirement to
   implement at least one messaging tool to promote UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response. The
   messaging video will be posted to the UI Payment Integrity home page
   (www.dol.gov/dol/maps/tools.htm), to the UI Community of Practice under the ‘Resources’
   tab (ui.workforce3one.org), and the UI SIDES Web site (info.uisides.org). In addition, the
   Department will mass mail DVD copies of the video to each UI Director for all states to use.

5. Action Requested. State administrators are requested to:

       a) Distribute this information throughout the UI community and to interested
          stakeholders, such as Chambers of Commerce and other industry associations, that
          may promote UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response to their members; and
       b) Identify strategies to share this video with the employer and TPA community as part
          of the state’s UI SIDES and SIDES E-Response messaging campaign, within the
          context of the state’s strategic plan to address UI improper payments.

6. Inquiries. Questions should be directed to the appropriate Regional Office.




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