This bill also makes it unlawful to: a) attempt to induce an employee not to
claim benefits or waive any right under the UI law by threatening to terminate the
employee; b) attempt to induce an employee from participating in a UI audit or
investigation, or testifying in a UI hearing, or c) discriminate against an individual

because of the individual's participation in a UI audit or investigation, or testifying
in a UI hearing or exercising any other right under the UI law. The bill also increases
the maximum fine for all current and proposed offenses to $1,000 for each occurrence.
Recovery of UI liabilities by offset and setoff
Currently, if benefits are erroneously paid to an individual, the issue may be
adjudicated administratively, subject to appeal through the court system. DWD may
then collect the amount of the overpayment set forth in an administrative decision
by deducting that amount from benefits otherwise payable to the individual. DWD
may also levy against the available assets of any individual or employer who is
determined to be liable to DWD for UI purposes. Currently, with certain exceptions,
moneys withdrawn from the unemployment reserve fund may only be used for the
payment of benefits.
This bill permits DWD to utilize procedures available under state and federal
revenue laws to set off adjudicated UI liabilities against refunds or other payments
that may be payable to a liable individual under state law or to offset adjudicated UI
liabilities for fraudulent practices against refunds that may be payable to a liable
individual under federal tax laws. The bill also permits DWD to pay the
administrative expenses of the federal offsets from the unemployment reserve fund.
The change initially applies to satisfaction of liabilities outstanding on the day the
bill becomes law.
Exclusion of certain tribal employment from coverage
Currently, federal and state law generally provide for UI coverage in
employment by Indian tribes. Federal law does not mandate coverage for any of the
following types of positions with an Indian tribe: a) members of a legislative body;
b) major nontenured policymaking or advisory positions; c) certain part-time
policymaking or advisory positions; or d) certain work relief or work training
positions.
This bill excludes employment in these positions from coverage under the state
UI law unless an employer elects otherwise with DWD's approval. Under the bill,
a position as a member of a legislative body is excluded only if the position is elective.
Noncoverage means that an employee may not claim benefits based upon this type
of employment and the employee's employer is not liable to pay for those benefits.
Penalty for acts of concealment
Current law provides that a claimant who conceals any material fact relating
to his or her benefit eligibility or who conceals any of his or her wages earned in or
paid or payable for a given week must forfeit a specified amount. The penalty
increases for subsequent offenses within a specified period. A claimant who conceals
wages is also denied benefits for the week in which wages are concealed.
This bill deletes additional language providing that any claimant who commits
an act of concealment is disqualified from receiving benefits for an unspecified
period.

Appeals of LIRC decisions
Current law provides that when an employer wishes to appeal a UI decision
made by the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC) to circuit court, LIRC
and the adverse party must be named as defendants.
This bill clarifies that in addition to any other parties to any particular appeal
DWD is always an adverse party for purposes of UI appeals brought by employers
to address issues other than benefit claims and DWD must be named as a defendant.
This permits DWD to have notice of the appeal and to participate in the court
proceedings and avoids any potential dismissal of an employer's appeal for failure
to name DWD as a defendant.
Qualification of professional employer organizations
Currently, an employer may transfer its obligations to pay UI contributions or
reimbursements to a professional employer organization that meets certain
conditions specified by law. Professional employer organizations are separately
required to register with the Department of Regulation and Licensing (DRL), pay an
annual registration fee, and meet certain financial responsibility requirements.
This bill provides that a professional employer organization does not qualify as
such for UI purposes unless it is currently registered with DRL.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB649, s. 1 1Section 1. 108.02 (12) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,8,42 108.02 (12) (a) "Employee" means any individual who is or has been performing
3services for pay for an employing unit, whether or not the individual is paid directly
4by the employing unit, except as provided in par. (b), (bm), (c), (d), (dm) or (dn).
SB649, s. 2 5Section 2. 108.02 (12) (b) of the statutes is repealed.
SB649, s. 3 6Section 3. 108.02 (12) (bm) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,9,37 108.02 (12) (bm) (intro.) During the period beginning on January 1, 2000, with
8respect to contribution requirements, and during the period beginning on April 2,
92000, with respect to benefit eligibility, par.
Paragraph (a) does not apply to an
10individual performing services for an employing unit other than a government unit

1or nonprofit organization in a capacity other than as a logger or trucker, if the
2employing unit satisfies the department that the individual meets 7 or more of the
3following conditions specified in subds. 1. and 2., by contract and in fact:
SB649, s. 4 4Section 4. 108.02 (12) (bm) 1. and 2. of the statutes are repealed and recreated
5to read:
SB649,9,96 108.02 (12) (bm) 1. The services of the individual are performed free from
7control or direction by the employing unit over the performance of his or her services.
8In determining whether services of an individual are performed free from control or
9direction, the department may consider the following nonexclusive factors:
SB649,9,1110 a. Whether the individual is required to comply with instructions concerning
11how to perform the services.
SB649,9,1312 b. Whether the individual receives training from the employing unit with
13respect to the services performed.
SB649,9,1414 c. Whether the individual is required to personally perform the services.
SB649,9,1615 d. Whether the services of the individual are required to be performed at times
16or in a particular order or sequence established by the employing unit.
SB649,9,1817 e. Whether the individual is required to make oral or written reports to the
18employing unit on a regular basis.
SB649,9,1919 2. The individual meets 6 or more of the following conditions:
SB649,9,2120 a. The individual advertises or otherwise affirmatively holds himself or herself
21out as being in business.
SB649, s. 5 22Section 5. 108.02 (12) (bm) 3. and 4. of the statutes are renumbered 108.02 (12)
23(bm) 2. b. and c. and amended to read:
SB649,9,2524 108.02 (12) (bm) 2. b. The individual maintains a separate business with his
25or her own office, or performs most of the services in a facility or location chosen by

1the individual and uses his or her own
equipment, or materials and other facilities
2in performing the services.
SB649,10,53 c. The individual operates under multiple contracts with one or more
4employing units
to perform specific services for specific amounts of money and under
5which the individual controls the means and methods of performing such services
.
SB649, s. 6 6Section 6. 108.02 (12) (bm) 5. of the statutes is renumbered 108.02 (12) (bm)
72. d.
SB649, s. 7 8Section 7. 108.02 (12) (bm) 6. and 7. of the statutes are renumbered 108.02 (12)
9(bm) 2. e. and f. and amended to read:
SB649,10,1310 108.02 (12) (bm) 2. e. The individual is responsible for the satisfactory
11completion of the services that he or she contracts to perform and is liable for a failure
12to satisfactorily complete the services
obligated to redo unsatisfactory work for no
13additional compensation or is subject to a monetary penalty for unsatisfactory work
.
SB649,10,1714 f. The services performed by the individual receives compensation for services
15performed under a contract on a commission or per-job or competitive-bid basis and
16not on any other basis
do not directly relate to the employing unit retaining the
17services
.
SB649, s. 8 18Section 8. 108.02 (12) (bm) 8. and 9. of the statutes are renumbered 108.02 (12)
19(bm) 2. g. and h.
SB649, s. 9 20Section 9. 108.02 (12) (bm) 10. of the statutes is renumbered 108.02 (12) (bm)
212. i. and amended to read:
SB649,10,2522 108.02 (12) (bm) 2. i. The success or failure of the individual's business depends
23on the relationship of business receipts to expenditures
individual is not
24economically dependent upon a particular employing unit with respect to the
25services being performed
.
SB649, s. 10
1Section 10. 108.02 (15) (f) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,11,42 108.02 (15) (f) 3. As a member of a legislative body or the judiciary of a state
3or political subdivision, or as a member of an elective legislative body or the judiciary
4of an Indian tribe
;
SB649, s. 11 5Section 11. 108.02 (15) (f) 6. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,11,96 108.02 (15) (f) 6. In a position which, under or pursuant to the laws of this state,
7or of an Indian tribe, is designated as a major nontenured policymaking or advisory
8position, or is designated as a policymaking or advisory position the performance of
9the duties of which does not ordinarily require more than 8 hours per week.
SB649, s. 12 10Section 12. 108.02 (15) (g) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,11,1511 108.02 (15) (g) 1. By an individual receiving work relief or work training as part
12of an unemployment work-relief or work-training program assisted or financed in
13whole or in part by any federal agency or by an agency of a state or political
14subdivision thereof or by an Indian tribe, unless otherwise required as a condition
15for participation by the unit or organization in such program;
SB649, s. 13 16Section 13. 108.02 (15) (km) of the statutes is created to read:
SB649,11,1917 108.02 (15) (km) "Employment", as applied to work for a given employer other
18than a government unit or a nonprofit organization, except as the employer elects
19otherwise with the department's approval, does not include service:
SB649,11,2520 1. Provided by an individual to an ill or disabled family member who is the
21employing unit for such service, if the service is personal care or companionship. For
22purposes of this subdivision, "family member" means a spouse, parent, child,
23grandparent, or grandchild of an individual, by blood or adoption, or an individual's
24step parent, step child, or domestic partner. In this subdivision, "domestic partner"
25has the meaning given in s. 770.01 (1).
SB649, s. 14
1Section 14. 108.02 (15s) of the statutes is created to read:
SB649,12,32 108.02 (15s) Full-time work. "Full-time work" means work performed for 32
3or more hours per week.
SB649, s. 15 4Section 15. 108.02 (20m) of the statutes is created to read:
SB649,12,65 108.02 (20m) Part-time work. "Part-time work" means work performed for
6less than 32 hours per week.
SB649, s. 16 7Section 16. 108.02 (21e) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,12,158 108.02 (21e) Professional employer organization. (intro.) "Professional
9employer organization" means any person who is currently registered as a
10professional employer organization with the department of regulation and licensing
11in accordance with ch. 461,
who contracts to provide the nontemporary, ongoing
12employee workforce of more than one client under a written leasing contract, the
13majority of whose clients are not under the same ownership, management, or control
14as the person other than through the terms of the contract, and who under contract
15and in fact:
SB649, s. 17 16Section 17. 108.04 (1) (g) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,12,2017 108.04 (1) (g) (intro.) Except as provided in par. (gm) and s. 108.06 (7) (d), the
18base period wages utilized to compute total benefits payable to an individual under
19s. 108.06 (1) as a result of the following employment shall not exceed 10 times the
20individual's weekly benefit rate based solely on that employment under s. 108.05 (1):
SB649, s. 18 21Section 18. 108.04 (2) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,12,2422 108.04 (2) (a) (intro.) Except as provided in par. (b) and sub. (16) (am) and (b)
23and as otherwise expressly provided, a claimant is eligible for benefits as to any given
24week for which he or she earns no wages only if:
SB649, s. 19 25Section 19. 108.04 (2) (d) of the statutes is repealed.
SB649, s. 20
1Section 20. 108.04 (7) (k) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,13,62 108.04 (7) (k) Paragraph (a) does not apply to an employee who terminates his
3or her part-time work consisting of not more than 30 hours per week if the employee
4is otherwise eligible to receive benefits because of the loss of the employee's full-time
5employment and the loss of the full-time employment makes it economically
6unfeasible for the employee to continue the part-time work.
SB649, s. 21 7Section 21. 108.04 (7) (o) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,13,128 108.04 (7) (o) Paragraph (a) does not apply to an employee who terminates his
9or her work in one of 2 or more concurrently held positions, at least one of which
10consists of more than 30 hours per week is full-time work, if the employee terminates
11his or her work before receiving notice of termination from a position which consists
12of more than 30 hours per week
is full-time work.
SB649, s. 22 13Section 22. 108.04 (11) (be) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,13,1614 108.04 (11) (be) (intro.) A claimant shall forfeit benefits and be disqualified
15from receiving benefits
for acts of concealment described in pars. (a) and (b) as
16follows:
SB649, s. 23 17Section 23. 108.04 (16) (a) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
SB649,13,1818 108.04 (16) (a) In this subsection, "approved training" means:
SB649,13,2019 1. A course of vocational training or basic education which is a prerequisite to
20such training in which an individual is enrolled if:
SB649,13,2221 a. The course is expected to increase the individual's opportunities to obtain
22employment;
SB649,13,2423 b. The course is given by a school established under s. 38.02 or another training
24institution approved by the department;
SB649,13,2525 c. The individual is enrolled full time as determined by the training institution;
SB649,14,2
1d. The course does not grant substantial credit leading to a bachelor's or higher
2degree; and
SB649,14,43 e. The individual is attending regularly and making satisfactory progress in
4the course.
SB649,14,65 2. A program administered by the department for the training of unemployed
6workers, other than the youth apprenticeship program under s. 106.13;
SB649,14,873. The plan of any state for training under the federal trade act, 19 USC 2296;
8or
SB649,14,1094. A plan for training approved under the federal workforce investment act, 29
10USC 2822
.
SB649, s. 24 11Section 24. 108.04 (16) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
SB649,14,1512 108.04 (16) (am) The department shall not apply any benefit reduction or
13disqualification under sub. (1) (a), (2) (a), or (8), or s. 108.141 (3g) (a) or (c) to any
14otherwise eligible individual for any week as a result of the individual's enrollment
15in approved training.
SB649, s. 25 16Section 25. 108.04 (16) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,14,2117 108.04 (16) (b) The department shall not apply any benefit reduction or
18disqualification under sub. (1) (b), (2) (a), (7) (c), or (8) (e) or s. 108.141 (3g) (d) that
19is not the result of approved training or basic education under par. (a) while an
20individual is enrolled in a course of training or education that meets the standards
21specified in par. (a)
approved training.
SB649, s. 26 22Section 26. 108.04 (16) (c) of the statutes is repealed.
SB649, s. 27 23Section 27. 108.04 (16) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB649,15,3
1108.04 (16) (d) If an individual is enrolled under the plan of any state for
2training under 19 USC 2296 or a plan for training of dislocated workers approved
3under 29 USC 2822
in approved training specified in par. (a) 3. or 4.:
SB649,15,104 1. The department shall not deny benefits under sub. (7) as a result of the
5individual's leaving unsuitable work to enter or continue such training , as a result
6of the individual's leaving work that the individual engaged in on a temporary basis
7during a break in the training or a delay in the commencement of the training, or
8because the individual left on-the-job training not later than 30 days after
9commencing that training because the individual did not meet the requirements of
10the federal trade act under 19 USC 2296 (c) (1) (B)
; and
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