Helpful Hints: State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES)

Below are some helpful hints to guide you in completing the SIDES questionnaire.

Note: Whenever a field from the SIDES questionnaire is listed, it appears in bold text with its SIDES field identifier shown in parentheses. If you need to know an identifier while completing Separation Information Response tab, hover your mouse pointer over the info bubble icon next to a field.

  1. Remuneration forms are required if Did the claimant have remuneration?(B-74) is “Yes”. Up to 15 Remuneration forms are allowed.

  2. Pension and 401K forms are required if Is/will the claimant receive a company pension/401K disbursement?(B-210) is “Pension”, “401K” or “Pension and 401K”.

    1. If the answer is “Pension”, a record with a type of “Pension” is required.

    2. If the answer is “401K”, a record with a type of “401K” is required.

  3. The Witnesses form is required when Were there witnesses?(B-157) is “Yes”.

  4. Prior Incidents are required if Were there prior incidents?(B-94) is “Yes”. Up to 5 Prior Incidents forms are allowed.

  5. The Failed to Report form is required if Resignation reason is “Failure to Report for Work/Abandonment”.

  6. The External Contacts form is optional and is only sent if Is/was the claimant receiving WC?(B-201) is “Yes” or Is/will the claimant receive a company pension/401K disbursement?(B-210) is “Pension”, “401K” or “Pension and 401K”.

  7. The Previous Temp Assignments form is required if Why is the claimant not working on an assignment?(B-195) is “Assignment completed, contact established, claimant declined new assignment”. Up to 5 Previous Temp Assignment forms are allowed.

  8. If the claimant is working a temporary assignment for a Temporary Staffing Agency, checking Temporary staffing employer/assignment(B-246) triggers the display of additional questions requiring a response to the state.

  9. If you believe the claim is fraudulent, check Fraudulent Claim?(B-225). This triggers the display of additional questions requiring a response to the state that you must answer along with any other required information on the dataform.

  10. Attachments may be sent by the states and added to the claim via the Action Center for you to complete and return to the state. The state sends these forms for one of the following reasons:

    Reason

    Explanation

    Informational only (Not Claimant or Employer specific)

    The state may request information regarding the process that is not employer or claimant specific.

    Informational only (Claimant or Employer specific)

    The state may request information regarding the employer or claimant that is not being captured on the Separation Information Response tab or on other relevant supporting forms.

    Requires Action (State Standard question set)

    The state may have questions about your answers to the standard question set. These must be reviewed and answered.

    Requires Action (Adhoc questions added by the state)

    The state may have adhoc questions not related to the standard question set. These must be reviewed and answered.

    Optional Fact Finding

    The state may have fact finding questions. These are optional informational questions that are not required for submitting an initial response.

  11. Is/was the claimant receiving WC?(B-201) is optional. However, if answered, it will trigger the display of other required questions which must be answered before you can submit the claim.

  12. 20, 21, and 23 should only be selected in the specific situations outlined below:

    Separation Reason

    Use When...

    20

    The claimant was never employed by the employer.

    21

    The claimant’s employer is not currently represented by the TPA.

    Note: This option is only available for selection when Preparer Type(B-52) is “Third-Party Administrator”.

    23

    The claimant’s employer is not currently represented by the PEO.

  13. The checkbox Do you want to send the employer’s contact information to the State? is optional and only shows if Employer reason for separation(B-20) is “21-TPA does not represent this employer” or “23-PEO does not represent the employer”. If checked, the following information is sent to the state:

    • Employer’s name (Organization Name)

    • Employer Contact Name (Primary Contacts Name)

    • Phone number (Organization Phone)

    • Street Address (Organization Address)

    • City (Organization City)

    • State (Organization State)

    • ZipCode (Organization ZipCode)

    • Contract Termination Date (From most recent termination record that is active)

  14. Selecting “99-Not providing/Refusing to provide” as Employer reason for separation (B-20) to answer a claim is permitted. However, SIDES views this response unfavorably. You should avoid using this code as SIDES may respond by discontinuing access to their API.

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