Currently, if a claimant under the unemployment insurance (UI) law receives
no wages or certain other amounts that are treated as wages for a given week, the
claimant may receive the full benefit for that week to which the claimant is entitled
if the claimant meets eligibility requirements. However, with certain exceptions, if
a claimant earns wages or certain other amounts treated as wages in a given week,
the first $30 of the wages or other amounts are disregarded and the claimant's
weekly benefit payment is reduced by 67 percent of any remaining amount earned,
but no claimant is eligible to receive UI benefits for any week if the benefits would
be less than $5, and any wages that the claimant would have earned in any week for
work performed for his or her employer had the claimant accepted available work
from that employer are treated as wages earned for that week.

This bill permits an employer to create a work-sharing program within a work
unit of the employer. Before implementation of any program, an employer must
submit a work-share plan to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and
obtain DWD's approval of the plan. As a part of its submittal, the employer must
certify that its plan is in compliance with all requirements under the law. Under the
bill, a work-share program may be in effect for no longer than six months within a

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five-year period and must include at least ten percent of and at least 20 employees
in the work unit. Under the program, the working hours of all of the full-time
employees in the program are reduced in an equitable manner in lieu of a total layoff
of some of the employees and a continuation of full-time employment by the other
employees. The bill provides that a claimant who is included in a work-share
program may receive UI benefits during his or her continued employment with the
work-sharing employer in an amount equal to the claimant's benefit for total
unemployment multiplied by the same percentage reduction in normal working
hours that the claimant incurs under the program, or the benefit that would be
payable to the claimant under the current formula for payment of UI benefits for
partial unemployment, whichever is higher. A claimant who begins receiving UI
benefits before the effective period of a work-share program and who remains
eligible for benefits is eligible to receive work-share benefits up to the total amount
of the claimant's benefit entitlement and a claimant who has remaining benefit
entitlement after the effective period of a work-share program and who remains
eligible for UI benefits may continue to receive benefits until the entitlement is
exhausted. The bill does not affect eligibility for supplemental UI benefits such as
federal/state extended benefits, Wisconsin supplemental benefits and special
additional federal benefits in the full amounts that would otherwise be payable.

The bill provides that if there is a single representative of the employees who
are proposed to be included under a work-share program, the plan is subject to the
approval of that representative. Under the bill, a work-share program must exclude
participation by employees who are employed on a regular part-time, seasonal,
temporary, or intermittent basis and may only apply to employees who have been
engaged in employment with the employer for at least three months before the
effective period of the program and who have been regularly employed in that
employment for an average of at least 32 hours per week during that period. The bill
provides that an employer that creates a work-share program must maintain
retirement plan and health insurance coverage for employees who are included in
the program during the effective period of the program under the same terms and
conditions as if the employees were not included under the program. The bill permits
DWD to revoke its approval of a work-share plan for specified reasons and also
permits an employer to terminate a work-share program before the end of its
scheduled effective period.

Currently, with certain exceptions, a claimant is eligible for UI benefits for any
week in which the claimant earns no wages only if the claimant is available for work
within that week. This bill provides a claimant who is receiving UI benefits for any
week in which he or she is included in a work-share program need not be available
for work in that week other than for the normal hours of work that the employer
worked for the work-share employer immediately before the effective period of the
work-share program. Under recent federal legislation, the federal government
participates in the cost of administration of qualifying work-share programs and
payment of benefits to participating employees. The bill directs DWD to seek full
federal financial participation in the payment of these costs by this state.