Confidentiality of unemployment appeal records

CLASSIFICATION
   EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION                  Unemployment Insurance
               ADVISORY SYSTEM                             CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR                         OUI/DL
             Washington, D.C. 20210                        DATE
                                                           October 30, 2014


ADVISORY:       UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 3-15

TO:             STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM:           PORTIA WU /s/
                Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:        Confidentiality of Unemployment Compensation Appeals Information

1. Purpose. To remind states of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (Department) interpretation of
   the confidentiality requirement for unemployment compensation (UC) appeals information
   and to clarify when confidential UC information in UC appeals records may be disclosed to
   the public under 20 CFR 603.5(b).

2. References.
   • Section 303(a) of the Social Security Act (SSA), 42 U.S.C. 503(a); and
   • 20 CFR part 603.

3. Background. Section 303(a)(1), SSA, requires, as a condition of states receiving grants for
   the administration of their UC programs, that state law contain provisions for “such methods
   of administration…as are found by the Secretary of Labor to be reasonably calculated to
   insure full payment of unemployment compensation when due.” As explained in 20 CFR
   603.4(b), the Department interprets the “methods of administration” provision to require that
   state law include provision for “maintaining the confidentiality of any UC information which
   reveals the name or any identifying particular about any individual or any past or present
   employing unit, or which could foreseeably be combined with other publicly available
   information to reveal any such particulars.” A state law must also include provisions for
   barring disclosure of confidential UC information unless the disclosure is permitted or
   required as provided in the regulation. (See 20 CFR 603.4(b).)

   Confidential UC information required to be protected under section 603.4(b) includes
   “information in the records of a State or State UC agency that pertains to the administration
   of the State UC law,” as well as claim information. (See 20 CFR 603.2(b) and (j).) Claim
   information is defined in section 603.2(a)(1) to include: information on whether an
   individual has applied for UC; the individual’s address; and “other information contained in
   the records of the State UC agency that is needed by the requesting agency to verify eligibility
   for, and the amount of, benefits.”



 RESCISSIONS                                              EXPIRATION DATE
 None                                                     Continuing

4. Permissible Disclosures Prior to Appeals Hearing. Notwithstanding the confidentiality
   requirements described in section 3, and recognizing the value of public, open hearings,
   Federal regulations permit disclosure of certain information concerning a UC claim appeal
   before an appeal hearing is held if state law so provides. Specifically, states may publish
   appeals hearing dockets that provide only the information necessary for the hearing to be
   public: the names of the parties and the date, time, and place where the hearing will be held.
   No personally identifiable information, including addresses and telephone numbers for
   claimants or employers, or claim information such as the reason for a claimant’s separation,
   may be included on published appeals hearing dockets or any other disclosure of appeals
   information before the issuance of a decision on appeal.

5. Permissible Disclosures After Appeals Hearing. Section 603.5(b) provides that states may
   make public “appeals records and decisions, and precedential determinations on coverage of
   employers, employment, and wages . . . provided all social security numbers have been
   removed and such disclosure is otherwise consistent with Federal and State law.”

   The Department interprets this provision to mean that only final decisions may be disclosed,
   along with the records of the hearings (that is, documents placed in the record during the
   hearing) that led to the final decisions. Accordingly, a disclosable hearing record does not
   come into existence until the hearing officer issues a decision. The contents of the hearing
   record are not themselves subject to disclosure under section 603.5(b) except as part of a final
   hearing record. Appeals records and decisions may be disclosed only if state law provides
   that these decisions are part of the public record, and only after the hearing has been
   conducted and the decision issued.

6. Action Requested. State administrators are requested to provide the above information to
   appropriate staff.

7. Inquiries. Please direct inquiries to the appropriate Regional Office.