Jobless insurance system honored

Utah’s unemployed continue to benefit from the best unemployment insurance and appeals programs in the nation, the U.S. Department of Labor affirmed. Utah was recognized for its operational excellence in appeals decisions and tax operations at the National Unemployment Insurance Directors’ Conference last week in Orlando, Florida. Utah was honored for its top- performing programs, which operate faster and more effectively than any other medium-sized state in the nation, according to the citation.

“We set a high bar of excellence for our service to both the employers who fund Utah’s Unemployment Insurance Program, and those individuals in need of temporary financial support,” said Jon Pierpont, executive director of the Department of Workforce Services. “These honors highlight our commitment to exceptional customer service and wise stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”

{mprestriction ids="1,3"}Contributions collected from Utah employers, under the state unemployment insurance tax, are used exclusively to pay benefits to unemployed workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own and are able and available to seek and accept full-time work.

“Our program and operational structure are well designed,” said Kevin Burt, director of the Utah Unemployment Insurance Division. “But, in the end, this is an award recognizing the dedication of Workforce Services’ staff. They work hard every day to ensure the program is run with accuracy and integrity, and this award validates their incredible effort nationally.”

The Utah Division of Adjudication is an autonomous, quasi-judicial agency whose primary function is to hear and decide appeals of Workforce Services’ decisions concerning unemployment insurance benefits, as well as other temporary supportive services.{/mprestriction}