TEN_20-18_acc.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT NOTICE NO. 20-18DATE March 15 2019 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WASHINGTON D.C. 20210 TO FROM STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES MOLLY E. CONWAY s Acting Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Completion of the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees UCFE automated billing phase of the Federal State Data Exchange FSDES website 1.Purpose. To advise state workforce agencies of the completion of the Federal State Data Exchange Billing FSDEB component of the Federal State Data Exchange System FSDES website. 2.Action Requested. ETA requests that states a.share this Training and Employment Notice TEN with all staff members who process and send UCFE billing statements to Federal agencies b.participate in the webinars discussed below c.contact their Federal Program Coordinator FPC to get access approval for the new application and d.use FSDES to electronically send detailed quarterly bills whenever possible. 3.Summary and Background. a.Summary This TEN advises states of the completion of the billing phase of the FSDES website and provides information to states on enhancements made to the billing process and the benefits of the new website. This TEN also advises states of upcoming webinars addressing key features of the website. b.Background In October 2016 the Department of Labor s Employment and Training Administration ETA solicited volunteer Federal agencies and States to participate in three UCFE workgroups. The three workgroups were Wage Separation and Billing. The workgroups collaborated with ETA and the Interstate Connection Network ICON contractor for the Federal Claims Control Center EFCCCF to develop an electronic exchange system website for UCFE claims processing and detailed calendar quarterly billing statements. In November and December 2018 representatives from eight states Alabama Colorado Florida the District of Columbia Georgia Massachusetts Pennsylvania and Texas and 17 Federal agencies successfully pilot tested the detailed calendar quarterly billing functionality. 2 ETA is launching the FSDES website in phases and the first phase is FSDEB. This first phase which automates the detailed calendar quarterly billing statements is complete and is now ready to move into production mode. The next phase of the project will include UCFE Claims processing i.e. Wage and Separation information . States can access the FSDES website through the FCCC. 4. Details. a. Enhancements. The FSDES website includes a new Federal agency billing directory listing all Federal agencies and for each agency it s appropriate Federal Identification Code FIC name address and contact information. The directory also includes a billing delivery indicator for each agency. If the d elivery indicator displays Electronic the Federal agency is prepared to receive its UCFE detailed calendar quarterly bills electronically via the FSDES website. The other billing delivery indicator options are Fax Print Mail or Equifax. States now have the capability to upload their UCFE detailed calendar quarterly billing statement to the FSDES website which will electronically transmit the billing statement to participating Federal agencies and Equifax Note Equifax is currently programming its systems to be able to download electronic bills and anticipates the programming to be completed in March 2019 . States can identify participating Federal agencies by the d elivery indicator when viewing or downloading the Federal Agency Billing Directory. States can upload their detailed calendar quarterly billing statements in the prescribed format . Participating Federal agencies have the capability to download and review each state s billing statement. If a Federal agency has a question regarding the statement s the website includes an Employer Protest form for the Federal agency to submit to the state. The FSDES website prompts the state to view the Employer Protest form re- examine the statement s and the relevant UCFE benefit year and or benefit payments and respond to the Federal agency with a State Acknowledgement form. The website also includes a new State Billing Profile for each state to complete with their UCFE b illing name address contact information and Billing Protest Rights Statement. The information in the State Billing Profile is available for each participating Federal agency. Federal agencies will see the State Billing Protest Rights Statement on the screen when they download a State s detailed calendar quarterly billing statement. Each Federal agency with approved access can update its own FIC in the Federal Billing Directory. State agency users should contact their FPC to get access approval for the new application. Each state with approved access can also update its own State Billing Profile on the website. b. Benefits. The secure electronic processing of the detailed calendar quarterly billing statements enhances integrity in two distinct ways 3 i. personally identifiable information can no longer be compromised via the mail and ii. billing issues can be addressed in a secure and timely manner. Another benefit of the new system is that each state with proper FSDES access may control and update its information in the State Billing Profile and each Federal agency with proper FSDES access may control and update its information in the Federal Billing Directory. c. Next Steps. ETA is working with the Office of Personnel Management OPM to solicit additional Federal agency participation in FSDES. ETA will schedule webinars to discuss the key features of the FSDES website and share lessons learned during the pilot. The ICON Contractor will notify each state s Interstate Program Coordinator and FPC as well as the Regional Office staff via email of the dates times for the upcoming webinars. States are encouraged to share the email with other interested staff members that deal with UCFE billing. 5. Inquiries. Please direct inquiries to the appropriate ETA Regional Office. 6. References. Not Applicable. 7. Attachment s . Not Applicable.