In the first eight months of 2010, the Utah Department of Workforce Services sent out almost 400,000 letters via e-mail to unemployment-insurance claimants.

The customer-friendly nature of that program, and its ability to save the department more than $700,000 in mail processing and postage costs, recently earned the state agency a technological innovation award from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Utah's Electronic Correspondence System Project, implemented in 2009, won the Worker & Employer Services category at the 2010 National Conference on Unemployment Insurance held Oct. 19 near Washington, D.C.

"We are committed to providing the citizens of Utah with efficient and effective services, while keeping an eye on the bottom line," said Kristen Cox, the department's executive director.

In the two years since it became available, the system has enrolled more than 46,000 claimants and 1,200 employers who handle their unemployment-insurance correspondence through e-mail rather than paper mail.

Besides saving money, Cox said the system is more secure, provides better accountability and enforceability for claimants — as well as employers — and is more secure because customers receive their correspondence at a secure website.

Utah was one of three states — Texas and Washington were the others — singled out by the Labor Department for innovations that advance worker and employer services, the integrity of the system or re-employment opportunities.

Mike Gorrell