Program integrity at the Department of Workforce Development is about to get a big infusion of cash.
NOTE: While program integrity is intended to examine employers who mis-classify their employees as independent contractors, the main focus has apparently always been on charging employees with unemployment fraud. I make this claim because: (1) my numerous dealings with program integrity investigators has always been on behalf of employees charged with unemployment concealment, never on behalf of employers charged with mis-classified employees, (2) for unknown reasons, reports to the Advisory Council about the Department’s worker mis-classification efforts have always been done orally, (3) those oral reports have never indicated that the entire scope of this program is being described, (4) Department publications in 2017 about its program integrity efforts only have information about claimant concealment and not actual mis-classification efforts, and (5) reports from Department insiders indicate that “program integrity” is a widespread effort toward identifying alleged claimant concealment that includes both specific employees solely focused on program integrity and an additional job duty for all of the Department’s claimant investigators and adjudicators.
Recall that the 2015 unemployment changes in 2015 Wis. Act 334 included two provisions that essentially created a slush fund available to the Department for its “program integrity” efforts.
At the 21 September 2017 meeting of the Advisory Council, Secretary Allen requested and the council approved enactment of this assessment. As the financial report at that meeting indicated unemployment tax receipts amounted to $581.7 million, this tax diversion to program integrity will bring in around an additional $58,170. These funds are on top of the $1.63 million transferred to program integrity in proposal D17-08 that is now part of SB399. SB399 is awaiting the governor’s signature.
NOTE: The Department’s 2017 proposed changes to unemployment law which are now part of SB399 are discussed here.
The Department is running the table.
Wisconsin Unemployment 