The Nebraska Department of Labor (dol.nebraska.gov) recently announced that Acting Commissioner of Labor John H. Albin has received the 2014 NASWA (National Association of State Workforce Agencies) Legal Award of Merit presented by the Unemployment Insurance Legal Issues Forum. The award is presented annually and honors one attorney each year who displays distinguished service in the development and study of unemployment insurance law of the United States.
Albin joined the Department of Labor in 1990 and served as an administrative law judge before joining the Department’s legal division in 1993. He became General Counsel in 2000 and has served as a supervisor and mentor to the agency’s law clerks. In July 2014, Albin was appointed by Governor Heineman as the Acting Commissioner of Labor.
Albin supervises the Department’s Benefit Accuracy Measurement and Labor Standards programs, as well as the Nebraska Appeal Tribunal. He was instrumental in the development of legislation allowing Nebraska to participate in the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), which in its first year recovered over $2 million in unemployment insurance overpayments resulting from fraud and reporting errors. Albin has also worked with county attorneys across the state to develop effective prosecution for theft by deception on fraudulent overpayments. He has been a strong advocate for creating and maintaining relationships with other states and agencies to promote and improve the area of unemployment insurance.