Federal-State Unemployment Insurance Program Data Exchange Standardization

The Department is required by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to designate eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as a data exchange standard. The data exchange standards help improve the interoperability of these systems that collect and exchange information for UI administrative purposes. Through this regulation, the Department makes use of data exchange standards for ICON and SIDES. To improve UI program operations by states, the Department has been the facilitating entity for development and implementation of automated systems that states may adopt for efficiently processing claims and improving program integrity. These automated systems, which have been developed through a collaborative effort with states and the National Association of Workforce Agencies (NASWA), have replaced manual paper processing with automated exchanges of information between states as well as those between states and employers. The Department provides funding to facilitate the development and implementation of these automated systems, and encourages the use of these systems by states. The Federal requirement to use this standard requires the Department to establish, through regulation, that all such exchanges of electronic information must use XML to comply with the Act.

The latest form for Federal-State Unemployment Insurance Program Data Exchange Standardization expires 2023-05-31 and can be found here.