2015 WISCONSIN ACT 334
An Act to repeal 102.07 (8) (d), 108.02 (24g), 108.04 (8) (e), 108.05 (1) (q), 108.05 (1) (r) (figure), 108.05 (2), 108.05 (2m), 108.09 (2) (cm), 108.14 (27) and 111.327;
to renumber and amend 108.04 (8) (d), 108.04 (11) (g), 108.04 (12) (f) 1., 108.04 (12) (f) 2., 108.09 (7) (d), 108.151 (3) (b) and 108.19 (1s) (a);
to amend 108.02 (13) (k), 108.02 (21) (b), 108.04 (1) (bm), 108.04 (2) (h), 108.04 (7) (c), 108.04 (7) (e), 108.04 (7) (h), 108.04 (8) (c), 108.04 (12) (e), 108.04 (13) (d) 3. (intro.) and a., 108.04 (13) (d) 4. (intro.) and a., 108.04 (16) (b), 108.05 (1) (r), 108.09 (2) (a), 108.09 (2) (d), 108.09 (2r), 108.09 (4) (c), 108.09 (4) (d) 1. and 2., 108.09 (4) (e), 108.09 (4) (f) 1., 108.09 (4) (f) 2. (intro.), 108.09 (4) (f) 3., 108.09 (4o), 108.09 (5) (b), 108.09 (5) (d), 108.09 (6) (a), 108.09 (6) (b), 108.09 (6) (c), 108.09 (6) (d), 108.09 (7) (a) and (b), 108.095 (2), 108.095 (3), 108.095 (7), 108.10 (1), 108.10 (2), 108.10 (4), 108.10 (6), 108.14 (8n) (e), 108.141 (3g) (a) 3. (intro.), 108.141 (4), 108.141 (7) (a), 108.151 (4) (b), 108.152 (6) (a) (intro.), 108.16 (6) (g), 108.16 (7m), 108.16 (10), 108.18 (7) (a) 1., 108.18 (7) (h), 108.18 (9c), 108.19 (1m), 108.22 (1) (b), 108.22 (1) (c), 108.22 (1m), 108.22 (9), 108.225 (1) (a) and 108.24 (2m);
to repeal and recreate 108.04 (1) (b), 108.09 (4) (d) 3., 108.09 (5) (c) and 108.19 (title);
to create 108.04 (7) (cg), 108.04 (8) (d) 2., 108.04 (8) (dm), 108.04 (8) (em), 108.04 (11) (g) 2. and 3., 108.04 (12) (f) 1m., 108.04 (12) (f) 2m., 108.04 (12) (f) 3. b. to d., 108.04 (13) (d) 4. c., 108.09 (7) (c) to (h), 108.151 (3) (b) 2., 108.155, 108.16 (6m) (i), 108.19 (1f), 108.19 (1s) (a) 2., 108.19 (1s) (a) 3., 108.19 (1s) (a) 4. and 108.221 of the statutes; and
to affect 2011 Wisconsin Act 198, section
4m,
2011 Wisconsin Act 198, section
6m,
2011 Wisconsin Act 198, section
37m,
2011 Wisconsin Act 198, section
47m (1) and
2013 Wisconsin Act 36, section
236m;
relating to: various changes to the unemployment insurance law.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
334,1
Section
1. 102.07 (8) (d) of the statutes is repealed.
334,2
Section
2. 108.02 (13) (k) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.02 (13) (k) "Employer" does not include a county department, an aging unit, or, under s. 46.2785, a private agency that serves as a fiscal agent or contracts with a fiscal intermediary to serve as a fiscal agent under s. 46.27 (5) (i), 46.272 (7) (e), or 47.035 as to any individual performing services for a person receiving long-term support services under s. 46.27 (5) (b), 46.272 (7) (b), 46.275, 46.277, 46.278, 46.2785, 46.286, 46.495, 51.42, or 51.437 or personal assistance services under s. 47.02 (6) (c).
334,3
Section
3. 108.02 (21) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.02 (21) (b) Notwithstanding par. (a), except as provided in s. ss. 108.151 (7) (a) and 108.155 (1) (a), an employer's payroll for calendar years prior to 2009 includes only the first $10,500 of wages paid by an employer to an individual during each calendar year, for calendar years 2009 and 2010 includes only the first $12,000 of such wages, for calendar years 2011 and 2012 includes only the first $13,000 of such wages, and for calendar years after 2012 includes only the first $14,000 of such wages, including any wages paid for any work covered by the unemployment insurance law of any other state, except as authorized in s. 108.17 (5).
334,5
Section
5. 108.04 (1) (b) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
108.04 (1) (b) Except as provided in s. 108.062 (10), if an employee is absent from work for 16 hours or less in the first week of his or her leave of absence or in the week in which his or her employment is suspended or terminated due to the employee's unavailability for work with the employer or inability to perform suitable work otherwise available with the employer, the employee's eligibility for benefits for that week shall be determined under par. (bm).
334,6
Section
6. 108.04 (1) (bm) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.04 (1) (bm) For purposes of par. pars. (a) 1. and (b) 2., the department shall treat the amount that the employee would have earned as wages for a given week in available work as wages earned by the employee and shall apply the method specified in s. 108.05 (3) (a) to compute the benefits payable to the employee. The department shall estimate wages that an employee would have earned if it is not possible to compute the exact amount of wages that would have been earned by the employee.
334,7
Section
7. 108.04 (2) (h) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.04 (2) (h) A claimant shall, when the claimant first files a claim for benefits under this chapter and during each subsequent week the claimant files for benefits under this chapter, inform the department whether he or she is receiving social security disability insurance benefits under 42 USC ch. 7 subch. II payments, as defined in sub. (12) (f) 2m.
334,8
Section
8. 108.04 (7) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.04 (7) (c) Paragraph (a) does not apply if the department determines that the employee terminated his or her work but had no reasonable alternative because the employee was unable to do his or her work, or that the employee terminated his or her work because of the verified illness or disability of a member of his or her immediate family and the verified illness or disability reasonably necessitates the care of the family member for a period of time that is longer than the employer is willing to grant leave; but if the department determines that the employee is unable to work or unavailable for work, the employee is ineligible to receive benefits while such inability or unavailability continues the employee.
334,9
Section
9. 108.04 (7) (cg) of the statutes is created to read:
108.04 (7) (cg) Paragraph (a) does not apply if the department determines that the employee terminated his or her work because of the verified illness or disability of a member of his or her immediate family and the verified illness or disability reasonably necessitates the care of the family member for a period of time that is longer than the employer is willing to grant leave.
334,10
Section
10. 108.04 (7) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.04 (7) (e) Paragraph (a) does not apply if the department determines that the employee accepted work which the employee could have failed to accept with good cause under sub. (8) and terminated such work with the same good cause on the same grounds and within the first 30 calendar days after starting the work, or that the employee accepted work which the employee could have refused under sub. (9) and terminated such work within the first 30 calendar days after starting the work. For purposes of this paragraph, an employee has the same good cause grounds for voluntarily terminating work if the employee could have failed to accept the work under sub. (8) (d) when it was offered, regardless of the reason articulated by the employee for the termination.
334,11
Section
11. 108.04 (7) (h) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.04 (7) (h) The department shall charge to the fund's balancing account benefits paid to an employee that are otherwise chargeable to the account of an employer that is subject to the contribution requirements of ss. 108.17 and 108.18 if the employee voluntarily terminates employment with that employer and par. (a), (c), (cg), (e), (L), (q), (s), or (t) applies.
334,12
Section
12. 108.04 (8) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.04 (8) (c) If an employee fails, without good cause, to return to work with a former employer that recalls the employee within 52 weeks after the employee last worked for that employer, the employee is ineligible to receive benefits until the employee earns wages after the week in which the failure occurs equal to at least 6 times the employee's weekly benefit rate under s. 108.05 (1) in employment or other work covered by the unemployment insurance law of any state or the federal government. For purposes of requalification, the employee's weekly benefit rate shall be that rate which would have been paid had the failure not occurred. This paragraph does not preclude an employee from establishing a benefit year during a period in which the employee is ineligible to receive benefits under this paragraph if the employee qualifies to establish a benefit year under s. 108.06 (2) (a). The department shall charge to the fund's balancing account any benefits otherwise chargeable to the account of any employer that is subject to the contribution requirements under ss. 108.17 and 108.18 whenever an employee of that employer fails, without good cause, to return to work with that employer. This paragraph does not apply to an employee who fails to return to work with a former employer if the work offered would not be considered suitable work under par. (d) or (dm), whichever is applicable. If an employee receives actual notice of a recall to work, par. (a) applies in lieu of this paragraph.
334,13
Section
13. 108.04 (8) (d) of the statutes is renumbered 108.04 (8) (d) (intro.) and amended to read:
108.04 (8) (d) (intro.) An employee shall have good cause under par. (a) or (c), regardless of the reason articulated by the employee for the failure, if the department determines that the failure involved work at With respect to the first 6 weeks after the employee became unemployed, "suitable work," for purposes of par. (a), means work to which all of the following apply:
1. The work does not involve a lower grade of skill or significantly lower rate of pay than that which applied to the employee on one or more of his or her most recent jobs, and that the employee had not yet had a reasonable opportunity, in view of labor market conditions and the employee's degree of skill, but not to exceed 6 weeks after the employee became unemployed, to seek a new job substantially in line with the employee's prior job skill and rate of pay.
334,14
Section
14. 108.04 (8) (d) 2. of the statutes is created to read:
108.04 (8) (d) 2. The hourly wage for the work is 75 percent or more of what the employee earned on the highest paying of his or her most recent jobs.
334,15
Section
15. 108.04 (8) (dm) of the statutes is created to read:
108.04 (8) (dm) With respect to the 7th week after the employee became unemployed and any week thereafter, "suitable work," for purposes of par. (a), means any work that the employee is capable of performing, regardless of whether the employee has any relevant experience or training, that pays wages that are above the lowest quartile of wages for similar work in the labor market area in which the work is located, as determined by the department.
334,16
Section
16. 108.04 (8) (e) of the statutes is repealed.
334,17
Section
17. 108.04 (8) (em) of the statutes is created to read:
108.04 (8) (em) An employee shall have good cause under this subsection only if the department determines that the failure related to the employee's personal safety, the employee's sincerely held religious beliefs, or an unreasonable commuting distance, or if the employee had another compelling reason that would have made accepting the offer unreasonable.
334,18
Section
18. 108.04 (11) (g) of the statutes is renumbered 108.04 (11) (g) 1. and amended to read:
108.04 (11) (g) 1. For purposes of In this subsection, "conceal" means to intentionally mislead or defraud the department by withholding or hiding information or making a false statement or misrepresentation.
334,19
Section
19. 108.04 (11) (g) 2. and 3. of the statutes are created to read:
108.04 (11) (g) 2. A claimant has a duty of care to provide an accurate and complete response to each inquiry made by the department in connection with his or her receipt of benefits. The department shall consider the following factors in determining whether a claimant intended to mislead the department as described in subd. 1.:
a. Whether the claimant failed to read or follow instructions or other communications of the department related to a claim for benefits.
b. Whether the claimant relied on the statements or representations of persons other than an employee of the department who is authorized to provide advice regarding the claimant's claim for benefits.
c. Whether the claimant has a limitation or disability and, if so, whether the claimant provided evidence to the department of that limitation or disability.
d. The claimant's unemployment insurance claims filing experience.
e. Any instructions or previous determinations of concealment issued or provided to the claimant.
f. Any other factor that may provide evidence of the claimant's intent.
3. Nothing in this subsection requires the department, when making a finding of concealment, to determine or prove that a claimant had an intent or design to receive benefits to which the claimant knows he or she was not entitled.
334,20
Section
20. 108.04 (12) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:
108.04 (12) (e) Any individual who receives a temporary total disability payment or a permanent total disability payment for a whole week under ch. 102 or under any federal law which provides for payments on account of a work-related injury or illness analogous to those provided under ch. 102 shall be ineligible for benefits paid or payable for that same week under this chapter unless otherwise provided by federal law. A temporary total disability payment or, a temporary partial disability payment, or a permanent total disability payment under those provisions received by an individual for part of a week shall be treated as wages for purposes of eligibility for benefits for partial unemployment under s. 108.05 (3).
334,21
Section
21. 108.04 (12) (f) 1. of the statutes is renumbered 108.04 (12) (f) 3. a. and amended to read:
108.04 (12) (f) 3. a. Any
Except as provided in subd. 3. b. to d., an individual who actually receives social security disability insurance benefits under 42 USC ch. 7 subch. II in a given week is ineligible for benefits paid or payable in that same week under this chapter for each week in the entire month in which a social security disability insurance payment is issued to the individual.
334,22
Section
22
. 108.04 (12) (f) 1m. of the statutes is created to read:
108.04 (12) (f) 1m. The intent of the legislature in enacting this paragraph is to prevent the payment of duplicative government benefits for the replacement of lost earnings or income, regardless of an individual's ability to work.
334,23
Section
23. 108.04 (12) (f) 2. of the statutes is renumbered 108.04 (12) (f) 4. and amended to read:
108.04 (12) (f) 4. Information that the department receives or acquires from the federal social security administration that an individual is receiving
regarding the issuance of social security disability insurance benefits under 42 USC ch. 7 subch. II in a given week payments is considered conclusive, absent clear and convincing evidence that the information was erroneous.
334,24
Section
24. 108.04 (12) (f) 2m. of the statutes is created to read:
108.04
(12) (f) 2m. In this paragraph, "social security disability insurance payment" means a payment of social security disability insurance benefits under
42 USC ch. 7 subch. II.
334,25
Section
25. 108.04 (12) (f) 3. b. to d. of the statutes are created to read:
