photo by: Photo by Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, left, and Kansas Department of Labor secretary Amber Shultz announce the launch of the state's new online unemployment system Nov. 22, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka. Agency staff say the new system has allowed them to identify 8,526 overpayments made since Jan. 1, 2019.

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Labor is notifying more than 8,500 individuals that they received overpayments for unemployment insurance, including some issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, and must repay the funds.

Nearly half owe more than $5,000 and could face liens or garnished wages if they don’t respond.

Amy Selm, deputy labor secretary, and Nicole Struckhoff, deputy unemployment director, told reporters 2,700 of the cases involve suspected fraud.

They said the agency’s updated unemployment insurance system provides improved accuracy in financial tracking and record keeping. Starting in July 2025, the agency began sending notices for newly established overpayments, averaging about 800 per month. The agency now has used the system to review 1.5 million claims dating to Jan. 1, 2019, and identify reporting discrepancies and employer-provided adjustments.

The agency planned to send letters Thursday to 8,526 individuals. Struckhoff said 46% of the individuals owe more than $5,000 but couldn’t provide a total amount owed to the state.

Selm said the letters inform people that they could make a full payment, enter into a payment plan, or apply for a waiver. The online waiver form asks individuals to make their case for why “repaying the overpayment would be against equity and good conscience or cause undue hardship.”

Selm said the agency hoped the letters would result in a “voluntary resolution.” The agency has the authority to seize property, assess fines, garnish wages, or intercept a federal tax refund to force repayment.

“Addressing overpayments supports the integrity of the unemployment trust fund and ensures consistent application of program requirements,” Selm said. “It also helps maintain equitable treatment across claimants and employers.”

For some, the overpayments are tied to not completing a work search or providing an incorrect reason for losing their job, Selm said. The fraudulent cases may involve things like not reporting wages earned while receiving unemployment or falsifying a work search, she said. None of the fraud is related to identity theft, she said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s outdated unemployment system, which was built on obsolete 1970s computer code, was widely criticized for its severe limitations. The Legislature had blocked an attempt to modernize the program more than a decade earlier.

There was “a big push to get payments out the door” during the pandemic, Selm said.

But because of the legacy system, she said, discovering overpayments has been an ongoing process. The state completed a modernization of the system in November 2024.