This weekend, the Kansas Department of Labor will take down its unemployment benefit servers as it upgrades its effort against ongoing fraud.
The department has announced a partnership with LexisNexis to install identity verification software for unemployment insurance accounts and unemployment claims. Two-factor authentication will be part of the new setup so claimants can access their accounts more securely than before, and every claimant will need to verify identity by answering questions about their credit histories as part of the new process.
Department officials believe this will lead to a significant reduction or outright elimination of fraudulent claims attacking the department for months. Administrators also believe the partnership will help the Labor Department make payments to legitimate claimants faster than what has been the case over the last 10 months.
Servers will be offline from Saturday to Tuesday morning. The department will hold payment of regular unemployment benefits until the new system is up and running, so claimants will get any back pay that is owed as a result of the hold time. This will not affect benefit payments to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, but claimants will need to verify their identity in the new system before they can proceed.
