CT Gen Stat § 31-273 (2020)
2020 Connecticut General Statutes|Title 31 - Labor|Chapter 567 - Unemployment Compensation|Section 31-273 - Overpayments; recovery and penalties. Timeliness of appeals. False or misleading declarations, statements or representations. Additional violations and penalties.

 (a)(1) Any person who, through error, has received any sum as benefits under this chapter while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter was not fulfilled in his or her case, or has received a greater amount of benefits than was due him or her under this chapter, shall be charged with an overpayment of a sum equal to the amount so overpaid to him or her, provided such error has been discovered and brought to such person's attention within one year of the date of receipt of such benefits. A person whose receipt of such a sum was not due to fraud, wilful misrepresentation or wilful nondisclosure by himself or herself or another shall be entitled to a determination of eligibility by an examiner designated by the administrator that shall be based upon evidence or testimony presented in a manner prescribed by the administrator, including in writing, by telephone or by other electronic means. The examiner may prescribe a hearing by telephone or in person at his or her discretion, provided if an in person hearing is requested, the request may not be unreasonably denied by the examiner. Notice of the time and place of such hearing, and the reasons for such hearing, shall be given to the person not less than five days prior to the date appointed for such hearing. Such examiner shall determine whether: (A) Such person shall repay such sum to the administrator for the Unemployment Compensation Fund, (B) such sum shall be recouped by offset from such person's unemployment benefits, or (C) repayment or recoupment of such sum would defeat the purpose of the benefits or be against equity and good conscience and should be waived. In any case where the examiner determines that such sum shall be recouped by offset from a person's unemployment benefits, the deduction from benefits shall not exceed fifty per cent of the person's weekly benefit amount. Where such offset is insufficient to recoup the full amount of the overpayment, the claimant shall repay the remaining amount in accordance with a repayment schedule as determined by the examiner. If the claimant fails to repay according to the schedule, the administrator may recover such overpayment through a wage execution against the claimant's earnings upon his or her return to work in accordance with the provisions of section 52-361a, and the administrator may request the Commissioner of Administrative Services to seek reimbursement for such amount pursuant to section 12-742. Any person with respect to whom a determination of overpayment has been made, according to the provisions of this subsection, shall be given notice of such determination and the provisions for repayment or recoupment of the amount overpaid. No repayment shall be required and no deduction from benefits shall be made until the determination of overpayment has become final.(2) The determination of overpayment shall be final unless the claimant, within ­twenty-one days after notice of such determination was provided to the claimant at his or her last-known address, files an appeal from such determination to a referee, except that any such appeal that is filed after such twenty-one-day period may be considered to be timely filed if the filing party shows good cause, as defined in regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-249h, for the late filing. If the last day for filing an appeal falls on any day when the offices of the Employment Security Division are not open for business, such last day shall be extended to the next business day. If any such appeal is filed by mail, the appeal shall be considered timely filed if the appeal was received within such ­twenty-one-day period or bears a legible United States postal service postmark that indicates that within such ­twenty-one-day period the appeal was placed in the possession of postal authorities for delivery to the appropriate office, except posting dates attributable to private postage meters shall not be considered in determining the timeliness of appeals filed by mail. If any such appeal is filed electronically, such appeal shall be considered timely filed if it was received within such twenty-one-day period.(3) The appeal shall be heard in the same manner provided in section 31-242 for an appeal from the decision of an examiner on a claim for benefits. Any party aggrieved by the decision of the referee, including the administrator, may appeal to the Employment Security Board of Review in the manner provided in section 31-249. Decisions of the board may be appealed to the Superior Court in the manner provided in section 31-249b. The administrator is authorized, eight years after the payment of any benefits described in this subsection, to cancel any claim for such repayment or recoupment which in his or her opinion is uncollectible. Effective January 1, 1996, and annually thereafter, the administrator shall report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor and public employees, the aggregate number and value of all such claims deemed uncollectible and therefore cancelled during the previous calendar year. Any determination of overpayment made under this section which becomes final may be enforced by a wage execution in the same manner as a judgment of the Superior Court when the claimant fails to pay according to his or her repayment schedule. The court may issue a wage execution upon any final determination of overpayment in the same manner as in cases of judgments rendered in the Superior Court, and upon the filing of an application to the court for an execution, the administrator shall send to the clerk of the court a certified copy of such determination.(b) (1) Any person who, by reason of fraud, wilful misrepresentation or wilful nondisclosure by such person or by another of a material fact, has received any sum as benefits under this chapter while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter was not fulfilled in such person's case, or has received a greater amount of benefits than was due such person under this chapter, shall be charged with an overpayment and shall be liable to repay to the administrator for the Unemployment Compensation Fund a sum equal to the amount so overpaid to such person. If such person does not make repayment in full of the sum overpaid, the administrator shall recoup such sum by offset from such person's unemployment benefits. The deduction from benefits shall be one hundred per cent of the person's weekly benefit entitlement until the full amount of the overpayment has been recouped. Where such offset is insufficient to recoup the full amount of the overpayment, the claimant shall repay the remaining amount plus, for any determination of an overpayment made on or after July 1, 2005, interest at the rate of one per cent of the amount so overpaid per month, in accordance with a repayment schedule as determined by the examiner. If the claimant fails to repay according to the schedule, the administrator may recover such overpayment plus interest through a wage execution against the claimant's earnings upon the claimant's return to work in accordance with the provisions of section 52-361a. In addition, the administrator may request the Commissioner of Administrative Services to seek reimbursement for such amount pursuant to section 12-742. If the administrator's actions are insufficient to recover such overpayment, the administrator may submit the outstanding balance to the Internal Revenue Service for the purpose of offsetting the claimant's federal tax refund pursuant to 26 USC 6402(f), 31 USC 3720A or other applicable federal laws. The administrator is authorized, eight years after the payment of any benefits described in this subsection, to cancel any claim for such repayment or recoupment which in the administrator's opinion is uncollectible. Effective January 1, 1996, and annually thereafter, the administrator shall report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor and public employees, the aggregate number and value of all such claims deemed uncollectible and therefore cancelled during the previous calendar year.(2) (A) For any determination of an overpayment made prior to October 1, 2013, any person who has made a claim for benefits under this chapter and has knowingly made a false statement or representation or has knowingly failed to disclose a material fact in order to obtain benefits or to increase the amount of benefits to which such person may be entitled under this chapter shall forfeit benefits for not less than one or more than thirty-nine compensable weeks following determination of such offense or offenses, during which weeks such person would otherwise have been eligible to receive benefits. For the purposes of section 31-231b, such person shall be deemed to have received benefits for such forfeited weeks. This penalty shall be in addition to any other applicable penalty under this section and in addition to the liability to repay any moneys so received by such person and shall not be confined to a single benefit year. The provisions of this subparagraph shall not be applicable to claims deemed payable as of October 1, 2019. (B) For any determination of an overpayment made on or after October 1, 2013, any person who has made a claim for benefits under this chapter and has knowingly made a false statement or representation or has knowingly failed to disclose a material fact in order to obtain benefits or to increase the amount of benefits to which such person may be entitled under this chapter shall be subject to a penalty of fifty per cent of the amount of overpayment for the first offense and a penalty of one hundred per cent of the amount of overpayment for any subsequent offense. This penalty shall be in addition to the liability to repay the full amount of overpayment and shall not be confined to a single benefit year. Thirty-five per cent of any such penalty shall be paid into the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund and sixty-five per cent of such penalty shall be paid into the Employment Security Administration Fund. The penalty amounts computed in this subparagraph shall be rounded to the nearest dollar with fractions of a dollar of exactly fifty cents rounded upward.(3) Any person charged with the fraudulent receipt of benefits or the making of a fraudulent claim, as provided in this subsection, shall be entitled to a determination of eligibility by the administrator that shall be based upon evidence or testimony presented in a manner prescribed by the administrator including in writing, by telephone or by other electronic means. The administrator may prescribe a hearing by telephone or in person at his or her discretion, provided if an in person hearing is requested, the request may not be unreasonably denied by the administrator. Notice of the time and place of such hearing, and the reasons for such hearing, shall be given to the person not less than five days prior to the date appointed for such hearing. The administrator shall determine, on the basis of facts found by the administrator, whether or not a fraudulent act subject to the penalties of this subsection has been committed and, upon such finding, shall fix the penalty for any such offense according to the provisions of this subsection. Any person determined by the administrator to have committed fraud under the provisions of this section shall be liable for repayment to the administrator of the Unemployment Compensation Fund for any benefits determined by the administrator to have been collected fraudulently, as well as any other penalties assessed by the administrator in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. Until such liabilities have been met to the satisfaction of the administrator, such person shall forfeit any right to receive benefits under the provisions of this chapter. Notification of such decision and penalty shall be provided to such person and shall be final unless such person files an appeal not later than twenty-one days after the date such notification was provided to such person, except that (A) any such appeal that is filed after such twenty-one-day period may be considered to be timely filed if the filing party shows good cause, as defined in regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-249h, for the late filing, (B) if the last day for filing an appeal falls on any day when the offices of the Employment Security Division are not open for business, such last day shall be extended to the next business day, (C) if any such appeal is filed by mail, the appeal shall be considered timely filed if the appeal was received within such twenty-one-day period or bears a legible United States postal service postmark that indicates that within such twenty-one-day period the appeal was placed in the possession of postal authorities for delivery to the appropriate office, except posting dates attributable to private postage meters shall not be considered in determining the timeliness of appeals filed by mail, and (D) if any such appeal is filed electronically, such appeal shall be considered timely filed if it was received within such twenty-one-day period. Such appeal shall be heard by a referee in the same manner provided in section 31-242 for an appeal from the decision of an examiner on a claim for benefits. The manner in which such appeals shall be heard and appeals taken therefrom to the board of review and then to the Superior Court, either by the administrator or the claimant, shall be in accordance with the provisions set forth in section 31-249 or 31-249b, as the case may be. Any determination of overpayment made under this subsection which becomes final on or after October 1, 1995, may be enforced in the same manner as a judgment of the Superior Court when the claimant fails to pay according to the claimant's repayment schedule. The court may issue execution upon any final determination of overpayment in the same manner as in cases of judgments rendered in the Superior Court; and upon the filing of an application to the court for an execution, the administrator shall send to the clerk of the court a certified copy of such determination.(c) Any person, firm or corporation who knowingly employs a person and pays such employee without declaring such payment in the payroll records shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.(d) If, after investigation, the administrator determines that there is probable cause to believe that the person, firm or corporation has wilfully failed to declare payment of wages in the payroll record, the administrator shall provide an opportunity for a hearing on the matter. If a hearing is requested, it shall be conducted by the administrator, or a deputy or representative designated by the administrator. Notice of the time and place of such hearing, and the reasons therefor, shall be given to the person, firm, or corporation not less than five days prior to the date appointed for such hearing. If the administrator determines, on the basis of the facts found by him or her, that such nondeclaration occurred and was wilful, the administrator shall fix the payments and penalties in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of this section. Such person, firm or corporation may appeal to the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford or for the judicial district in which the employer's principal place of business is located. Such court shall give notice of a time and place of hearing to the administrator. At such hearing the court may confirm or correct the administrator's determination. If the administrator's determination is confirmed, the cost of such proceedings, as in civil actions, shall be assessed against such person, firm or corporation. No costs shall be assessed against the state on such appeal.(e) If the administrator determines that any person, firm or corporation has wilfully failed to declare the payment of wages on payroll records, the administrator may impose a penalty of ten per cent of the total contributions past due to the administrator, as determined pursuant to section 31-270. Such penalty shall be in addition to any other applicable penalty and interest under section 31-266. In addition, the administrator may require the person, firm or corporation to make contributions at the maximum rate provided in section 31-225a for a period of one year following the determination by the administrator concerning the wilful nondeclaration. If the person, firm or corporation is paying or should have been paying, the maximum rate at the time of the determination, the administrator may require that such maximum rate continue for a period of three years following the determination.(f) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or representation or fails to disclose a material fact in order to obtain, increase, prevent or decrease any benefit, contribution or other payment under this chapter, or under any similar law of another state or of the United States in regard to which this state acted as agent pursuant to an agreement authorized by section 31-225, whether to be made to or by himself or herself or any other person, and who receives any such benefit, pays any such contribution or alters any such payment to his or her advantage by such fraudulent means (1) shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to five hundred dollars or less or (2) shall be guilty of a class D felony if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to more than five hundred dollars. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 54-193, no person shall be prosecuted for a violation of the provisions of this subsection committed on or after October 1, 1977, except within five years next after such violation has been committed.(g) Any person, firm or corporation who knowingly fails to pay contributions or other payments due under this chapter shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 54-193, no person shall be prosecuted for a violation of the provisions of this subsection committed on or after October 1, 1987, except within five years after such violation has been committed.(h) Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this chapter for which no other penalty is provided by law shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months or both.(i) Any person who wilfully violates any regulation made by the administrator or the board under the authority of this chapter, for which no penalty is specifically provided, shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars.(j) All interest payments collected by the administrator under subsection (b) of this section shall be deposited in the Employment Security Administration Fund.(k) For any determination of an overpayment made on or after October 1, 2013, if the administrator determines that an overpayment was caused by an employer's failure to timely or adequately respond to the administrator's request for information relating to a claim in a manner prescribed by the administrator, such employer shall not be relieved of its proportionate share of charges for each week determined to be overpaid.(1949 Rev., S. 7543; 1949, S. 3089d; 1953, S. 3090d, 3091d; 1967, P.A. 790, S. 20, 21; P.A. 74-229, S. 21, 22; 74-339, S. 32, 33, 36; P.A. 77-227; 77-426, S. 14, 19; P.A. 78-287; 78-331, S. 14, 41, 58; P.A. 79-42; 79-67, S. 1, 2; 79-187, S. 4; P.A. 81-318, S. 3, 4, 8; P.A. 82-132; P.A. 87-364, S. 7, 8; P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4-6; 95-323, S. 1, 2, 8; P.A. 04-60, S. 1, 2; P.A. 05-288, S. 139; P.A. 11-36, S. 1, 2; P.A. 13-66, S. 1; P.A. 16-169, S. 16; P.A. 19-117, S. 150.)History: 1967 act amended Subsecs. (b) and (e) to exclude Sundays and holidays from period allowed for appeal and to specify that if last day falls on day when employment security division offices are closed an extension is allowed and substituted Sec. 31-231b for Sec. 31-232 in Subsec. (e); P.A. 74-229 made person who receives benefits but who “by virtue of a retroactive monetary or nonmonetary determination” is disqualified from receiving benefits liable for repayment under Subsec. (b) and increased time for filing appeal from 7 to 14 days but deleted exclusion for Sundays and holidays; P.A. 74-339 replaced references to unemployment commission and commissioners with references to the board and substituted reference to Sec. 31-249b for reference to Sec. 31-249 in Subsec. (e); P.A. 77-227 imposed penalty on those who receive benefits, etc. as a result of fraudulent means in Subsec. (a) and changed penalty from $200 maximum fine and/or 6 months' maximum imprisonment to penalty for Class A misdemeanor, inserted new Subsec. (c) re employers' violations and relettered former Subsecs. (c) to (e) accordingly; P.A. 77-426 imposed five-year limitation on prosecution actions in Subsec. (a), added references to penalty in Subsec. (e), revised appeal procedure so that referee hears case first rather than the board and restored reference to Sec. 31-249; P.A. 78-287 made penalty applicable to those who pay fraudulent contributions or alter payments to their advantage and added provision making violator in cases involving fraudulent benefit, etc. of more than $500 subject to penalty for a Class D felony; P.A. 78-331 made technical changes; P.A. 79-42 rephrased violations in Subsec. (a) for clarity; P.A. 79-67 added Subsec. (c)(2) re contributions at maximum rate and amended Subsec. (f) to change maximum period of forfeited benefits from 20 to 39 compensable weeks or “more than six years beyond the expiration of the benefit year during which the offense occurred” rather than “beyond 21 months after the termination of the calendar quarter during which the offense was discovered”; P.A. 79-187 amended Subsec. (b) to include provisions re persons whose receipt of funds in error was not due to fraud, etc. and re partial repayment or waiver of repayment, made examiner rather than administrator responsible for determination, modified appeal procedure so that appeals are made first to board of review and then to superior court and replaced references to commissioners with references to referees; P.A. 81-318 amended Subsec. (b) to increase the time limit for appeal from 14 to 21 days after notice mailed and amended Subsec. (f) to increase the time limit for appeal from fourteen to 21 days after mailing of notice of decision and penalty; P.A. 82-132 rearranged the section's provisions to make them more comprehensible, and provided in Subsec. (b) that 100% of the benefit entitlement shall be deducted from benefits paid to a person found to have improperly received benefits, by fraud, wilful misrepresentation or wilful nondisclosure, until the amount overpaid has been recouped; P.A. 87-364 inserted new Subsec. (e) providing that knowingly failing to pay contributions due under the chapter constitutes a class A misdemeanor, and that any prosecution of the crime must take place within five years after the violation and relettered former Subsecs. (e) and (f) accordingly; P.A. 88-230 replaced “judicial district of Hartford-New Britain” with “judicial district of Hartford”, effective September 1, 1991; P.A. 90-98 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1991, to September 1, 1993; P.A. 93-142 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1993, to September 1, 1996, effective June 14, 1993; P.A. 95-220 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1996, to September 1, 1998, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-323 amended Subsec. (b) to allow an appeal to be heard directly by a referee in the same manner as an appeal of a decision of an examiner and deleted the requirement that the administrator present all documents, including the finding of facts for a referee's decision, effective July 10, 1995, and further amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to specify methods available for recoupment of overpayments and procedures for enforcement of wage executions and to require annual report of uncollectible claims to General Assembly, changing time lapse for consideration of claim as uncollectible from six to eight years and deleting a six-year limit re penalties in Subsec. (b), further amended Subsec. (b) to specify that perpetrators may not receive benefits until repayment of overpayment and penalties has been made in full, amended Subsec. (c) to eliminate the contribution schedule re employers' violations, inserted new provisions in Subsec. (d) re hearing and penalty provisions for employers who wilfully fail to declare payment of wages in the payroll record, inserted new Subsec. (e) re additional penalties imposed for violations of wilful nondeclaration and relettered former Subsecs. (d) to (g), inclusive, as Subsecs. (f) to (i), inclusive, effective October 1, 1995, and applicable to any separation of employment occurring on or after that date; P.A. 04-60 amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes, to establish interest penalty for overpayments determined on or after July 1, 2005, in Subdiv. (1), to reduce minimum number of weeks of benefit forfeiture from two to one in Subdiv. (2), and to revise notification and appeal procedures in Subdiv. (3), and added Subsec. (j) requiring deposit of all interest penalty payments collected pursuant to Subsec. (b) into Employment Security Administration Fund, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(2), effective July 13, 2005; P.A. 11-36 amended Subsec. (a) by designating existing provisions as Subdivs. (1) to (3) and adding provisions re good cause exception for late filing of appeal of determination of overpayment in Subdiv. (2), and amended Subsec. (b)(3) to add provisions re good cause exception for late filing of appeal of determination of fraudulent receipt of benefits or making a fraudulent claim; P.A. 13-66 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding provision allowing administrator to request Commissioner of Administrative Services to seek reimbursement, amended Subsec. (b)(1) by adding provision authorizing administrator to petition the Internal Revenue Service to offset claimant's federal tax refund, amended Subsec. (b)(2) by designating existing provisions as Subpara. (A) and making same applicable to overpayments made prior to October 1, 2013, adding Subpara. (B) re overpayments made on or after October 1, 2013, and penalty re persons knowingly making false representations to obtain or increase benefits, and added Subsec. (k) re employer's liability when overpayment is due to employer's failure to respond to administrator's request for information; P.A. 16-169 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing provision re hearing before examiner with provisions re determination of eligibility by examiner, presentation of evidence or testimony and hearing prescribed by examiner in Subdiv. (1) and replacing “mailed” with “provided” re notice of determination and adding provision re appeal filed electronically in Subdiv. (2), amended Subsec. (b) by replacing “26 USC 6402(d)” with “26 USC 6402(f)” in Subdiv. (1) and replacing provision re hearing before administrator, deputy or representative with provisions re determination of eligibility by administrator, presentation of evidence or testimony and hearing prescribed by administrator, replacing “mailed” with “provided” re notification of decision and penalty and adding Subpara. (D) re appeal filed electronically in Subdiv. (3), and made technical and conforming changes; P.A. 19-117 amended Subsec. (b)(2)(A) by adding provision re Subpara. not applicable to claims payable as of October 1, 2019, effective June 26, 2019.