Under an amendment to the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 (TAAEA) that recently became effective, employers are now legally required to respond timely and completely to all notices of claims for unemployment benefits. The amendment to the TAAEA is known as the Unemployment Insurance Integrity Act. The amendment requires that by October 21, 2013, all US states issue laws providing that an employer or agent's accounts will not be relieved of charges relating to an unemployment payment from the state fund if the state determines that the employer both:

The TAAEA provides only general guidelines, allowing each state to implement its particular conforming law. For example, Georgia's law penalizes employers that do not timely and adequately respond to three or more individual unemployment insurance claims within the current calendar year (see Legal Update, Georgia Law Penalizes Employers Unresponsive to Unemployment Claims).