On Thursday, Governor McCrory signed legislation intended to combat fraudulent unemployment insurance benefit claims. Among other changes, the new law attempts to combat UI fraud through two new measures. First, benefit claimants will be required to show a photo identification in order to receive benefit checks. Second, the law increases the minimum number of required employment inquiries from two to five per week.

Some employee advocates complained that the increase in minimum inquiries will result in a flood of Internet applications filed for the sole purpose of preserving benefits. Others argued that claimants in rural areas or those without Internet access will have difficulty meeting the new requirements.

The new law does not impact the existing legal standards for initial benefit eligibility. In addition to the major changes noted above, the Employment Security Commission will have new tools and resources for detecting and pursuing claims for unemployment benefit fraud. Most provisions of the new law take effect October 1.