Maine Dept. of Labor Contacting Individual Unemployment Claimants Impacted by 1099-G Upload Error

January 19, 2022

For Immediate Release: January 19, 2022

Maine Dept. of Labor Contacting Individual Unemployment Claimants Impacted by 1099-G Upload Error

AUGUSTA - The Maine Department of Labor is in the process of reaching out to 146 Maine people today who may have been inadvertently impacted by an upload error involving tax documents.

At 11:35 a.m. on Tuesday, January 18, the Maine Department of Labor began the annual process of uploading 1099-G tax documents. This process begins with uploading the tax documents into the online correspondence accounts of individuals who received unemployment insurance in 2021. While the upload was occurring, a simultaneous review revealed that documents were being uploaded into incorrect accounts. The process was immediately halted, and documents that had already been uploaded were removed by 1:05 p.m.

Unemployment 1099-Gs include the unemployment claimant's name, address, last four digits of their social security number, and the amount of unemployment benefits received in 2021. 1099-Gs do not include birth dates, banking information, or full social security numbers.

The Department has identified 146 individuals whose information was inadvertently seen by another unemployment claimant during the 90-minute interval when documents began to be uploaded and when all documents were removed. The Department has also identified the 117 unemployment claimants who tried to access their tax documents and, therefore, could have seen another individuals information. The Department has also determined that documents for 29 of the 146 people only included the individuals name and mailing address.

"The security of Maine peoples information is of the utmost concern. We take this seriously and are working to ensure that the 146 potentially impacted people are aware and are provided appropriate resources," said Laura Fortman, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor. "We will also be working to determine how the documents were uploaded into the incorrect accounts and then take steps to ensure that it does not happen again."

The Department will be communicating directly with impacted claimants. They will receive an email this afternoon letting them know that they were impacted, as well as a letter in the mail. Credit monitoring will be offered to these individuals, and information on how to access the monitoring will be provided in the letter.

This incident will not prevent claimants from receiving their 2021 1099-Gs by January 31, 2022.