LINCOLN- According to a recent state audit, the Nebraska Department of Labor may have mishandled unemployment insurance benefits that put as much as $13 million at risk over the past fiscal year. State Auditor Mike Foley said the department is likely still adjusting to the deluge of work and unemployment claims it handled during the height of the pandemic.

"The Labor Department still has Long COVID," said Foley, "The symptoms have not been fully resolved." According to the report, Foley and his team tested a random sample of unemployment insurance payments made by the department in 2023, and found that, of the $62.5 million paid out, up to $12.67 million might have put "potential dollars at risk."

This was due to the fact that the department either did not follow up with an employer to get necessary information about a termination or did not document such follow-ups. In one situation, highlighted in the Auditor's report, an insurance claimant got another job while receiving unemployment benefits and apparently underreported wages.

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