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A weekly claim certification is the claim you file for a certain calendar week when you want to receive an unemployment check for that week. A calendar week for UI purposes always starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday.
You must file a weekly claim certification within 14 days of the end of the calendar week you are claiming, but you cannot file your claim for a week until after the week has ended. The weekly claim hours of operation are listed on the back of this handbook.
If you do not give complete information when you file for weekly benefits, the department may reject your claim and mail you a notice with a special toll-free telephone number to call to complete your claim. You must call that telephone number within 14 days after it is mailed to you.
Important
The system will not let you file a weekly claim certification for a benefit check if the last week you claimed ended more than 14 days earlier. When this happens you must reapply to "reactivate" or "reopen" your claim.
The system tells you which week(s) you can claim by giving the beginning and ending dates of the week. If the last 2 weeks can be claimed, the system takes your claim for the earliest week first. After you claim for the earliest week, the system tells you how to claim the most recent week. The system also tells you if no weeks can be claimed.
There are two procedures that can be used to file a weekly claim certification. The system decides which one you can use. Both procedures are explained below. Whichever procedure you use, take time to answer all questions completely and correctly. You could be penalized if you give false information to get benefits.
Regular Procedure: When you have to use the regular procedure to file for a benefit check, you will need to answer several questions about the week that you are claiming. A list of the questions that you will be asked is printed below.
"Quick Claim" Procedure: The "quick claim" is a much faster way to file your weekly claims. Once you have filed at least one weekly claim using the regular procedure, the system reviews each weekly claim to see if you can use the quick claim procedure for the next week. If you can, you are mailed a copy of the answers you gave on your last claim. A 6-digit confirmation number is printed on this copy. When you file your next weekly claim, the system asks you if your answers for the week you are claiming are the same as those you gave for the previous week. If you answer "YES," you are then asked to confirm this by entering the confirmation number printed on the copy of your prior week's claim. A different confirmation number is assigned for each week.
You will not be sent a copy of the prior week's claim and cannot file a quick claim if:
you reported wages or other income,
you changed your address, or
any answer raised an eligibility issue.
You cannot file a quick claim even when you receive a copy of the prior week's claim if:
any answer to a question for the week you are claiming is different than that shown on the copy of the prior week's claim,
you do not have the confirmation number from the copy of the prior weeks claim, or
a change was made to the claim since the copy was mailed that now prevents a quick claim from being filed.
If you cannot file a quick claim, simply use the regular procedure to file your weekly claim.
Important Points to Remember
YOU ARE ASKED THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WHEN YOU USE THE REGULAR TELEPHONE PROCEDURE:
Were you able to work full-time and available for full-time work?
Answer "YES" if you could have and would have worked full-time if
work had been available for you.
Answer "NO" if you could not work full-time because you were physically unable to work or you were unavailable for work. For example, you could not accept work with an employer (including your regular employer) because you were sick or injured, on vacation, didn't have a way to get to work, didn't have childcare arrangements, etc.
Did you contact at least two employers during the week to try to find work? (This question is not asked if your work search is waived.)
During the week, did you refuse an offer of work or miss work that was scheduled for you?
If yes, you will then be asked if you refused any work
that was offered to you. (Answer "YES" to this question only if you
refused an offer of work from an employer you were not working for at the time
of the offer.)
Next you will be asked if you missed work that was scheduled for you. (Answer "YES" to this question if you did not work all of the hours that were available for you with your current employer.)
During the week, did you quit a job or were you fired?
Answer "YES" if you quit, voluntarily terminated, ended your employment for any reason OR you were terminated, discharged, or fired by the employer for any reason other than lack of work.
Answer "NO" if you were laid off due to lack of work from a job.
If yes, you will be asked if you worked for more
than one employer during the week.
Next, you will be asked if you worked a total of 40
hours or more during the week.
Then you will be told to enter the
gross amount of wages earned from each employer. (Include sick pay and bonuses
but do not include holiday, vacation and dismissal pay as wages.)
After your
wages have been entered, you may be told to enter the number of whole hours and
the additional minutes that you worked for each employer. (Only report
hours/minutes that you actually worked.)
You will usually be asked to speak
the complete name and address of each employer.
Did you receive, or will you receive, holiday pay, vacation pay or dismissal pay for the week?
If yes, you will be asked to enter the gross
amount of each type of pay from each employer.
Then you will usually be asked to speak the complete name and address of each employer.
Answer "YES" if you are
self-employed or operating your own business, i.e. farming, partnership, LLC or
corporation.
Answer "NO" if you are selling Avon, Amway, Tupperware, etc. This is normally considered employment and you would report the income as wages. (However, if you feel this is self-employment, answer "YES" and the Department will contact you for further information.)
If your address has not changed, press 1. If you have changed your address and have not reported the new address to us, press 2. (If you press 2, you will be asked to enter your zip code and telephone number. Then you will be asked to speak your new address.)
When filing a weekly claim, you must answer “YES” to this question if you performed any work in the week. If you start a shift on Saturday that ends on Sunday, the hours worked and wages earned during that entire shift must be reported on your weekly claim that includes the Saturday.
Hours. Report only hours and minutes of actual work you did during the week.
Wages. Wages include any type of pay for full-time or part-time work you do in the week. This includes cash payments, tips, commissions, “working off a bill,” etc. Wages also include other payments that you receive for the week like sick pay, worker’s compensation, and bonuses or profit sharing. Wages must be reported in the week they are earned, even if they will not be paid until a later week.
You must report all work, hours, and wages regardless of the amount. Failure to do this may result in overpayment of benefits and penalties, including prosecution.
Do not report the following activities as "work" on your weekly claim certifications, and do not report the income from these activities as wages:
Retirement pay. You must tell us if you have applied for or are receiving a retirement payment, but you do not report the retirement payment as wages on your weekly claim certifications. Your weekly unemployment checks may be reduced if you are receiving a retirement payment. (See Part 6 for more information about Retirement Pay Reductions.)
Instructions for reporting other types of income not mentioned in the claimant handbook are available on-line at http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/uiben/other_income.htm.
Click here to view:
"Instructions for Reporting Other Types of
Income Not Mentioned in the Handbook"
Click here to print:
"Instructions for Reporting Other
Types of Income Not Mentioned in the Handbook" (PDF, 39kb)
If any of these types of pay have been assigned to the week you are claiming you must answer “YES” to the question did you receive holiday, vacation or dismissal pay and report the gross amount of each type of pay. Holiday, vacation and dismissal pay must be reported for the week to which it is assigned, even if you receive the pay in a later week.
Call your employer if you are uncertain whether these types of pay have been assigned.
In most cases, the weekly claim system will ask you to speak your employer's complete name and address after you enter the amount of income. The system records this information as you speak. Give complete information and speak clearly. If we cannot understand the recorded information, or if it is incomplete, your telephone claim will be rejected and you will be sent a notice with a special toll-free telephone number to call to complete your claim. This will delay your benefits.
If you worked at a company through a temporary help agency, you are considered an employee of that agency, not of the client company where you did the work. When the system asks for the name and address of your employer, speak the name and address of the temporary help agency.
If you think you have given a wrong answer to any question and you have already verified it by pressing 1, just hang up and start over. Your weekly claim certification is considered incomplete and is erased if you hang up before the system tells you that your claim has been accepted. The system does not save a record of an incomplete weekly claim certification.
If you think you have given a wrong answer to any question and your claim has already been accepted, you must call a Claims Specialist.
Your weekly claim certification is considered completed after the system tells you that your claim has been accepted. Do not hang up until after the system tells you that your claim has been accepted.
If you hang up or are disconnected before the system accepts your weekly claim certification, the information you have given will not be saved. You must call again to file your claim for that week.
If an eligibility issue is raised, you will be told to call a Claims Specialist within 3 days if you have not already given information about the issue to the department. You will be given a special telephone number to use for this call.
The Claims Specialist may take a short statement from you immediately or you may be asked to provide information at a later date. You may be scheduled for a fact-finding interview or be contacted by telephone or mail. Even though you are told that your claim has been accepted at the end of the call, you MUST call a Claims Specialist if told to do so. If you do not call a Claims Specialist as you are told, you could lose benefits.
UI checks are usually mailed to you within 7 days after a completed weekly claim certification has been received (accepted), but payment could be delayed for a number of reasons. For example, an incomplete claim or an eligibility issue will delay payment.
Do not expect to receive your benefit checks on the same day or within the same amount of time each week.
If you do not receive a check (or an explanation for not receiving a check) within 7 days of filing a weekly claim certification, you should first call the Automated Inquiry System to find out if a check has been issued. Choose the option (1) which gives information about your payment for last week.
Only you can endorse and cash your benefit checks. Never endorse the check until you cash it.
If you lose your UI check or if it is stolen, call a Claims Specialist. It takes at least 60 days after filing an inquiry about a lost or stolen check to receive a replacement check, with some exceptions.
UI benefit payments may also be direct deposited into your checking or savings account. You may enroll for direct deposit online at http://unemployment,wisconsin.gov, or by completing the Direct Deposit Authorization form which was sent with your Claim Confirmation. The form is also available online at http://unemployment.wisconsin.gov or by calling one of the information/assistance telephone numbers. You must provide a voided personal check or a document from your financial institution which clearly identifies the bank routing number and your checking or savings account number to ensure the account number and financial institution’s routing number you provide are correct. You will be paid by check until your new account information is entered. Your Direct Deposit Information only needs to be submitted once, unless your bank information changes. You DO NOT need to resubmit a Direct Deposit Authorization each time you file for Unemployment Benefits.
The weekly claim system will ask if your address has changed since your last claim. If it has follow directions the system provides to change your address. If you are not filing for benefits at the present time but wish to change your address on our records, you must call one of the initial claim application/assistance numbers and press 3 when the system gives you your choices.