By: Evan Manson

Not only does the law require that all employers register for Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) when they meet the conditions for UI liability, but all doctors must understand that a former employee may apply for unemployment compensation with the Department of Job and Family Services (“the Department”) upon termination from the practice. Please refer to our article titled Unemployment Compensation and Other Concerns After Terminating an Employee for more information regarding unemployment compensation as a whole, as well as what specifics may be requested by a terminated employee. Through electronic data sharing, the Department is attempting to reduce the stress that practice owners will face upon these requests.

As an employer, you should be familiar with the Unemployment Insurance State Information Data Exchange System (“SIDES”) for any state in which you operate. SIDES E-Response is a new, web-based system that allows the Department of Labor and employers to communicate directly and efficiently when a new unemployment insurance claim is filed by an individual. This new electronic format is not only secure and nationally standardized, but it gives employers the opportunity to easily respond to unemployment insurance information requests, attach documentation when needed, and receive date-stamped confirmation — all free of charge. This program aims to streamline your unemployment insurance response process by reducing staff time, paperwork, and follow up requests and/or phone calls, ultimately saving you time and money.

Updated federal and state laws provide a variety of added incentives for electronic data sharing. For example, if an employer or third-party administrator repeatedly fails to respond to information requests in a timely manner, any recovered overpayments will not be credited to the employer’s account. To choose whether SIDES or the new SIDES E-Response is more suitable for you, please consider the following:

SIDES

SIDES is an automated computer-to-computer interface that supports the exchange of separation data between state agencies, employers, and third-party administrators (TPAs). Unemployment insurance requests and responses from employers and TPAs are in a standard format. It is free of charge other than the cost for employers and TPAs to integrate SIDES with their internal IT systems. The following items are needed: (i) Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN); (ii) State Employer Identification Number (SEIN) if used by requesting state; and (iii) Personal Identification Number (PIN).

SIDES E-Response

SIDES E-Response is a free website through which TPAs and employers may submit electronic responses to unemployment insurance requests. All parties participating in SIDES E-Response receive requests for UI information from the participating state agency by mail or by secure email. An authorization code is included in the request which permits all involved parties to log onto the website and submit information in a standard format at no cost. Similar to SIDES, the following items are needed: (i) Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN); (ii) State Employer Identification Number (SEIN) if used by requesting state; (iii) Personal Identification Number (PIN); and the only addition to SIDES, (iv) a working internet connection. For more information regarding both SIDES and the SIDES E-Response program, please visit //info.uisides.org.

Nardone Limited Comment: Nardone Limited encourages each of you to review our prior article on unemployment compensation and other concerns after terminating an employee. It’s important to remember that dental practice employers must timely respond to any applications for unemployment compensation and must carefully review that response prior to submitting it to the state authority handling the unemployment compensation application. We encourage all of our dental practice clients to allow us to work with them as part of preparing that response to ensure that we think through and anticipate any potential concerns, including future law suits related to discrimination, etc.

Conclusion

In sum, technology has allowed us as employers to operate our businesses, including your dental practices, more efficiently. We should certainly take advantage of SIDES discussed above. But, we should do so cautiously and we should not eliminate the necessary due diligence and attention to detail that is necessary for purposes of responding to any unemployment compensation application. We urge each dental practice to involve an experienced dental practice attorney when dealing with any and all unemployment insurance requests.