Respond to a Separation / Wage Information Request

The Maine Department of Labor will contact your business / organization if a worker files a claim for unemployment benefits and lists you as their most recent employer. The notice includes a section with questions that you will need to answer regarding that worker's earnings, period of employment and the reason for separation / termination. You have a limited time to reply to those questions to the Maine Department of Labor.

How you will be notified

You have two options for receiving notifications of unemployment claims related to your business / organization:

• Email: The quickest and easiest way to be notified is to register for email notification from the State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES).When the service is launched in late February 2013, you can register for email notification of separation and wage information requests. Once you are signed up for email notification, you will be able to respond to the separation / wage information information online.
• Mail: If you are not signed up for email notification, you will automatically receive separation and wage information requests at the mailing address where you receive your unemployment tax statements.

Why it is important to respond to separation and wage information requests

The separation and wage information notices are used, in part, to determine a claimant's eligiblity for unemployment benefits. Your accurate and timely responses to the questions on the notice:

• Prevent benefit overpayments and unemployment fraud.
• Ensure your experience rate and unemployment taxes are not affected by workers who should not be collecting unemployment.