What you should know if your employees were laid off due to the public health emergency

Employers should be aware they may be may qualify for relief of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit charging for layoffs during the pandemic.

If you laid off employees (who collected state unemployment benefits) because of the public health emergency, you need to complete this form to prevent those benefits from being charged to your individual employer account. The form needs to be completed and returned by August 15, 2020.

Under previously adopted legislation (2019 Wisconsin Act 185) lawmakers directed the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to charge unemployment benefits for initial claims related to the public health emergency to the balancing account (not individual employer accounts) of the Unemployment Trust Fund.

… ANY BENEFITS CHARGED TO THE EMPLOYERS ACCOUNT COULD RESULT IN A LOWER ACCOUNT BALANCE AND HIGHER CONTRIBUTION RATE.

Since an employer’s contribution rate for unemployment insurance is based on the reserve percentage in the employer’s individual account, any benefits charged to the employer’s account could result in a lower account balance and higher contribution rate.

If you have any questions contact John Mielke at jmielke@abcwi.org or 608-244-5883. You can find the official DWD web page on the issue through this link.