DWS/OSS/BOS-L2008-520999-BD

WORKFORCE SYSTEMS LETTER NO: 08-05

DATE: April 29, 2008

EFFECT: ACTION INFO WITH ATTACHMENTS

[x] [x] SWAs [x]

[x] [x] UI Directors [x]

SUBJECT: Region 1 Unemployment Insurance (UI) Federal Programs Meeting:

July 29-30, 2008

1. Purpose. To announce a two day meeting of Region 1 State Workforce Agency (SWA) program coordinators working with the following UI programs: Interstate Benefits (IB), Combined Wage Claim (CWC), Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service members (UCX), and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE). This meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 and Wednesday, July 30, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. The meeting is intended for Interstate Program Coordinators, Liable IB Managers, CWC Managers, UCFE/UCX Program Coordinators and Managers.

2. Background. The Interstate and CWC programs are good examples of how partnership arrangements can work. The success of state activities in these areas is dependent upon activities in other states. The UCFE and UCX programs continue to undergo changes; in light of this it is important to share information and foster improvements by way of ongoing communications and regional meetings.

Our last regional meeting of these programs, held in June 2006 in Boston was very productive and yielded positive evaluations from attendees. We intend to build on the progress realized at that meeting as well as that of the September 2007 National Interstate Meeting. Affiliated Computer Services, our ICON support contractor, and other Federal staff will also be represented. All state agency participants should be prepared to discuss changes, problem areas, and improvements made to the IB, CWC, UCFE and UCX processing in their respective states. Attached is a tentative agenda which may be adjusted pending feedback from IB/CWC/UCFE/UCX staff who will be attending this meeting.

3. Conference Plans. The meeting will be held at the John F. Kennedy Building, Conference Room E-275-B, Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts. It will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 29 and conclude at approximately 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2008. Dress is business casual.

Arrangements have been made for a block of hotel rooms at the Langham Hotel, 250 Franklin Street, Boston, Massachusetts. The hotel's phone number is 617-451-1900. Room rates are $186.00 for single/double occupancy, plus all applicable taxes. Please reference "United States Department of Labor" when making reservations. Only hotel valet parking is available at a rate of $39.00 per night. The URL for the hotel's website is http://boston.langhamhotels.com/. Travelers are responsible for their own reservations.

Please note that the cut-off date for reservations is July 7, 2008. Reservations made after that date will be on a space available basis and the government rate cannot be guaranteed. Travelers are also advised to inquire about the hotel's cancellation policy.

The JFK Federal Building is within walking distance of the hotel and is directly across the street from historic Faneuil Hall.

4. Action Required. State Workforce Agency Administrators are requested to please:

a. Distribute this Workforce Systems Letter to appropriate staff, and

b. Submit comments on the agenda and names of attendees to Barbara

D'Amore at 617-788-0115 no later than

June 15, 2008.

5. Inquiries. Inquiries should be directed to Barbara D'Amore.

Grace A. Kilbane

Regional Administrator

Attachment

Acrobat PDF File of this document available here.

DRAFT AGENDA

Interstate Benefits/Combined Wage Claims, UCFE/UCX Meeting

Region 1 - Boston

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introductions USDOL

9:15 a.m. State Presentation(s)

- Identity Fraud/Theft Kathy Catanzaro, RI

- Debit Cards/Direct Deposit Kathy Kelly-Gervais, NY

- IB-14's and Jurisdiction of Wages between States Lorraine Balli, NY

- IB-5, IB-6 Problems, New IB-6 Changes Debbie Showalter, MA

- WIC Screen Update Debbie Showalter, MA

- Demonstration of IB Distance Learning Barbara D'Amore, RO

10:30 a.m. Break

10:45 a.m. IB Committee Update Rick Yezek, CT

Debbie Showalter, MA

Ruth Hobbs, NH

11:15 a.m. Discussion on Implementation of Proposed New Keith Ribnick, NO

Definition of Paying State for Combined Wage Claims Quinn Watt, NO

Region 1- IB Committee Members

12:00 p.m. Lunch (on own)

1:00 p.m. Affiliated Computer Services Update Amanda Gohl, ACS

Discussion of Reports Sent to IPC's/FPC's Martha Hazelrigg, ACS

Discussion about UI Data Exchange Modernization Project

2:00 p.m. UCFE/UCX - Update/Problems between FCCC, Keith Ribnick, NO

Department of Defense, TALX, Military Liaisons, Quinn Watt, NO

DD214's, 931's, 935's Gail Weber, USAF Liaison

Tim Fowlkes, Defense Dept.

Amanda Gohl, ACS

Martha Hazelrigg, ACS

3:00 p.m. Break

3:15 p.m. Continuing UCFE/UCX - Update/Problems

5:00 p.m. Adjourn

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

9:00 a.m. Continuing UCFE/UCX Discussion All States/Feds

- Demonstration of UCX Pay Calculator Barbara D'Amore, RO

- Demonstration of UCX Decision Tree

- Demonstration of UCFE Wage Assignment Analyzer

10:15 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. State Round-Robin (issues/concerns/training needs) 11:30 a.m. Next Steps /Wrap-up

12:00 p.m. Adjourn