Wisconsin Unemployment

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By: Victor Forberger

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Victor Forberger

Latest from Wisconsin Unemployment

There has been much discussion/litigation about the post office and election ballots of late. And, changes in postmark practices mean that the mailing date on untracked mail is no longer accurate. But, something more fundamental with mail delivery needs to be reckoned with.
Here is the tracking information for a recent letter a person from Indianapolis sent to me here in Madison Wisconsin.

August 27, 2026
Out for Delivery. Expected Delivery Between 9:30am and 1:30pm.
MADISON, WI…
Continue Reading The Sorry State of the Post Office Letter

Wisconsin Watch has some unemployment claim-filing tips to offer.

These tips are largely based on the unemployment primer, with an extra focus on Wisconsin’s work search requirements — do five work searches per week rather than just the four required work searches — and the documentation you need to retain about those work searches for the eventual work search audit that will come your way.

These tips also include my advice to file weekly certifications for the…
Continue Reading Still more claim-filing tips

The Department of Workforce Development and Wisconsin Watch indicate that a scam has started up of FAKE HEARINGS for workers compensation benefits. As Wisconsin Watch explains:

DWD spokesperson Haley McCoy told Wisconsin Watch that 10 Wisconsin workers reported receiving emails instructing them to attend “online workers’ compensation hearing(s)” via video call. The emails’ senders generally use “.org” addresses and bill themselves as government agencies like the “Workers’ Compensation Board.”
Workers who joined the calls via Zoom, WhatsApp, Teams and…
Continue Reading Fake Hearing Scams

On 16 June 2026, the state supreme court accepted Abby Windows LLC v LIRC, 2025 WI App 50, 418 Wis.2d 92, 25 N.W.3d 631, for review. This case concerns whether a door-to-door sales person paid on a commission basis and then laid off is eligible to receive unemployment benefits based on that sales work. Here are the basic facts:

The claimant went into prospective customer’s homes and sold doors, windows, roofs, gutters, and siding for the employer. The…
Continue Reading A test for covered employment and for statutory interpretation

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It has been several years since the claim-filing crisis from the Covid-19 pandemic. In January of 2021, I explained why then proposed changes to the claim-filing process were unlikely to lead to any real improvements. And, in November of 2022, I reviewed noticeable trends in why and how unemployment claims were being denied in Wisconsin.
So, it is time to look at the data since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic to see what has changed…
Continue Reading Claim Filing in 2026 in Wisconsin

Note: You can find prior versions of these questions at this October 2020 post, which has the questions that existed as of September 2020.
The initial claim and weekly certification questions as of June 2022 are also available. The June 2007 weekly certification questions (all 11 of them) and the 2009 claimants’ handbook focused on how to answer those 11 questions are also available.

Here are the summer 2025 versions (with Spanish versions again available)

…
Continue Reading Claim-Filing Questions in Wisconsin as of the Summer of 2025

My examination of economic trends has been sparse of late given my workload. But, current economic news, as most people are reading, is not good. Examining that news up close paints an even worse picture.
As Jake in Wisconsin has been pointing out for some time, job market trends started declining in 2025 and then nose dived in early 2026. Along with the downward job estimates in early 2026, these reports coincided with major revisions to the…
Continue Reading Economic slowdown is here

Georgia Maxwell, lame duck appointee to the Commission back in 2018, had that appointment expire in March 2023. She stayed on past that expiration date, however, and so her replacement, Katy Lounsbury, has yet to begin serving on the Commission.

But, Maxwell’s service on the Commission may be ending soon, as she has recently accepted a job as Waukesha county clerk beginning in June of this year.

When Maxwell’s work at the Commission will officially end remains…
Continue Reading Maxwell moving on from LIRC perhaps

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I have to include a personal note here. My friend from law school passed away suddenly the week ending November 15th. Like me, he was an “older” student at law school, and we were both one of the few still trying to keep up with all the reading by hanging out at the law library on Friday evenings.

Dave’s claim to fame at law school were his 1L contributions to the weekly “WE” law school student newsletter. He “wrote”…
Continue Reading Rave Rothstein RIP

Closeup of Vote by Mail envelope
Closeup of a Vote by Mail envelope, official balloting material - business reply mail, USPS first class mail.

In August of this year, the US Post Office announced a new rule that included without much fanfare a MAJOR change in when letters are postmarked. Under this new rule, most letters will no longer be postmarked on the day the letter is received by a post office but instead postmarked a day later when the letter is processed at a regional mail processing facility.
It is important that mailers understand the distinction between the date when the Postal…
Continue Reading Postmark changes at the Post Office and late mail

The legislature has sent three unemployment bills to the governor.

As I wrote previously in a letter to the legislature, AB168 and AB169 deserve an immediate veto. Indeed, Gov. Evers previously vetoed versions of these bills during the last legislative session.

AB146, on the other hand, addresses a real problem in Wisconsin: ongoing and worsening delays in mail delivery. As I already noted to the legislature, however, formally extending the deadline for responding to…
Continue Reading Legislative unemployment bills going to the governor

Information about the class representatives and how to obtain unemployment benefits that are due disabled workers because of Wisconsin’s illegal SSDI eligibility ban is now available.

Besides this guidance, make sure to review the Department’s well done information about how to obtain the unemployment benefits that are due you.

Recent press coverage of the case is available.

…
Continue Reading Class representatives for the Wisconsin SSDI eligibility ban case

The Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council has been meeting for most of 2025 over Department proposals and then proposals from the labor and management representatives.

After the Sept. 18th meeting ended, council members apparently reached agreement, because on the morning of Sept. 24th LRB drafts of agreed-on bills were ready for review by council members.
Note: The minutes of the Sept. 18th meeting show that council members went to caucus and did not return from that caucus to announce…
Continue Reading Advisory Council agreed-on bill does little to nothing for workers or anyone else

Registration with the job center of Wisconsin website must be done once at the start of every benefit year. Usually, with each new benefit year of yours you will get a notice that looks like this or this. On the claim-filing portal, you see a notice similar to the following:

Job registration notice on the claim-filing portal

Note: You can compare the Department’s 2013 FAQ with the current FAQ.

Once logged on to the jobcenterofwisconsin.com website with your user-id and password (separate from your…
Continue Reading Wisconsin job center registration

The SSDI eligibility ban in Wisconsin is no more. On July 14th, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction to the Department to stop enforcing the SSDI eligibility ban effective July 20th.
Note: The Wisconsin Examiner and Fox6 have stories on this court order.
This order should mean that, as of July 20th, any kind of unemployment claim (initial claim or weekly certification) or any initial determination or appeal tribunal hearing or decision (and any Commission decision over…
Continue Reading SSDI eligibility ban in Wisconsin no longer enforced

At June 19, 2025, meeting of the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council, the labor and management proposals this year were presented to the public.
Labor proposals
The labor proposals this year reflect many of the Department’s own proposals (for good and bad).
Increase the maximum weekly benefit rate for unemployment benefits to $497 per week in 2026 and then have the rate indexed for subsequent years.
This proposal mirrors Department proposal D25-04.
Eliminating the one-week waiting period.
This proposal…
Continue Reading Labor and Management Unemployment Proposals in 2025