WASS Board Member, Eric Becher recently testified in favor of Assembly Bill 146 on behalf of WASS and Hatch Staffing Services. The Assembly Committee Workforce Development, Labor, and Integrated Employment held a hearing on April 29, 2025 at the Capitol in Madison at which Eric defended this common sense bill and expressed our common concern regarding the timely response required when in receipt of a separation notice delivered via our unreliable USPS. We need your voice too and encourage you to express your support.
A bit of background…
When an employee separates from employment and makes an initial claim for Unemployment Insurance, the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) sends a separation notice to the former employer via USPS mail. This form solicits information from the employer for DWD to consider when determining a claimant's eligibility.
DWD relies on employers to verify information the department receives from the claimant and to bring other eligibility concerns to the department's attention. The DWD separation notice solicits this information and gives the employer the option to dispute the UI claim if the claim is improper, such as in the event of a termination for substantial fault, misconduct and voluntary leave.
Under current DWD rules, the employer has one week from the date printed on the letter to respond and potentially dispute an initial UI claim that is improper because of the nature of the separation. Although the department has made significant progress in its modernization efforts, they cannot control Postal Service delays and as a result, the letter sometimes arrives in the mail with little or no time left to respond. At times it arrives after the deadline has passed.
The current deadline can cause employers frustration and paperwork by making them go through an unnecessary appeals process, and improper UI benefits payments are unfair to other employees and other claimants making eligible claims.
Assembly Bill 146 addresses this by establishing a 12-business day timeframe for the employer to respond to the letter from DWD regarding an initial claim for UI benefits.
Please consider expressing your support of this bill. Even though Governor Evers is expected to veto this it, there is power in numbers and our industry places over 55,000 temporary workers daily throughout the State of Wisconsin and we represent over $3.2 billion annually. Let’s make our voices heard!
Consider sending to a letter to the Bill's Author such as:
Representative Paul Melotik, Assembly District 22
Room 308 North
State Capitol
PO Box 8953
Madison, WI 53708
tive Melotik:Dear Representa
On behalf {agency name} and as a representative of the temporary staffing industry in Wisconsin, we respectfully submit our support for Assembly Bill 116. This bill establishes a fair and reasonable 12 business day window for employers to respond to unemployment insurance claim notices, addressing long standing challenges associated with delayed or missed mail delivery.
We place over ## of employees annually and believe that timely communication from the Department of Workforce Development is critical to maintaining the integrity of the UI system. We strongly support this commonsense reform to ensure due process for employers and accountability within the claims process.
Leave a Reply