Workers’ compensation rates have been cut, and unemployment benefits reform law goes to court.
2 Issues Wisconsin Small Business Owners Should Know About
Two recent pieces of news may impact
Wisconsin small business owners. Here’s a look at the latest in workers’
compensation rates and unemployment insurance benefits reform.
Workers’ Compensation
After several years of stable
workers’ compensation insurance rates, the Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance
recently approved rate reductions for employers. Most employers will see a 3.19
percent rate reduction, while manufacturers will see a 5 percent reduction.
However, the Department of Workforce
Development notes that the rate decrease reflects overall rates, and not all
employers will see a decrease in their premiums.
Unemployment Insurance
Wisconsin recently passed a law that
allows unemployment insurance benefits to be denied to an individual if he or
she was found to have “substantial fault” leading to their termination. Under
the law, substantial fault is defined as acts or omissions of an employee in
which the employee has control and violates the reasonable requirements
established by his or her employer. NFIB supported the effort to prevent
workers from claiming unemployment benefits when their intentional errors or
mistakes led to their termination.
However, the state Supreme Court has
agreed to hear a case that would clarify this law. The case is being brought by
an employee who was terminated for making eight cash-handling errors over a
20-month period, in which she failed to check the identification of a customer
using a stolen credit card, as well as returned WIC program checks to customers
after they had used them to make purchases. As a result, the worker was denied
unemployment insurance benefits; however, the worker argues the errors were
inadvertent and should not be considered substantial fault.
