Beginning in mid-October, new applicants for unemployment insurance will have to register online through the Job Center of Wisconsin.
Years ago, the federal government began pushing states to make the newly unemployed file for benefits online.
John Fandrich, a deputy secretary for Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development, said the state is coming into compliance. Fandrich said the new regulation takes place on Oct. 13.
“It is a regulation that's been out there for some time, probably since the mid ’90s,” he said. “We've just never actively enforced it because we just wanted to make sure we had all the technology in place, the staff trained to make sure that we could have this be a positive and seamless process.”
Fandrich said the state hasn't been penalized for failing to implement the online requirement. People who have lost jobs have been able to apply for benefits over the phone.
But Fandrich said they will now have to log on to the Job Center’s website. Once there, they will also be asked a series of questions to help build a resumé which potential employers will have access to.
“What this technology will allow us [to do] … is for them to be matched up with an employer sooner,” said Fandrich.
The state Legislature recently passed a law requiring people on unemployment to apply for four jobs each week rather than the previous two jobs per week.
