For Immediate Release – July 8, 2022
Hågatña, Guam– The Guam Department of Labor has sent out notification letters to individuals who received Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), and/or Lost Wages Assistance (LWA), to inform them that they may request for a Waiver of Overpayment that may be owed to the department.
The letter informs PUA, FPUC, or LWA recipients of their total overpayment amount, how much is due, and how to make payments. If the individual would like to request for a Waiver of Overpayment, they may submit an Application of Waiver of Overpayment from the department to consider waiving the collection of overpayment amount. The notification letters listing the outstanding balance are necessary for individuals to be able to submit an Application of Waiver of Overpayment.
“We are waiving about $5 million in overpayments to those who were without work during the pandemic. For many of them, this means they won’t have to pay back hundreds or thousands of dollars to the department and they get to keep the extra cash for necessities,” said Director David Dell’Isola. “With the exception of cases of fraud or misrepresentation, most of those who apply may get approved. I encourage everyone who gets a letter to come into our office for guidance on their application. This will improve their chances of approval.”
Applications of Waivers of Overpayment will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Application forms are available online at dol.guam.gov and at the Department of Labor office at the GCIC Building in Hågatña, 404 West Soledad Ave, 8th Floor. Application forms may also be submitted via email to pua.waivers@nulldol.guam.gov. The deadline to apply is July 18.
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For more information, contact the Department of Labor Waivers Unit via email at pua.overpayment@nulldol.guam.gov or call 671-300-4613/4249, 671-488-1392/2925.