Concealment of benefit claim information, availability for work, interest on delinquent payments, and the composition and authority of appeal tribunals under the unemployment insurance law

This bill provides instead that claimant who is found guilty of concealment is subject to a penalty equal to 15 percent of the benefit payments erroneously paid to the claimant as a result of any acts of concealment. Under the bill, revenues collected from the penalties are deposited in the unemployment reserve fund, which is used to pay benefits.

Availability for work 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 during that week. This bill provides specifically that a claimant is not considered to be available for work in any week in which he or she is in a country other than the United States or Canada for more than 48 hours unless the claimant has authorization to work in that other country and there is a reciprocal agreement concerning the payment of benefits between that other country and the United States.

Interest on delinquent payments Currently, if an employer does not make a payment required under the UI law to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) by the due date, the employer must pay interest on the amount owed equal to one percent per month or fraction thereof from the date that the payment became due. This bill changes the interest rate on delinquent payments to that monthly rate that annualized is equal to 9 percent or to 2 percent more than the prime rate as published in the Wall Street Journal as of September 30 of the preceding year, whichever is greater, for each month or fraction thereof that the employer is delinquent.

Composition and authority of appeal tribunals Currently, DWD is directed by law to appoint appeal tribunals to administratively hear and decide disputed UI claims and other matters arising under the UI law. An individual who is appointed to serve as an appeal tribunal must be a permanent employee of DWD except that DWD may appoint a person to serve as a temporary appeal tribunal if the individual was formerly appointed to serve as a tribunal while employed by DWD and retired from state service as a permanent employee. This bill permits DWD to appoint any attorney who is licensed to practice in this state to serve as a temporary appeal tribunal. The bill also provides that the actions of appeal tribunals must be consistent with applicable state and federal law.