SB559,3,1514 108.04 (2) (a) 1. The Except as provided in s. 108.062 (10), the individual is able
15to work and available for work during that week;

SB559,4,917 108.05 (1) (q) (intro.) Each Except as provided in s. 108.062 (6), each eligible
18employee shall be paid benefits for each week of total unemployment that
19commences on or after January 4, 2009, at the weekly benefit rate specified in this
20paragraph. Unless sub. (1m) applies, the weekly benefit rate rate shall equal 4
21percent of the employee's base period wages that were paid during that quarter of the

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1employee's base period in which the employee was paid the highest total wages,
2rounded down to the nearest whole dollar, except that, if that amount is less than the
3minimum amounts shown in the following schedule, no benefits are payable to the
4employee and, if that amount is more than the maximum amount shown in the
5following schedule, the employee's weekly benefit rate shall be the maximum
6amount shown in the following schedule and except that, if an employee's benefits
7are exhausted during any week under s. 108.06 (1), the employee shall be paid the
8remaining amount of benefits payable to the employee in lieu of the amount shown
9in the following schedule: [See Figure 108.05 (1) (q) following]

SB559,4,2411 108.05 (3) (a) Except as provided in s. 108.062 and pars. (b), (c), and (d), if an
12eligible employee earns wages in a given week, the first $30 of the wages shall be
13disregarded and the employee's applicable weekly benefit payment shall be reduced
14by 67% of the remaining amount, except that no such employee is eligible for benefits
15if the employee's benefit payment would be less than $5 for any week. For purposes
16of this paragraph, "wages" includes any salary reduction amounts earned that are
17not wages and that are deducted from the salary of a claimant by an employer
18pursuant to a salary reduction agreement under a cafeteria plan, within the meaning
19of 26 USC 125, and any amount that a claimant would have earned in available work
20under s. 108.04 (1) (a) which is treated as wages under s. 108.04 (1) (bm), but excludes
21any amount that a claimant earns for services performed as a volunteer fire fighter,
22volunteer emergency medical technician, or volunteer first responder. In applying
23this paragraph, the department shall disregard discrepancies of less than $2
24between wages reported by employees and employers.

SB559,5,2

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1108.062 Work-share programs; benefit payments. (1) Definitions. In
2this section:

SB559,5,73 (a) "Regular benefits" means benefits payable to an individual under this
4chapter or any other state law, including benefits payable to federal civilian
5employees and to former military personnel pursuant to 5 USC ch. 85, other than
6Wisconsin supplemental benefits, extended benefits and additional benefits as
7defined in P.L. 91-373.

SB559,5,108 (b) "Work-share program" means a program approved by the department
9under which the hours of work of employees in a work unit are reduced in lieu of a
10layoff of one or more employees in the work unit.

SB559,5,1311 (c) "Work unit" means an operational unit of employees designated by an
12employer for purposes of a work-share program, which may include more than one
13work site.

SB559,5,18 14(2) Elements of plan. Any employer may create a work-share program. Prior
15to implementing a work-share program, an employer shall submit a work-share
16plan for the approval of the department. In its submittal, the employer shall certify
17that its plan is in compliance with all requirements under this section. Each plan
18shall:

SB559,5,2119 (a) Specify the work unit in which the plan will be implemented, the affected
20positions, and the names of the employees filling those positions on the date of
21submittal.

SB559,5,2322 (b) Provide for inclusion of at least 10 percent of the employees in the affected
23work unit on the date of submittal.

SB559,5,2524 (c) Provide for initial coverage under the plan of at least 20 positions that are
25filled on the effective date of the work-share program.

SB559,6,2

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1(d) Specify the period when the plan will be in effect, which may not exceed 6
2months in any 5-year period within the same work unit.

SB559,6,43 (e) Provide for apportionment of reduced working hours equitably among
4employees in the work-share program.

SB559,6,65 (f) Exclude participation by employees who are employed on a regular
6part-time, seasonal, temporary, or intermittent basis.

SB559,6,107 (g) Apply only to employees who have been engaged in employment with the
8employer for a period of at least 3 months on the effective date of the work-share
9program and who are regularly employed by the employer in that employment for
10an average of at least 32 hours per week during that period.

SB559,6,1511 (h) Specify the normal average hours per week worked by the employees in the
12work unit and the intended reduction or range of reduction in the average hours of
13work per week worked by the employees under the plan, which shall be at least 10
14percent but not more than 50 percent of the normal hours per work of the employees
15included under the plan.

SB559,6,1816 (i) Describe the manner in which requirements for maximum federal financial
17participation in the plan will be implemented, including a plan for giving notice,
18where feasible, to participating employees of changes in work schedules.

SB559,6,2019 (j) Provide an estimate of the number of layoffs that would occur without
20implementation of the plan.

SB559,6,2321 (k) Specify the effect on any fringe benefits provided by the employer to the
22employees who are included in the work-share program other than fringe benefits
23required by law.

SB559,7,3

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1(L) Include a statement signed by the authorized agent of any representative
2of the employees included in the work-share program to the effect that the
3representative has approved the plan whenever approval is required under sub. (13).

SB559,7,54 (m) Include a statement affirming that the plan is in compliance with all
5employer obligations under applicable federal and state laws.

SB559,7,8 6(3) Approval of plans. The department shall approve a plan if the plan
7includes all of the elements specified in sub. (2). The approval is effective for the
8effective period of the plan.

SB559,7,15 9(4) Effective period. A work-share program becomes effective on the later of
10the Sunday of the 2nd week beginning after approval of a work-share plan under
11sub. (3) or any Sunday after that day specified in the plan. A work-share program
12ends on the earlier of the last Sunday that precedes the end of the 6-month period
13beginning on the effective date of the program or any Sunday before that day
14specified in the plan unless the program terminates on an earlier date under sub. (5),
15(14), or (15).

SB559,7,22 16(5) Revocation of approval. The department may revoke its approval of a
17work-share plan for good cause, including conduct that tends to defeat the purpose
18and effective operation of the plan, failure to comply with the requirements of this
19section or the work-share plan, or an unreasonable change to the productivity
20standards of the employees included under the work-share program. Any revocation
21is effective on the Sunday of the 2nd week beginning after revocation of approval of
22the plan under this subsection.

SB559,8,4 23(6) Benefit amount. Except as provided in sub. (7), an employee who is
24included under a work-share program and who qualifies to receive regular benefits
25for any week during the effective period of the program shall receive a benefit

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1payment for each week that the employee is included under the program in an
2amount equal to the the employee's regular benefit amount under s. 108.05 (1)
3multiplied by the employee's proportionate reduction in hours worked for that week
4as a result of the work-share program.

SB559,8,8 5(7) Benefits for partial unemployment. An employee who would otherwise be
6paid benefits under s. 108.05 (3) for any week shall receive a benefit payment for that
7week in the amount payable to the employee under sub. (6) or the amount payable
8to the employee under s. 108.05 (3), whichever is higher.

SB559,8,13 9(8) Benefit year. An employee may be paid a benefit under sub. (6) only for
10weeks beginning in the employee's benefit year in an amount not exceeding the
11employee's total benefit entitlement under s. 108.06 (1). Benefits paid under sub. (6)
12may begin after the first week of the employee's benefit year or may terminate earlier
13than the last week of the employee's benefit year.

SB559,8,17 14(9) Other benefits. An employee who receives benefits under sub. (6) remains
15eligible for any benefits other than regular benefits for which the employee may
16qualify and the amount of those benefits is not affected by the employee's receipt of
17benefits under sub. (6).

SB559,8,22 18(10) Availability for work. An employee who is receiving benefits under sub.
19(6) for any week need not be available for work in that week other than for the normal
20hours of work that the employee worked for the employer that creates the
21work-share program immediately before the week in which the work-share program
22began.

SB559,8,25 23(11) Other employment. An employee who is included in a work-share
24program during a benefit year may be paid wages during the same benefit year by
25an employer other than the employer who creates the work-share program.

SB559,9,7

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1(12) Retirement plan and health insurance coverage. An employer that
2creates a work-share program shall maintain coverage under any defined benefit or
3defined contribution retirement plan and any health insurance coverage that the
4employer provides to the employees who are included in a work-share program,
5including any particulars of coverage and percentages contributed by the employer
6for the costs of that coverage, during the effective period of the program under the
7same terms and conditions as if the employees were not included in the program.

SB559,9,10 8(13) Approval by employee representative. If there is a single representative
9representing some or all of the employees who are included in a work-share plan, the
10plan is subject to approval of that representative.

SB559,9,17 11(14) Termination by employer. An employer that creates a work-share
12program may terminate the program before the end of the effective period as
13provided in the work-share plan by filing notice of termination with the department.
14The program is then terminated on the 2nd Sunday following the date that the notice
15of termination is filed unless the notice specifies that the program is terminated at
16the beginning of a later week in which case the program terminates at the beginning
17of that week.

SB559,9,20 18(15) Involuntary termination. If in any week there are fewer than 20
19employees who are included in a work-share program of any employer, the program
20terminates on the 2nd Sunday following the end of that week.

SB559,9,25 21(16) Successorship. If all or any part of the business of an employer that
22creates a work-share program is transferred as provided in s. 108.16 (8), the
23successor employer may continue the work-share program as provided in the
24work-share plan or may terminate the program by filing notice of termination under
25sub. (14). Termination by a successor employer does not affect any employees of the

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1transferring employer who continue their employment with the transferring
2employer.

SB559,10,7 3(17) Termination of employment. An employee who is included in a
4work-share program may be terminated or may voluntarily terminate his or her
5employment during the effective period of the program and the employee's eligibility
6or ineligibility for benefits for any weeks beginning after the date of termination is
7not affected solely as a result of the employee's inclusion in the program.

SB559,10,11 8(18) Federal financial participation. The department shall seek to qualify
9this state for full federal participation in the cost of administration of this section and
10financing of benefits to employees participating in work share programs under this
11section.