STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION
P O BOX 8126, MADISON, WI 53708-8126 (608/266-9850)

RAY D MCFADDEN, Employee

NATIONAL CHURCH RESIDENCES
HOUSING GROUP, Employer

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DECISION
Hearing No. 12602022MW


An administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Division of Unemployment Insurance of the Department of Workforce Development issued a decision in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed.

The commission has considered the petition and the positions of the parties, and it has reviewed the evidence submitted to the ALJ. Based on its review, the commission agrees with the decision of the ALJ, and it adopts the findings and conclusion in that decision as its own.

DECISION

The decision of the administrative law judge is affirmed. Accordingly, the employee is not eligible for extended training benefits.

Dated and mailed April 19, 2012

BY THE COMMISSION:

/s/ Robert Glaser, Chairperson

/s/ Ann L. Crump, Commissioner

/s/ Laurie R. McCallum, Commissioner

 

MEMORANDUM OPINION

The employee petitioned for commission review of the appeal tribunal decision which found that he is not eligible for extended training benefits as of week 6 of 2012, despite being enrolled in a course of study at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC).

The employee argues in his petition that he should be eligible for extended training benefits because he applied for them immediately after his other unemployment benefits ran out, before Congress passed extensions. The employee also argues that he had timely signed up for classes but was unable to attend those classes because they were not funded or not approved. The employee claims that he went through the proper procedures as directed and did so in a timely manner. The commission is not persuaded.

The Wisconsin legislature created Wis. Stat. § 108.06(7) to allow the payment of extended benefits to individuals who exhausted their rights to all unemployment insurance benefits while participating in an approved training program so that those individuals could complete their training. (Emphasis added.) Therefore, under Wis. Stat. § 108.06(7), individuals who are enrolled in training for entry into a high demand occupation may be eligible for up to 26 weeks of additional unemployment benefits if a number of conditions are met. Namely, the individual must have exhausted all rights to state and federal unemployment benefits; must be otherwise eligible for benefits; if not in a current benefit year, must have a benefit year that ended no earlier than 52 weeks prior to the week for which the individual first claimed extended training benefits; must not be receiving stipends or other training allowances; and must be currently enrolled in approved training, as defined in Wis. Stat. § 108.04(16).

The employee opened a claim for unemployment insurance benefits on October 22, 2008 (week 41). He received benefits in 2008 and 2009. The employee established a new benefit year in week 41 of 2009. He received regular benefits, emergency unemployment compensation, and extended benefits in 2009, 2010, and 2011. He exhausted his benefits in week 9 of 2011, the week ending February 12, 2011.

The employee began attending MATC on January 18, 2012 (week 3), and reopened his unemployment benefits claim three weeks later. At that time, the employee's rights to unemployment benefits were exhausted, he was otherwise eligible for benefits, and he was not receiving stipends or other training allowances. However, the employee was not in "approved training," as that term is defined in Wis. Stat.
§ 108.04(16), and he did not have a benefit year that ended within the previous 52 weeks.

The employee's schooling does not meet the statutory definition of approved training because he is pursuing a GED, rather than a vocational or technical degree, and he is doing so on less than a full-time basis. The employee's applicable benefit year ended in week 40 of 2010, which was more than 52 weeks prior to week 6 of 2012.

The employee's educational and training goals are laudable. However, an individual's status as a student does not render him or her eligible for extended training benefits. All of the conditions set forth in Wis. Stat. § 108.06(7) must be met in order for extended training benefits to be paid. In the employee's case, those conditions were not met. Accordingly, the employee is not eligible for extended training benefits.

 

mcfadra . usd : 152 : 2


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