SB45: Bill Text

SB45,911,12 (3) Having communication barriers, such as having a vision or other disability that prevents the ease of using the electronic method or having limited or no English proficiency.

SB45,911,14 (4) The presence of other circumstances that make use of the electronic method unusually difficult for the person, as determined by the department.

SB45,1706 Section 1706. 108.04 (2) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,911,18 108.04 (2) (a) (intro.) Except as provided in pars. par. (b) to (bd), sub. (16) (am) and (b), and s. 108.062 (10) and (10m) and as otherwise expressly provided, a claimant is eligible for benefits as to any given week only if all of the following apply:

SB45,1707 Section 1707. 108.04 (2) (a) 3. of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

SB45,912,10 108.04 (2) (a) 3. The claimant conducts a reasonable search for suitable work during that week and provides verification of that search to the department. The search for suitable work must include at least 4 actions per week that constitute a reasonable search as prescribed by rule of the department. In addition, the department may, by rule, require a claimant to take more than 4 reasonable work search actions in any week. The department shall require a uniform number of reasonable work search actions for similar types of claimants. This subdivision does not apply to a claimant if the department determines that the claimant is currently laid off from employment with an employer but there is a reasonable expectation of reemployment of the individual by that employer. In determining whether the claimant has a reasonable expectation of reemployment by an employer, the department shall request the employer to verify the claimant’s employment status and shall consider all of the following:

SB45,912,11 a. The history of layoffs and reemployments by the employer.

SB45,912,13 b. Any information that the employer furnished to the claimant or the department concerning the claimant’s anticipated reemployment date.

SB45,912,15 c. Whether the claimant has recall rights with the employer under the terms of any applicable collective bargaining agreement.

SB45,1708 Section 1708. 108.04 (2) (b) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

SB45,912,19 108.04 (2) (b) 1. The department may, by rule, establish waivers from the registration for work requirement under par. (a) 2. and the work search requirement under par. (a) 3.

SB45,913,6 2. a. The department may promulgate rules under subd. 1. as emergency rules, using the procedure under s. 227.24, if the secretary of workforce development determines that the waiver is needed only on a temporary basis or that permanent rules are not warranted. Notwithstanding s. 227.24 (1) (a) and (3), the department is not required to provide evidence that promulgating a rule under this subd. 2. a. as an emergency rule is necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or welfare and is not required to provide a finding of emergency for a rule promulgated under this subd. 2. a. Except as provided under subd. 2. b., a rule promulgated under this subd. 2. a. remains in effect only for 150 days.

SB45,913,13 b. Notwithstanding s. 227.24 (2), the secretary of workforce development may extend the effective period of an emergency rule promulgated under subd. 2. a. for a period specified by the secretary not to exceed 60 days. Any number of extensions may be granted under this subd. 2. b. Whenever the secretary extends an emergency rule under this subd. 2. b., it shall file a statement of its action with the legislative reference bureau. The statement shall identify the specific emergency rule to which it relates.

SB45,1709 Section 1709. 108.04 (2) (bb) of the statutes is repealed.

SB45,1710 Section 1710. 108.04 (2) (bd) of the statutes is repealed.

SB45,1711 Section 1711. 108.04 (2) (bm) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,913,24 108.04 (2) (bm) A claimant is ineligible to receive benefits for any week for which there is a determination that the claimant failed to comply with the registration for work and work search requirements under par. (a) 2. or 3. or failed to provide verification to the department that the claimant complied with those requirements, unless the department has waived those requirements under par. (b), (bb), or (bd) or s. 108.062 (10m). If the department has paid benefits to a claimant for any such week, the department may recover the overpayment under s. 108.22.

SB45,1712 Section 1712. 108.04 (2) (h) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,914,8 108.04 (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 payments, as defined in sub. (12) (f) 2m s. 108.05 (7m) (b). If the claimant is receiving social security disability insurance payments, the claimant shall, in the manner prescribed by the department, report to the department the amount of the social security disability insurance payments.

SB45,1713 Section 1713. 108.04 (3) of the statutes is repealed.

SB45,1714 Section 1714. 108.04 (5) (intro.) of the statutes is renumbered 108.04 (5) (cm) and amended to read:

SB45,915,7 108.04 (5) (cm) An employee whose work is terminated by an employing unit for misconduct by the employee connected with the employee’s work is ineligible to receive benefits until 7 weeks have elapsed since the end of the week in which the discharge occurs and the employee earns wages after the week in which the discharge occurs equal to at least 14 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 the rate that would have been paid had the discharge not occurred. The wages paid to an employee by an employer which terminates employment of the employee for misconduct connected with the employee’s employment shall be excluded from the employee’s base period wages under s. 108.06 (1) for purposes of benefit entitlement. This subsection paragraph does not preclude an employee who has employment with an employer other than the employer which terminated the employee for misconduct from establishing a benefit year using the base period wages excluded under this subsection 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 an employer that is subject to the contribution requirements under ss. 108.17 and 108.18 from which base period wages are excluded under this subsection paragraph.

SB45,915,15 (am) For purposes of this subsection, “misconduct” means one or more actions or conduct evincing such willful or wanton disregard of an employer’s interests as is found in deliberate violations or disregard of standards of behavior which an employer has a right to expect of his or her employees, or in carelessness or negligence of such degree or recurrence as to manifest culpability, wrongful intent, or evil design of equal severity to such disregard, or to show an intentional and substantial disregard of an employer’s interests, or of an employee’s duties and obligations to his or her employer.

SB45,915,17 (bm) In addition to the conduct described in par. (am), “misconduct” includes all of the following:

SB45,1715 Section 1715. 108.04 (5) (a) to (g) of the statutes are renumbered 108.04 (5) (bm) 1. to 7., and 108.04 (5) (bm) 5. and 7., as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB45,916,4 108.04 (5) (bm) 5. Absenteeism by an employee on more than 2 occasions within the 120-day period before the date of the employee’s termination, unless otherwise specified by his or her employer in an employment manual of which the employee has acknowledged receipt with his or her signature, or excessive tardiness by an employee in violation of a policy of the employer that has been communicated to the employee, if the employee does not provide to his or her employer both notice and one or more valid reasons for the absenteeism or tardiness. For purposes of this subdivision, an employee’s notice and reason for an occasion of absenteeism or tardiness shall be analyzed under the standard specified in par. (am).

SB45,916,11 7. Unless directed by the employer, a willful and deliberate violation of a written and uniformly applied standard or regulation of the federal government or a state or Indian tribal government by an employee of an employer that is licensed or certified by a governmental agency, which standard or regulation has been communicated by the employer to the employee and which violation would cause the employer to be sanctioned or to have its license or certification suspended by the agency.

SB45,1716 Section 1716. 108.04 (5g) of the statutes is repealed.

SB45,1717 Section 1717. 108.04 (5m) of the statutes is created to read:

SB45,916,18 108.04 (5m) Discharge for use of marijuana. (a) Notwithstanding sub. (5), “misconduct,” for purposes of sub. (5), does not include the employee’s use of marijuana off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours or a violation of the employer’s policy concerning such use, unless termination of the employee because of that use is permitted under s. 111.35.

SB45,916,22 (b) Notwithstanding sub. (5g), “substantial fault,” for purposes of sub. (5g), does not include the employee’s use of marijuana off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours or a violation of the employer’s policy concerning such use, unless termination of the employee because of that use is permitted under s. 111.35.

SB45,1718 Section 1718. 108.04 (7) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,917,9 108.04 (7) (e) Paragraph (a) does not apply if the department determines that the employee accepted work that the employee could have failed to accept under sub. (8) and terminated the work on the same grounds and within the first 30 calendar days 10 weeks after starting the work, or that the employee accepted work that the employee could have refused under sub. (9) and terminated the work within the first 30 calendar days 10 weeks after starting the work. For purposes of this paragraph, an employee has the same grounds for voluntarily terminating work if the employee could have failed to accept the work under sub. (8) (d) to (em) when it was offered, regardless of the reason articulated by the employee for the termination.

SB45,1719 Section 1719. 108.04 (7) (t) 1. of the statutes is repealed.

SB45,1720 Section 1720. 108.04 (7) (t) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,917,14 108.04 (7) (t) 2. The employee’s spouse was required by the U.S. armed forces his or her employing unit to relocate to a place to which it is impractical for the employee to commute.

SB45,1721 Section 1721. 108.04 (8) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,918,7 108.04 (8) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), if If an employee fails, without good cause, to accept suitable work when offered, 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). Except as provided in par. (b), the The department shall charge to the fund’s balancing account any benefits otherwise chargeable to the account of an 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 accept suitable work offered by that employer.

SB45,1722 Section 1722. 108.04 (8) (b) of the statutes is repealed.

SB45,1723 Section 1723. 108.04 (8) (d) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,918,12 108.04 (8) (d) (intro.) With respect to the first 6 10 weeks after the employee became unemployed, “suitable work,” for purposes of par. (a), means work to which all of the following apply:

SB45,1724 Section 1724. 108.04 (8) (dm) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,918,19 108.04 (8) (dm) With respect to the 7th 11th 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.

SB45,1725 Section 1725. 108.04 (11) (bm) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,919,6 108.04 (11) (bm) The department shall apply any ineligibility under par. (be) against benefits and weeks of eligibility for which the claimant would otherwise be eligible after the week of concealment and within 6 years after the date of an initial determination issued under s. 108.09 finding that a concealment occurred. The claimant shall not receive waiting period credit under sub. (3) for the period of ineligibility applied under par. (be). If no benefit rate applies to the week for which the claim is made, the department shall use the claimant’s benefit rate for the claimant’s next benefit year beginning after the week of concealment to determine the amount of the benefit reduction.

SB45,1726 Section 1726. 108.04 (12) (f) 1m. and 2m. of the statutes are renumbered 108.05 (7m) (a) and (b) and amended to read:

SB45,919,11 108.05 (7m) (a) The intent of the legislature in enacting this paragraph subsection 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.

SB45,919,14 (b) In this paragraph subsection, “social security disability insurance payment” means a payment of social security disability insurance benefits under 42 USC ch. 7 subch. II.

SB45,1727 Section 1727. 108.04 (12) (f) 3. of the statutes is repealed.

SB45,1728 Section 1728. 108.04 (12) (f) 4. of the statutes is renumbered 108.05 (7m) (e).

SB45,1729 Section 1729. 108.05 (1) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:

SB45,919,19 108.05 (1) (cm) For purposes of par. (r), the department shall set the maximum weekly benefit amount as follows:

SB45,919,21 1. For benefits paid for a week of total unemployment that commences on or after January 5, 2014, but before January 4, 2026, $370.

SB45,919,23 2. For benefits paid for a week of total unemployment that commences on or after January 4, 2026, but before January 3, 2027, $497.

SB45,920,3 3. For benefits paid for a week of total unemployment that commences on or after January 3, 2027, the department shall set the maximum weekly benefit amount as provided under sub. (2).

SB45,1730 Section 1730. 108.05 (1) (r) of the statutes is renumbered 108.05 (1) (r) (intro.) and amended to read:

SB45,920,13 108.05 (1) (r) (intro.) Except as provided in s. 108.062 (6) (a), each eligible employee shall be paid benefits for each week of total unemployment that commences on or after January 5, 2014, at the a weekly benefit rate specified in this paragraph. Unless sub. (1m) applies, the weekly benefit rate shall equal to 4 percent of the employee’s base period wages that were paid during that quarter of the employee’s base period in which the employee was paid the highest total wages, rounded down to the nearest whole dollar, except that, if that amount as provided under sub. (1m) and except as follows:

SB45,920,15 1. If the employee’s weekly benefit rate calculated under this paragraph is less than $54, no benefits are payable to the employee and, if that amount.

SB45,920,19 2. If the employee’s weekly benefit rate is more than $370 the maximum weekly benefit amount specified in par. (cm), the employee’s weekly benefit rate shall be $370 and except that, if the maximum weekly benefit amount specified in par. (cm).

SB45,920,22 3. If the employee’s benefits are exhausted during any week under s. 108.06 (1), the employee shall be paid the remaining amount of benefits payable to the employee under s. 108.06 (1).

SB45,921,2 (s) The department shall publish on its Internet site a weekly benefit rate schedule of quarterly wages and the corresponding weekly benefit rates as calculated in accordance with this paragraph subsection.

SB45,1731 Section 1731. 108.05 (2) of the statutes is created to read:

SB45,921,7 108.05 (2) Indexing. (a) For benefits paid or payable for a week that commences on or after January 3, 2027, the department shall set the maximum weekly benefit amount under sub. (1) (cm) 3. and the wage limitation under sub. (3) (dm) 2. c. by doing the following:

SB45,921,12 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., calculating the percentage difference between the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on July 31 of the prior year and the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on July 31 of the year before the prior year, adjusting the prior year’s amount or limitation by that percentage difference, and rounding that result to the nearest whole dollar.

SB45,921,16 2. If the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on July 31 of the prior year has not increased over the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on July 31 of the year before the prior year, setting the amount or limitation at the same amount or limitation that was in effect in the previous year.

SB45,921,19 (b) An adjustment under this subsection of the maximum weekly benefit amount under sub. (1) (cm) 3. and the wage limitation under sub. (3) (dm) 2. c. shall take effect on the 1st Sunday in January of each calendar year.

SB45,1732 Section 1732. 108.05 (3) (dm) of the statutes is renumbered 108.05 (3) (dm) 1. and amended to read:

SB45,922,5 108.05 (3) (dm) 1. Except when otherwise authorized in an approved work- share program under s. 108.062, a claimant is ineligible to receive any benefits for a week if the claimant receives or will receive from one or more employers wages earned for work performed in that week, amounts treated as wages under s. 108.04 (1) (bm) for that week, sick pay, holiday pay, vacation pay, termination pay, bonus pay, back pay, or payments treated as wages under s. 108.04 (12) (e), or any combination thereof, totalling more than $500 the amount specified in subd. 2.

SB45,1733 Section 1733. 108.05 (3) (dm) 2. of the statutes is created to read:

SB45,922,8 108.05 (3) (dm) 2. The department shall set the wage limitation under subd. 1. as follows:

SB45,922,9 a. For a week of unemployment that commences before January 4, 2026, $500.

SB45,922,11 b. For a week of unemployment that commences on or after January 4, 2026, but before January 3, 2027, $672.

SB45,922,13 c. For a week of unemployment that commences on or after January 3, 2027, the department shall set the wage limitation as provided under sub. (2).

SB45,1734 Section 1734. 108.05 (7m) (title), (c) and (d) of the statutes are created to read:

SB45,922,16 108.05 (7m) (title) Social security disability insurance payments.

SB45,922,21 (c) If a monthly social security disability insurance payment is issued to a claimant, the department shall reduce benefits otherwise payable to the claimant for a given week in accordance with par. (d). This subsection does not apply to a lump sum social security disability insurance payment in the nature of a retroactive payment or back pay.

SB45,922,24 (d) The department shall allocate a monthly social security disability insurance payment by allocating to each week the fraction of the payment attributable to that week.

SB45,1735 Section 1735. 108.05 (9) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,923,5 108.05 (9) Rounding of benefit amounts. Notwithstanding sub. (1), benefits payable for a week of unemployment as a result of applying sub. (1m), (3) or, (7), or (7m) or s. 108.04 (11) or (12), 108.06 (1), 108.13 (4) or (5) or 108.135 shall be rounded down to the next lowest dollar.

SB45,1736 Section 1736. 108.05 (10) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,923,10 108.05 (10) Deductions from benefit payments. (intro.) After calculating the benefit payment due to be paid for a week under subs. (1) to (7) (7m), the department shall make deductions from that payment to the extent that the payment is sufficient to make the following payments in the following order:

SB45,1737 Section 1737. 108.133 of the statutes, as affected by 2025 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is repealed.

SB45,1738 Section 1738. 108.133 (1) (ar) of the statutes is renumbered 108.133 (1) (ar) 1. and amended to read:

SB45,923,16 108.133 (1) (ar) 1. Notwithstanding s. 108.02 (9), “controlled substance” has the meaning given in 21 USC 802, except as provided in subd. 2.

SB45,1739 Section 1739. 108.133 (1) (ar) 2. of the statutes is created to read:

SB45,923,21 108.133 (1) (ar) 2. “Controlled substance” does not include tetrahydrocannabinols, commonly known as “THC,” in any form including tetrahydrocannabinols contained in marijuana, obtained from marijuana, or chemically synthesized.

SB45,1740 Section 1740. 108.14 (2e) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB45,924,13 108.14 (2e) The department may shall provide a secure means of electronic interchange between itself and employing units, claimants, and other persons that, upon request to and with prior approval by the department, may shall be used for departmental transmission or receipt of any document specified by the department that is related to the administration of this chapter and related federal programs in lieu of any other means of submission or receipt specified in this chapter. The secure means of electronic interchange shall be used by employing units, claimants, and other persons unless the person demonstrates good cause, as specified in s. 108.022, for being unable to use the secure means of electronic interchange. Subject to s. 137.25 (2) and any rules promulgated thereunder, the department may permit the use of electronic records and electronic signatures for any document specified by the department that is related to the administration of this chapter. If a due date is established by statute for the receipt of any document that is submitted electronically to the department under this subsection, then that submission is timely only if the document is submitted by midnight of the statutory due date.

SB45,1741 Section 1741. 108.14 (8n) (e) of the statutes is amended to read: