Wisconsin To Assist Furloughed Federal Employees

MADISON, WI -- Federal employees in Wisconsin can apply for unemployment benefits to help meet their financial needs while they wait for work to resume, according to the State Department of Workforce Development.

"We are ready to assist any federal employee that is facing a lack of work and income due to the partial shutdown," said Department of Workforce Development Secretary Caleb Frostman. "Furloughed federal workers are dislocated workers, unemployed through no fault of their own and can apply for unemployment."

Federal employees can apply for unemployment through DWD's online UI benefit system at
my.unemployment.wisconsin.gov.

There are more than 29,000 federal employees in Wisconsin. Per preliminary counts, DWD's unemployment division fielded roughly 426 total initial and continued unemployment compensation claims between Jan. 7 and Jan. 11, 2019.

Because many federal offices are currently closed, furloughed workers should be prepared to provide wage verification in the form of pay stubs or a W-2 form as DWD may be unable to verify wages through the employer, Frostman says.

Federal workers that are working full time but are not being paid during the partial shutdown are not eligible for unemployment benefits. As required by law, workers who receive back pay should plan to repay any unemployment benefits received.

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