Confusion reigns in Missouri over federal employee pay situation
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Confusion reigns in Missouri over federal employee pay situation

Date: October 22, 2013
By: Brendan Cullerton
State Capitol Bureau

Intro: 
The government shutdown is over, but Missouri officials still have no idea who will pay for the unemployment benefits federal workers collected.
RunTime:  0:44
OutCue:  SOC

Wrap: Now that previously furloughed workers will get back pay for time missed during the shut down, state officials do how to get back the unemployment benefits they gave them.

Missouri law requires the employer to repay the state in a back payment situation, but a Department of Labor spokesman says that statute was made for private employers.

Missouri Republican Chairman Ed Martin says state and federal governments should not allow a loophole for federal workers to collect two checks.

Actuality:  MARTIN.WAV
Run Time:  00:09
Description: "There is a point though where the state and federal government fall back on either confusion or a lack of direction in the face of common sense."

Missouri Department of Labor Officials say they are still waiting on the feds for guidance.

From the state Capitol, Brendan Cullerton, newsradio 1120, KMOX.

 

 
Intro: 
The government shutdown is over, but Missouri officials still have no idea who will pay for the unemployment benefits federal workers collected.
RunTime:  0:41
OutCue:  SOC

Wrap: Missouri Department of Labor spokesman Tom Bastian says the decision to give furloughed federal employees back pay for their time off has put Missouri in a state of uncertainty.

Bastian says the Department of Labor does not know how to get the money back for unemployment benefits collected by furloughed federal workers during the shut down.

The Department of Labor's website states federal employees are responsible for giving their benefits back, but Missouri law requires the employer to repay the state in a back payment situation.

Bastian says that statute was made for private employers, not the U.S government, and Missouri is still waiting on the feds for guidance.

Reporting from the state Capitol, Brendan Cullerton, newsradio 1120, KMOX.