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AB883,10,24 23106.28 Grant program for employers who hire long-term unemployed.
24(1) In this section:
AB883,11,3
1(a) “Period of qualifying employment” means employment at 30 or more hours
2per week for 8 weeks, each of which begins on or after September 5, 2021, and ends
3on or before December 28, 2024.
AB883,11,44 (b) “Qualifying employee” means an employee who satisfies all of the following:
AB883,11,65 1. The individual was a qualified long-term unemployment recipient, as
6defined in 26 USC 51 (d) (15).
AB883,11,87 2. The individual became unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as
8determined by the department.
AB883,11,12 9(2) The department shall develop and administer a grant program to provide
10payments to employing units in this state for hiring qualifying employees, to
11compensate those employing units for wages, training, benefits, and other
12employment costs, subject to all of the following:
AB883,11,1513 (a) 1. An employing unit shall be entitled to a first payment under this section
14for one period of qualifying employment by the employing unit of a qualifying
15employee.
AB883,11,1816 2. An employing unit shall be entitled to a 2nd payment under this section for
172 nonoverlapping periods of qualifying employment by the employing unit of a
18qualifying employee.
AB883,11,2119 (b) In order to receive a payment under par. (a) 1. or 2., an employing unit shall
20submit documentation of the employment of the employee, as required by the
21department by rule.
AB883,11,2222 (c) Each payment under par. (a) 1. or 2. shall be limited to $1,000.
AB883,11,2423 (d) An employing unit may receive no more than 2 payments under par. (a) per
24qualifying employee.
AB883,12,4
1(e) There is no limit to the number of qualifying employees for which an
2employing unit may receive payments under this subsection, except that no more
3than one employing unit may receive payments for employing a given qualifying
4employee.
AB883,12,8 5(3) Of the moneys the governor accepts from the federal government under s.
616.54 pursuant to section 602 of the federal Social Security Act as amended by the
7federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, the governor shall allocate
8sufficient moneys for costs associated with the grant program under this section.
AB883,12,15 9(4) The department may use the procedure under s. 227.24 to promulgate rules
10for the grant program under this section. Notwithstanding s. 227.24 (1) (a) and (3),
11the department is not required to provide evidence that promulgating a rule under
12this subsection as an emergency rule is necessary for the preservation of the public
13peace, health, safety, or welfare and is not required to provide a finding of emergency
14for a rule promulgated under this subsection. Notwithstanding s. 227.24 (1) (c) and
15(2), rules under this subsection may remain in effect until December 31, 2024.
AB883,20 16Section 20 . 106.38 (3) (c) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,12,1817 106.38 (3) (c) 3. State reemployment assistance contributions and federal
18unemployment insurance contributions or taxes, if any.
AB883,21 19Section 21 . Chapter 108 (title) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to
20read:
AB883,12,2221 CHAPTER 108
22 REEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
AB883,22 23Section 22. 108.01 (2m) of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,13,324 108.01 (2m) The Social Security Act requires that, in order for an individual
25to be eligible for reemployment assistance benefits, the individual must be able to

1work, available to work, and actively seeking work. The reemployment assistance
2program in Wisconsin should enact and focus on policies that complement
3individuals' efforts to find employment.
AB883,23 4Section 23 . 108.013 of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,13,8 5108.013 Name of program. The program established under this chapter and
6administered by the department shall be referred to as the “Reemployment
7Assistance Program,” and the benefits available under this chapter shall be referred
8to as “reemployment assistance benefits.”
AB883,24 9Section 24 . 108.02 (21r) of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,13,1310 108.02 (21r) Reemployment assistance. “ Reemployment assistance,” when
11used in reference to the law of another state or jurisdiction or the federal government,
12includes an unemployment insurance law of that state or jurisdiction or the federal
13government.
AB883,25 14Section 25. 108.04 (2) (a) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,14,215 108.04 (2) (a) 3. The claimant conducts a reasonable search for suitable work
16during that week and provides verification of that search to the department. The
17search for suitable work must include at least 4 actions per week that constitute a
18reasonable search as prescribed by rule of the department. The department shall
19require, for the 3rd or subsequent week of the claimant's benefit year, that at least
202 actions per week be direct contacts with potential employing units, as prescribed
21by rule of the department.
In addition, the department may, by rule, require a
22claimant to take more than 4 reasonable work search actions in any week. The
23department shall require a uniform number of reasonable work search actions for
24similar types of claimants. The department may require a claimant to apply for one
25or more of the potential opportunities provided to the claimant under sub. (15) (a) 1.

1and may refer a claimant to opportunities with a temporary help company as part
2of the required search for suitable work under this subdivision.
AB883,26 3Section 26. 108.04 (2) (a) 4. of the statutes is renumbered 108.04 (2) (a) 4.
4(intro.) and amended to read:
AB883,14,65 108.04 (2) (a) 4. (intro.) If the claimant is claiming benefits for a week other
6than an initial week, the claimant provides does all of the following:
AB883,14,8 7a. Provides information or job application materials that are requested by the
8department and participates.
AB883,14,11 9b. Participates in a public employment office workshop or training program or
10in similar reemployment services that are required by the department under sub.
11(15) (a) 2.
AB883,27 12Section 27. 108.04 (2) (a) 4. c. of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,14,1413 108.04 (2) (a) 4. c. Submits and keeps posted on the department's job center
14website a current resume, if the claimant resides in this state.
AB883,28 15Section 28 . 108.04 (2) (a) 5. of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,14,1716 108.04 (2) (a) 5. The claimant completes any reemployment counseling session
17required of the claimant under sub. (15) (ao) 1.
AB883,29 18Section 29 . 108.04 (12) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,14,2219 108.04 (12) (b) Any individual who receives, through the department, any other
20type of unemployment or reemployment assistance benefit or allowance for a given
21week is ineligible for benefits for that same week under this chapter, except as
22specifically required for conformity with the federal trade act of 1974 (P.L. 93-618).
AB883,30 23Section 30. 108.04 (15) (a) (intro.) and 1. of the statutes are consolidated,
24renumbered 108.04 (15) (a) 1. and amended to read:
AB883,15,10
1108.04 (15) (a) 1. Except as provided in par. (b), the department may do any of
2the following
shall, for the purpose of assisting claimants to find or obtain work: 1.
3Use
, use the information or, materials, and resume provided under sub. (2) (a) 4. to
4assess a claimant's efforts, skills, and ability to find or obtain work and to develop
5a list of potential opportunities for a the claimant to obtain suitable work. A
6claimant who otherwise satisfies the requirement under sub. (2) (a) 3. is not required
7to apply for any specific positions on the list in order to satisfy that requirement
The
8department shall provide each claimant, prior to the claimant filing a weekly claim
9for benefits, with at least 4 such potential opportunities each week, one or more of
10which may be opportunities with a temporary help company
.
AB883,31 11Section 31. 108.04 (15) (a) 2. of the statutes is renumbered 108.04 (15) (a) 2.
12a. and amended to read:
AB883,15,1813 108.04 (15) (a) 2. a. Require Except as provided in par. (b), the department shall
14require
a claimant whom the department identifies as likely to exhaust regular
15benefits
to participate in a public employment office workshop or training program
16or in similar reemployment services that do not charge the claimant a participation
17fee and that offer instruction to improve the claimant's ability to obtain suitable
18work.
AB883,32 19Section 32. 108.04 (15) (a) 2. b. of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,15,2320 108.04 (15) (a) 2. b. Except as provided in par. (b), in addition to the claimants
21described in subd. 2. a., the department may require other claimants to participate
22in the reemployment services described in subd. 2. a., but the department shall
23prioritize claimants who are more likely to have difficulty obtaining reemployment.
AB883,33 24Section 33 . 108.04 (15) (am), (an) and (ao) of the statutes are created to read:
AB883,16,6
1108.04 (15) (am) In carrying out this state's program of reemployment services
2and eligibility assessments using grant funds awarded under 42 USC 506, the
3department shall, except as provided in par. (b), provide reemployment services to
4all claimants identified by the department as likely to exhaust regular benefits,
5including by requiring the claimant to complete an online assessment aimed at
6identifying the claimant's skills, abilities, and career aptitude.
AB883,16,127 (an) 1. Notwithstanding par. (am), in carrying out this state's program of
8reemployment services and eligibility assessments using grant funds awarded
9under 42 USC 506, the department shall, except as provided in par. (b), provide
10reemployment services to all claimants receiving benefits, including benefits under
11ss. 108.141 and 108.142, including by doing all of the following for each such
12claimant:
AB883,16,1413 a. Requiring the claimant to complete an online assessment aimed at
14identifying the claimant's skills, abilities, and career aptitude.
AB883,16,1615 b. Coordinating with the claimant to develop an individualized employment
16plan for the claimant.
AB883,16,1917 c. Requiring the claimant to participate in the services described under par. (a)
182. a. as needed pursuant to the individualized employment plan described in subd.
191. b.
AB883,16,2520 2. Of the moneys the governor accepts from the federal government under s.
2116.54 pursuant to section 602 of the federal Social Security Act as amended by the
22federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, the governor shall allocate
23sufficient moneys so that, when such moneys are combined with grant moneys
24received and allocated under 42 USC 506, sufficient moneys are allocated to provide
25the services required under subd. 1.
AB883,17,1
13. This paragraph does not apply after December 31, 2024.
AB883,17,42 (ao) Except as provided in par. (b), the department shall, when a claimant's
3remaining benefit entitlement under s. 108.06 (1) is 3 or less times the claimant's
4weekly benefit rate under s. 108.05 (1), do all of the following:
AB883,17,65 1. Require the claimant to participate in a live, one-on-one reemployment
6counseling session between the claimant and an employee of the department.
AB883,17,107 2. Provide the claimant information about services and benefits that are
8available to the claimant pursuant to the federal Workforce Innovation and
9Opportunity Act of 2014, 29 USC 3101 to 3361, once the claimant exhausts his or her
10benefit entitlement.
AB883,34 11Section 34 . 108.05 (3) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 108.05 (3) (a) 2. and
12amended to read:
AB883,17,1813 108.05 (3) (a) 2. Except as provided in pars. (c), (d) and (dm) and s. 108.062, if
14an eligible employee earns wages in a given week, the first $30 of the wages up to the
15amount specified in subd. 3.
shall be disregarded and the employee's applicable
16weekly benefit payment shall be reduced by 67 percent of the remaining amount,
17except that no such employee is eligible for benefits if the employee's benefit payment
18would be less than $5 for any week.
AB883,18,2 191. For purposes of this paragraph, “wages" includes any salary reduction
20amounts earned that are not wages and that are deducted from the salary of a
21claimant by an employer pursuant to a salary reduction agreement under a cafeteria
22plan, within the meaning of 26 USC 125, and any amount that a claimant would have
23earned in available work under s. 108.04 (1) (a) which is treated as wages under s.
24108.04 (1) (bm), but excludes any amount that a claimant earns for services

1performed as a volunteer fire fighter, volunteer emergency medical services
2practitioner, or volunteer emergency medical responder.
AB883,18,4 34. In applying this paragraph, the department shall disregard discrepancies
4of less than $2 between wages reported by employees and employers.
AB883,35 5Section 35. 108.05 (3) (a) 3. of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,18,86 108.05 (3) (a) 3. For purposes of subd. 2., the maximum amount of wages that
7may be disregarded in a given week shall be an amount equal to 40 percent of the
8employee's weekly benefit rate or $30, whichever is greater.
AB883,36 9Section 36 . 108.13 (4) (a) 4. of the statutes is renumbered 108.13 (4) (a) 2m.
10and amended to read:
AB883,18,1411 108.13 (4) (a) 2m. “Unemployment insurance" “Reemployment assistance”
12means any compensation payable under this chapter, including amounts payable by
13the department pursuant to an agreement under any federal law providing for
14compensation, assistance or allowances with respect to unemployment.
AB883,37 15Section 37 . 108.133 (2) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,18,1816 108.133 (2) (a) (intro.) Promulgate Immediately promulgate rules to establish
17the program. The department shall do all of the following in the rules promulgated
18under this paragraph:
AB883,38 19Section 38 . 108.133 (2) (am) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,18,2320 108.133 (2) (am) Promulgate Immediately promulgate rules identifying
21occupations for which drug testing is regularly conducted in this state. The
22department shall notify the U.S. department of labor of any rules promulgated under
23this paragraph.
AB883,39 24Section 39 . 108.14 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,19,2
1108.14 (1) This chapter shall be administered by the department through its
2division of reemployment assistance
.
AB883,40 3Section 40. 108.14 (8o) of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,19,54 108.14 (8o) The department shall act to continue to receive grants for
5reemployment services and eligibility assessments under 42 USC 506.
AB883,41 6Section 41 . 108.14 (30) of the statutes is created to read:
AB883,19,97 108.14 (30) (a) 1. The department shall semiannually compile data and prepare
8a report to provide information on and analysis of the employment outcomes of
9claimants after receiving benefits under this chapter.
AB883,19,1210 2. a. Each report under subd. 1. shall be prepared using data obtained from
11quarterly wage reports filed under s. 108.205 pertaining to all claimants whose data
12is included in that report as provided in subd. 3.
AB883,19,1413 b. Each report under subd. 1. shall cover the 2 most recent quarters for which
14data are available, with each of the 2 quarters reported on separately in the report.
AB883,19,1615 3. A claimant's data shall be used under subd. 2. for each of the 12 quarters
16following the claimant's first benefit payment in the claimant's benefit year.
AB883,19,1817 4. The department shall break out the data in each report under subd. 1. by all
18of the following:
AB883,19,2019 a. The number of weeks of benefits received. The department may group
20together claimants who received comparable numbers of weeks of benefits.
AB883,19,2221 b. Regions of the state, using the regions corresponding to those for local
22workforce development boards established under 29 USC 3122.
AB883,19,2523 (b) The department shall, by March 1 and September 1 of each year, submit the
24most recent report prepared under par. (a) to the appropriate standing committees
25of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3).
AB883,42
1Section 42. 108.141 (1) (b) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,20,92 108.141 (1) (b) 3. Has no right to unemployment reemployment assistance
3benefits or allowances, as the case may be, under the railroad unemployment
4insurance act or such other federal laws as are specified in regulations issued by the
5U.S. secretary of labor, and has not received and is not seeking unemployment
6reemployment assistance benefits under the unemployment insurance
7reemployment assistance law of Canada, but if the individual is seeking such
8benefits and the appropriate agency finally determines that he or she is not entitled
9to benefits under such law he or she is an exhaustee.
AB883,43 10Section 43 . 108.142 (1) (h) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,20,1811 108.142 (1) (h) 3. Has no right to unemployment reemployment assistance
12benefits or allowances under the railroad unemployment insurance act or such other
13federal laws as are specified in regulations issued by the U.S. secretary of labor, and
14has not received and is not seeking unemployment reemployment assistance
15benefits under the unemployment insurance reemployment assistance law of
16Canada, but if the individual is seeking such benefits and the appropriate agency
17finally determines that he or she is not entitled to benefits under that law, the
18individual is an “exhaustee".
AB883,44 19Section 44 . 108.19 (1m) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,21,1420 108.19 (1m) Each employer subject to this chapter as of the date a rate is
21established under this subsection shall pay an assessment to the unemployment
22reemployment assistance interest payment fund at a rate established by the
23department sufficient to pay interest due on advances from the federal
24unemployment account under Title XII of the federal social security act, 42 USC 1321
25to 1324. The rate established by the department for employers who finance benefits

1under s. 108.15 (2), 108.151 (2), or 108.152 (1) shall be 75 percent of the rate
2established for other employers. The amount of any employer's assessment shall be
3the product of the rate established for that employer multiplied by the employer's
4payroll of the previous calendar year as taken from quarterly employment and wage
5reports filed by the employer under s. 108.205 (1) or, in the absence of the filing of
6such reports, estimates made by the department. Each assessment made under this
7subsection is due within 30 days after the date the department issues the
8assessment. If the amounts collected from employers under this subsection exceed
9the amounts needed to pay interest due, the department shall use any excess to pay
10interest owed in subsequent years on advances from the federal unemployment
11account. If the department determines that additional interest obligations are
12unlikely, the department shall transfer the excess to the balancing account of the
13fund, the unemployment reemployment assistance program integrity fund, or both
14in amounts determined by the department.
AB883,45 15Section 45 . 111.39 (4) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,22,1316 111.39 (4) (c) If, after hearing, the examiner finds that the respondent has
17engaged in discrimination, unfair honesty testing or unfair genetic testing, the
18examiner shall make written findings and order such action by the respondent as
19will effectuate the purpose of this subchapter, with or without back pay. If the
20examiner awards any payment to an employee because of a violation of s. 111.321 by
21an individual employed by the employer, under s. 111.32 (6), the employer of that
22individual is liable for the payment. If the examiner finds a respondent violated s.
23111.322 (2m), the examiner shall award compensation in lieu of reinstatement if
24requested by all parties and may award compensation in lieu of reinstatement if
25requested by any party. Compensation in lieu of reinstatement for a violation of s.

1111.322 (2m) may not be less than 500 times nor more than 1,000 times the hourly
2wage of the person discriminated against when the violation occurred. Back pay
3liability may not accrue from a date more than 2 years prior to the filing of a
4complaint with the department. Interim earnings or amounts earnable with
5reasonable diligence by the person discriminated against or subjected to unfair
6honesty testing or unfair genetic testing shall operate to reduce back pay otherwise
7allowable. Amounts received by the person discriminated against or subject to the
8unfair honesty testing or unfair genetic testing as unemployment reemployment
9assistance
benefits or welfare payments shall not reduce the back pay otherwise
10allowable, but shall be withheld from the person discriminated against or subject to
11unfair honesty testing or unfair genetic testing and immediately paid to the
12unemployment reserve fund or, in the case of a welfare payment, to the welfare
13agency making the payment.
AB883,46 14Section 46 . 230.43 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB883,23,315 230.43 (4) Rights of employee. If an employee has been removed, demoted or
16reclassified, from or in any position or employment in contravention or violation of
17this subchapter, and has been restored to such position or employment by order of
18the commission or any court upon review, the employee shall be entitled to
19compensation therefor from the date of such unlawful removal, demotion or
20reclassification at the rate to which he or she would have been entitled by law but
21for such unlawful removal, demotion or reclassification. Interim earnings or
22amounts earnable with reasonable diligence by the employee shall operate to reduce
23back pay otherwise allowable. Amounts received by the employee as unemployment
24reemployment assistance benefits or welfare payments shall not reduce the back pay
25otherwise allowable, but shall be withheld from the employee and immediately paid

1to the unemployment reserve fund or, in the case of a welfare payment, to the welfare
2agency making such payment. The employee shall be entitled to an order of
3mandamus to enforce the payment or other provisions of such order.
AB883,47 4Section 47 . 230.85 (3) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
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