Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development overpaid an estimated $21.2 million in unemployment benefits over a two-day period in April, according to a report published last week by the state’s legislative audit bureau.
The July 15 report found that a “programming error” caused DWD to disburse double the amount of unemployment insurance benefits to 20,135 claimants on April 29, resulting in an estimated $21.1 million in overpayments. The report also showed the agency overpaid claimants by $101,300 on April 28. The agency recovered $19.6 million by the next day, according to the audit, but the technical errors may have “also resulted in [DWD] overpaying and underpaying unknown numbers of individuals.”
