WITH JESSICA M. KRAMER AND ASHLIE B. JOHNSON
After months of relatively little legislative activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin state legislature passed legislation providing immunity to businesses and addressing Wisconsin’s unemployment insurance program.
The focus of this article will be the provisions of additional unemployment benefits provided for in CARES and the effects in Wisconsin.
Nearly 70,000 claims for unemployment insurance were filed in Wisconsin for the week beginning March 16, 2020, with 21,000 filing on Monday March 23, and the filings are expected to rise before they subside.
It happens every year in Wisconsin. A snowstorm is brewing (or seemingly shows up out of nowhere) and you have a decision to make: Do I close the office?
Social media provides insight into a person’s life, or at least what that person wants others to see of their life. Hopping on Facebook (or Instagram or Twitter) to browse an employee or potential employee’s posted content is tempting. However, the ease of obtaining personal information with just a few clicks brings with it potential dangers for employers in Wisconsin, as well.
Today’s societal climate may help remind employers that they must be cognizant of the impact that claims of sexual or other types of harassment can have on their business and reputations.
Given this dramatic increase and the risks associated with failing an audit, employers should confirm that their current and historical Form I-9 compliance practices meet federal requirements.
If you have employees, you may have heard that you should keep employee files, also called personnel files. You may also know that there is a state law requiring employers to allow employees to view their own files. But what exactly should you keep in them?
Many businesses use independent contractors. You might use them. If both the business and the individual agree, and even put their agreement in writing, then the individual is an independent contractor, there’s nothing to worry about, right? Wrong.
In the Jammal case, the court found that, under ERISA, the agents were employees, and had been misclassified as independent contractors.
Jessica M. Kramer is a partner at Kramer, Elkins & Watt LLC in Madison and writes about employment law. At KEW she handles employment law matters for businesses and individuals, and represents landlords in all aspects of landlord-tenant law. Jessica received her undergraduate degree from UW–Madison in 2000 and her Juris Doctor from the UW Law School in 2004.
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Ashlie B. Johnson, PHR, is the owner of Brooke Human Resource Solutions, serving the Dane County area. BrookeHR operates as an independent HR contracting resource for small businesses, providing a wide range of support as well as policy language, documentation, and employment agreements that meet today’s complex compliance standards. Ashlie received her B.S. in Human Resource Management from St. Cloud State University in 2002 and has been a certified PHR since 2007.
