CWs return $108K so far to DOL

The return rate is “going well” for CW-1 workers who have received the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, according to the CNMI Department of Labor, and that $108,522.46 have so far been collected by its Benefits Payment Control Unit.

The islands’ foreign workers were deemed ineligible for the federal assistance by the U.S. Department of Labor a week ago, with CNMI Labor stating that those who have misidentified themselves in order to qualify will be on the fraud list and will be directed to return the amount they have received.

Speaking at the media briefing yesterday, Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente said that only 15 of the confirmed CW-1s who have received PUA benefits have yet to return the money that they have received.

“We have confirmed that 75 applicants were deemed CW-1 and therefore ineligible for PUA benefits, and out of the 75 of these applicants, 60 have already returned the funds back to CNMI DOL, Finance, so our return rate is going well,” she said.

For contract workers who have already spent a portion of the payment, Labor has a payment program in place with their Benefits Payments Control Unit.

“If a CW has spent part of that money, which they have come to realize this should not have been issued to them, they have an opportunity to repay the funds back on a payment plan process,” Benavente added.

As for fraud, the Labor secretary stressed that anyone who misrepresented a statement or purposely said something on the application that they know is incorrect or untrue is considered to be committing an act of fraud.

“If you have inadvertently received a PUA benefit and you have reported it to the CNMI Department of Labor, of course your name will be taken off the fraud checklist and it will be cleared of any improper action by the BPC Unit,” she said.

Claimants may call 322-9943/9944 or email bpc.cnmidol@gmail.com to report fraud/overpayment. The BPC Unit will compile the information and has proven that the claimant has been overpaid, a scheduled appointment will be made with the claimant to arrange a repayment plan.

More than $50 million in PUA and FPUC payments have already been disbursed to eligible and approved claimants as of Aug. 18, 2020, according to an Office of the Governor statement yesterday. Based on CNMI DOL data, all of the claims that were processed for payouts were those that were complete and without issues.

Last week, Labor issued about $19 million to about 3,000 applicants, the same amount the department is expecting to issue in the next two weeks, with paper applications being quicker to process according to Benavente.

“The team has been working very hard to process, and have processed over 7,000 initial PUA applications and weekly applications online and paper. We started hitting 1,500 paper applications and we should be done with those applications by this week.”

According to the statement, claims that were submitted with supporting documentation (e.g., copy of ID, separation notices, reduction of hours) and without missing information were processed immediately if they demonstrated accurate eligibility (unemployment as a result of COVID-19 related reasons) and financial information (bank account and routing number).

For more information regarding the status of a PUA application, call telephone numbers:  989-9081/9083/9089/9090/9093.  Inquiries can also be emailed to: info@puamarianas.com.