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  2. Unemployment Insurance
  3. Claimants
  4. Reductions

Reductions

Claimant Handbook

Partial Unemployment

You are "partially unemployed" in any week in which you earn wages that do not exceed your maximum weekly earnings amount. It is possible to receive a partial UI payment for a week in which you work. When you report income on your weekly claim, wages earned in that week are added to other types of income (such as holiday, vacation, and dismissal/severance pay) to determine your gross income for the week.

You will not receive any UI in a week in which any of the following apply:

  • You perform work for 32 or more hours.
  • Your employer recalls you and you are unavailable or are unable to perform 32 or more hours of available work.
  • You receive gross pay for any combination of work performed, holiday pay, vacation pay, termination pay, or sick pay, amounting to 32 or more hours at your usual rate of pay that is assigned to that week.
  • You receive gross pay of more than $500 for any combination of work performed, holiday pay, vacation pay, termination pay, or sick pay.

You are required to report any wages you earn on your weekly claims. We will verify the wages you report with your employer. See Reporting Earnings for more information.

To determine if UI is payable when you are partially employed, we use this formula:

  1. Subtract $30 from your gross income.
  2. Multiply the remainder by 0.67 (67%).
  3. Subtract this new amount (including the cents) from your WBR.
  4. Round the remainder down to the nearest whole dollar. This is the amount of partial UI payable for the week. If it is less than $5, no payment will be made.

Example: WBR = $200, Gross Income = $250

  1. $250 (Gross Income) minus $30 = $220
  2. $220 multiplied by 0.67 = $147.40
  3. $200 (WBR) minus $147.40 = $52.60
  4. Round $52.60 down to $52

The amount of UI payable for the week is $52.

You can also use the UI Partial Unemployment Benefits Calculator: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/uiben/calculators.htm to calculate your partial benefit payment.

Use the Maximum Weekly Earnings Chart to find the highest gross income you can earn in a week and still qualify for the minimum unemployment benefit payment. This amount is not the same for every claimant. The weekly benefit rate (WBR) determines what the maximum weekly earnings amount will be.

You may also be receiving partial UI because your employer is participating in the Work-Share program. For more information about Work-Share, please visit: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/uitax/workshare.htm.

Retirement Pay

Your benefits may be reduced if you are receiving payments from a retirement system based on your previous work and if one of your base period employers contributed to the retirement system.

Retirement payments include payments from retirement plans, pensions, annuities, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457(b) plans, or Railroad Retirement Benefits. Retirement payments include both periodic and lump sum payments. Retirement payments do not include Social Security retirement income, SSDI, SSI, or disability pay from the Veteran's Administration.

Your weekly benefits will be reduced if all of the following conditions are met:

  • You have received the retirement payment and do not roll the payment into another retirement system within 60 days of receipt,
  • a base period employer contributed to the retirement system,
  • you worked for the employer since the start of the base period, and
  • your work during the base period affects your eligibility for or the amount of your payment.

If these conditions apply, your weekly UI payments may be reduced based on the part that was funded by the employer. The weekly reduction amount for persons receiving Railroad Retirement Benefits is based on 50% of the payment.

If you roll a lump sum payment into another retirement system within 60 days of receiving it, your unemployment payments will not be reduced unless you receive payments after the rollover. You must tell us if you have applied for or are receiving payments from the other retirement account after the rollover.

A voluntary retirement may be considered a quit and you may be disqualified even if you are not receiving a retirement payment.

Money Owed

Your UI may be reduced if you:

  • Owe court-ordered child support. UI is withheld if you have a child support order. You are notified when the order is received. If you disagree with the amount or believe the order is incorrect, contact the child support agency: https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/cs/agencylist. Only the child support agency can change or stop the deduction.
  • Have Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) debt.
  • Previously received UI you were not entitled to and did not repay the overpayment. For more information, please see Overpayments.

You can see if your UI will be applied to any of these types of debts by visiting your claimant portal, selecting 'My UI Summary,' and then selecting 'Payment Information.'