July 7, 2020
KSRE Employee Reports Unemployment Insurance Fraud
It has come to our attention that an Extension agent discovered someone had filed an unemployment insurance claim in their name and at their current salary level. Salaries of KSRE employees can be found on websites with public employee information.
Normally, the Department of Labor would contact the employer of record, who has the option to approve or deny the claim. However, with the increase in applications for unemployment and the stream-lining of the process to address the volume of claims, that safeguard may not be in place in a timely manner.
The Department of Labor does audit claims by comparing benefits paid with the employment status of the claimant. That means eventually they’d notice that the agent was employed by KSU, or in the case of a local unit employee, by your local Extension unit, and should not be receiving unemployment. If you believe an unemployment claim has been filed in your name or one of your local unit employees' names, you can report the potential fraud by calling the Kansas unemployment insurance fraud line. Responses to voice mails left on the unemployment insurance fraud reporting system phones are reportedly taking a long time. Another option might be to send an email with a note about the fraudulent claim.
Report Unemployment Insurance Fraud at 785-581-7300, online or by email at kdol.fraud@ks.gov.