DOL Botched Advice on Gig-Worker Jobless Aid, Watchdog Says (2)

Labor Department guidance that encouraged states to pay jobless benefits to gig-economy workers without requiring earnings documentation has made a crucial new virus-relief program “highly vulnerable” to fraud, the agency’s internal watchdog said.

The DOL’s Office of Inspector General said in a memo Wednesday that it disagrees with the agency’s interpretation of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which was launched under the $2.2 trillion CARES Act and already has extended unemployment insurance benefits to millions of self-employed workers and others who aren’t traditionally eligible.

At issue is the department’s April guidance that informed states they could start paying PUA claims ...