Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Unemployment Insurance Division records

Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Unemployment Insurance Division records, 1976-1989

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Montana. Department of Labor and Industry. Unemployment Insurance Division.
Title: Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Unemployment Insurance Division records
Dates: 1976-1989 (inclusive)
19761989
Quantity: 2 linear ft
Collection Number: RS 498 (Formerly RS 131)
Summary: This collection is a subgroup (Division) of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry records, RS 498. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of Labor and Industry records. These Unemployment Insurance Division records consist of correspondence, minutes, and miscellaneous subject files of the Unemployment Insurance Division. There is a subgroup for the Employment Security Advisory Council consisting of minutes and subject files.
Repository: Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions: Collection is open for research.
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Unemployment Compensation Commission was established by an act of the Montana Legislature in 1937 "for the compulsory setting aside of unemployment reserves to be used for the benefit of persons unemployed through no fault of their own". The act provided the means for assessing, collecting, administering, distributing, and investing contributions derived from payrolls of employers, and also provided penalties for violations of the act. The Commission at that time was composed of the Montana State Employment Service Division and the Unemployment Compensation Division.

In 1969, the name of the Unemployment Compensation Division was changed to the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Employment Security Commission. Then, in 1971, the Division became the Unemployment Insurance Bureau of the Division of Employment Security, within the Department of Labor and Industry. The Bureau again became the Unemployment Insurance Division in 1982. It was then composed of an Administrative Support Bureau, a Benefits Bureau, a Contributions Bureau, an Employer Services Bureau, an Unemployment Insurance Section, and an Unemployment Insurance Claims Investigation Section. After 1985, the sections were incorporated into other bureaus and divisions and the remaining bureaus experienced only minor name changes.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

These records consist of correspondence (1977-1989), minutes (1984-1987), and miscellaneous subject files (1976-1988) of the Unemployment Insurance Division. The correspondence includes interoffice correspondence of Mary Margaret "Peg" Hartman, Charles "Chuck" Hunter, and David L. Hunter, commissioners and administrators of the Division. There is a subgroup for the Employment Security Advisory Council consisting of minutes (1984) and subject files (1980-1984).

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Library & Archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Library & Archives before any reproduction use. The Library & Archives does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society ibrary & Archives, Helena, Montana.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by subgroup and then by series.

Location of Collection

18:4-6

Processing Note

In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 498, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives catalog, and to follow best archival practices.

Collections from Montana Department of Labor and Industry's various Divisions and Bureaus that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into this collection, RS 498. Rather than reprocessing over 20 linear feet of DLI materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those collections/finding aids and provide access to them via links in the primary finding aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if this subgroup/sub-subgroup pertains to your research needs.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information is available upon request.

Separated Materials

Printed thesis transferred to Library.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Unemployment Insurance Division Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	Interoffice Correspondence
Box/Folder
1 / 1	Commissioner	1985-1988
1 / 2	Commissioner's Office, Legal Unit	1986-1987
1 / 3	Division Administrator (Peg Hartman)	1985-1986
1 / 4	Division Administrator (T. Gary Curtis, Chuck Hunter)	1987-1988
1 / 5	Benefits Bureau	1977, 1985-1988
1 / 6	Contributions Bureau	1981-1982, 1986-1988
1 / 7	Planning and Evaluation Bureau	1986-1988
	General Correspondence
Box/Folder
1 / 8	Correspondence (3 questionnaires re planning for increased workloads, cash management, and second level benefit appeals)	1979-1980
1 / 9	Correspondence (includes letters to employers explaining unemployment insurance laws, policies, and procedures; to politicians re unemployment insurance legislation, to federal agencies re cooperative programs and evaluation of programs)	1985-1986
1 / 10	Correspondence (re cafeteria plans, unemployment benefits for school employees, agreements with other state and federal agencies to share information, "good cause attributable to employment" clause disallowing unemployment benefits to individuals who quit jobs to follow spouses)	1987
1 / 11	Correspondence (re cafeteria plans, legality of smoking restrictions in hiring, federal audits of Montana's unemployment insurance program, computer risk analysis plan, complaints by benefits claimants, agreements with other state and federal agencies to share information, lack of an AIDS/HIV policy, and unemployment insurance questions re Montanans employed overseas, school employees, strikers, and political appointees)	1988-1989
	Organizational Records
Box/Folder
1 / 12	Goals and objectives for the Division	1988
1 / 13	Lists of administrators and employees	1980-1988
1 / 14	Meetings: Annual and quarterly Division meetings (includes agendas and notes)	1986
1 / 15	Meetings: Bureau chiefs (agenda)	1986 February 28
1 / 16-30	Meetings: Management Team (agenda packets)	1984-1987
1 / 31	Meetings: Management Team (agenda packets distribution lists)	1985-1986
1 / 32-35	Meetings: Management Team (minutes)	1984-1987
1 / 36	Meetings: Management Team (minutes distribution lists)	1985-1986
1 / 37	Meetings: Managers' meeting (includes agenda and memoranda suggesting agenda items)	1986 May 28
1 / 38	Meetings: Planning and Evaluation Bureau (minutes and notes)	1986 September 11
1 / 39	Organizational charts	1988
2 / 1	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("field memoranda")	1983
2 / 2	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("general administration letters")	1979-1980
2 / 3	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("information bulletins")	1984
2 / 4	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("manual transmittal letters")	1979-1981
2 / 5	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("program letters")	1978-1983, 1988
2 / 6	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("Region VIII general administration letters")	1980
2 / 7	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("Region VIII unemployment insurance letters")	1979-1981
2 / 8	Policies and procedures: Federal directives ("reports and analysis letters")	1980
2 / 9-16	Policies and procedures: State directives ("procedure letters")	1977-1985
2 / 17	Policies and procedures: State directives ("procedure letters" index and distribution list)	1977-1985
2 / 18	Policies and procedures: State policies on automation	1985, 1987
2 / 19	Unemployment insurance claim process (brief explanation of process)	undated
2 / 20	Miscellany: forms used by the Division (blank)	undated
	Press Releases
Box/Folder
2 / 21	News releases (re work search requirements, unemployment rate forecasts)	1985
	Reports
Box/Folder
2 / 22	Benefits Bureau quarterly reports	1988
2 / 23	Planning and Evaluation Bureau quarterly reports	1988
	Speeches
Box/Folder
2 / 24	Workers compensation seminar speech	1984 November 16
	Subject Files
Box/Folder
2 / 25-26	Audit Bureau Task Force draft recommendations (to improve the quality and usefulness of audits, to increase the effectiveness of staff, and to improve public relations)	1986
2 / 27	"Benefit payment control follow-up survey report" (by the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of Audit)	1985
2 / 28	Computers ("Computer communications handbook" and grant proposal for automation support)	1981, 1986
2 / 29	Legislation: House bills (includes Division's notes on whether it supported or opposed a bill and why)	1985
2 / 30	Legislation: Senate bills (includes Division's notes on whether it supported or opposed a bill and why)	1985
2 / 31	Personnel information (re legality of pre-employment interview questions, evaluating ability to achieve job objectives, and Employment Security Division's supplemental agreement to the Montana Public Employees' Association (MPEA) master agreement)	1977, undated
2 / 32-33	Quality Control Program (includes correspondence, policy and procedures manual, reports, and position description for investigator)	1986-1988
2 / 34	Reorganization (includes memoranda, recommendations of the Reorganization Committee, and organizational charts)	1986
2 / 34a	Strike case files (samples of typical unemployment claims filed by strikers during the 1988 strike against Champion International Corporation at its Bonner and Libby locations	1987-1988
2 / 35	Strike plans	1981, 1983, 1985
2 / 36	"Team guide to a project to analyze unemployment insurance costs and to develop cost models" (flowchart of a Montana unemployment insurance process)	1976
2 / 37	Training (unemployment compensation seminar, field auditor conference, and U.I. back to basics training)	1984, 1986
2 / 38-39	Xebec file (includes contracts and correspondence re purchase of new computer system from Xebec Systems, and draft of "Montana UI benefits system requirements definition report")	1984-1986

Employment Security Advisory Council Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	Minutes
Box/Folder
2 / 40	Minutes, agendas, and handouts	1984
	Subject Files
Box/Folder
2 / 41	"J.C. Penney proposal" (re financing for unemployment insurance in Montana)	1983
2 / 42	"National views" (report to the President of the U.S. from the National Commission on Unemployment Compensation and letter from the National Governors' Association re solvency problems of unemployment insurance programs)	1980, 1983
2 / 43	"State comparisons" ("Significant unemployment insurance data: a state by state comparison," by Nevada Employment Security Research, 1983, and copies from a U.S. Dept. of Labor publication showing significant provisions of state unemployment insurance laws, 1984?)	1983-1984
2 / 44	Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund (re status)	1984

Transfers Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	Separations to Other Programs
Box/Folder
2 /	Transferred to Library: "The Loci and causes of errors in Montana unemployment insurance monetary determinations," by Robert Earl Schleicher, Master's thesis, Montana State University, 1986.	undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Insurance, Unemployment--Montana

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