In every business, employees come, and employees go. In Ohio (as in many states), employees may generally apply for state unemployment compensation if their separation from employment was involuntary.  In most cases, the initial application for unemployment benefits is initiated by the former employee. The former employer is notified of the application, and is asked to verify the grounds for separation that the former employee has included in his/her application for unemployment compensation.  This approach is intended to prevent unemployment compensation fraud by applicants who are not actually entitled to receive unemployment compensation.

Under a new law which is effective October 21, 2013, employers who fail to respond to requests from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services for verification of unemployment compensation applications by their former employees will receive a fine equal to  25% of  amounts paid to a claimant who has falsified his/her application.

In other words, when you receive that letter from the ODJFS asking about a former employee, don’t throw it away without reading it. It might prove to be an expensive mistake.

The text of the actual ODJFS press release on this topic is available here.