To determine whether the Department of Labor (Department) has taken appropriate steps to oversee and manage the Unemployment Insurance system and to comply with selected portions of the New York State Information Security Policy and Standards. The audit covered the period from January 2020 to March 2022.
The Department’s mission is to protect workers, assist the unemployed, and connect jobless workers to jobs. One of its key tasks in assisting the unemployed is administering the State’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. The UI program is a joint federal–State initiative that provides benefits to eligible workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own (as determined under State law) and meet other eligibility requirements of State law. In March 2020, Executive Order 202.8 – New York State on PAUSE – directed the temporary closure of all non-essential businesses statewide to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In addition, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), also enacted in March 2020, created temporary programs that allowed for enhanced UI benefits for those affected by COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic and the addition of temporary benefit programs, like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) which had less stringent requirements than traditional UI, contributed to a dramatic increase in UI claims. Collectively, these factors not only increased the demand for as well as the amount of UI benefits but...
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in "good health" and suffered only minor injuries during the February 28 strikes, senior Iranian officials said on Friday, dismissing mounting speculation...