(The Center Square) — The Georgia Department of Labor is upgrading the state’s unemployment machine, however officers gained’t verify the cost.
Officials mentioned introducing a contemporary, web-based platform will empower the company to streamline declare processing, lower mistakes and make stronger fraud detection features. It additionally makes it more uncomplicated for citizens to use for unemployment insurance coverage advantages and test the standing of their claims, officers say.
“Modernizing Georgia’s 80s-era unemployment system represents the dynamic fusion between efficiency and innovation,” Commissioner Bruce Thompson mentioned in a press release. “A modern and responsive unemployment system minimizes claims processing times, enhances the customer experience, prevents fraud, and positions GDOL to become the most transparent and responsive agency in state government.”
The company is operating with Tata Consultancy Services to improve the machine. Despite their vow of transparency, hard work division officers didn’t reply to a couple of requests to elucidate the challenge’s cost.
The state’s hard work division has had a nasty run as of overdue.
Last month, following an inside audit, the Georgia Department of Labor returned greater than $105.1 million in unremitted budget to the state treasury. Officials mentioned the budget started collecting in fiscal 2014 beneath the former hard work commissioner.
Earlier this yr, a Fulton County grand jury indicted 8 former state staff on unemployment insurance coverage fraud fees. Prosecutors say they submitted false claims and weekly certifications to the hard work division all through the COVID-19 pandemic to obtain unemployment insurance coverage advantages when hired by means of the state.
Last yr, the feds introduced fees towards 8 other people for conspiring to defraud the Georgia DOL out of tens of hundreds of thousands of bucks in federal budget for unemployment advantages. At the time, knowledgeable informed The Center Square the federal fees printed the possible vulnerability of the state’s programs.
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