H-1342

AN ACT Relating to unemployment compensation and benefits; amending RCW 50.20.050, 50.20.060, 50.20.120, 50.06.010, 50.06.020, and 50.06.030; adding a new section to chapter 50.20 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 50.20.050 and 1982 1st ex.s. c 18 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) An individual shall be disqualified from benefits beginning with the first day of the calendar week in which he or she has left work voluntarily without good cause and thereafter until he or she has obtained bona fide work and earned wages of not less than his or her suspended weekly benefit amount in each of five calendar weeks.

The disqualification shall continue if the work obtained is a mere sham to qualify for benefits and is not bona fide work. In determining whether work is of a bona fide nature, the commissioner shall consider factors including but not limited to the following:

(a) The duration of the work;

(b) The extent of direction and control by the employer over the work; and

(2) An individual shall not be considered to have left work voluntarily without good cause when:

(a) He or she has left work to accept a bona fide offer of bona fide work as described in subsection (1) of this section; or

(b) The separation was:

(i) Caused by compelling personal reasons of the claimant, including but not limited to the claimant's marital status or domestic responsibilities. "Marital status" includes a marriage of the claimant pending within a reasonable period after leaving work; or

(ii) Because of the illness or disability of the claimant or the death, illness, or disability of a member of the claimant's immediate family if the claimant took all reasonable precautions, in accordance with any regulations that the commissioner may prescribe, to protect his or her employment status by having promptly notified the employer of the reason for the absence and by having promptly requested reemployment when again able to assume employment: PROVIDED, That these precautions need not have been taken when they would have been a futile act, including those instances when the futility of the act was a result of a recognized labor/management dispatch system.

(3) In determining under this section whether an individual has left work voluntarily without good cause, the commissioner shall only consider work-connected factors such as the degree of risk involved to the individual's health, safety, and morals, the individual's physical fitness for the work, the individual's ability to perform the work, and such other work connected factors as the commissioner may deem pertinent, including state and national emergencies. Good cause shall not be established for voluntarily leaving work because of its distance from an individual's residence where the distance was known to the individual at the time he or she accepted the employment and where, in the judgment of the department, the distance is customarily traveled by workers in the individual's job classification and labor market, nor because of any other significant work factor which was generally known and present at the time he or she accepted employment, unless the related circumstances have so changed as to amount to a substantial involuntary deterioration of the work factor or unless the commissioner determines that other related circumstances would work an unreasonable hardship on the individual were he or she required to continue in the employment.

(((4) Subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall not apply to an individual whose marital status or domestic responsibilities cause him or her to leave employment. Such an individual shall not be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits until he or she has requalified, either by obtaining bona fide work and earning wages of not less than the suspended weekly benefit amount in each of five calendar weeks or by reporting in person to the department during ten different calendar weeks and certifying on each occasion that he or she is ready, able, and willing to immediately accept any suitable work which may be offered, is actively seeking work pursuant to customary trade practices, and is utilizing such employment counseling and placement services as are available through the department.))

Sec. 2. RCW 50.20.060 and 1982 1st ex.s. c 18 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) An individual shall be disqualified from benefits beginning with the first day of the calendar week in which he or she has been discharged or suspended for willful misconduct connected with his or her work and thereafter until he or she has ((~~obtained work and earned~~)) requalified, either by obtaining work and earning wages of not less than the suspended weekly benefit amount in each of five calendar weeks, or by reporting in person to the department during five different calendar weeks and certifying on each occasion that he or she is ready, able, and willing to immediately accept any suitable work which may be offered, is actively seeking work pursuant to customary trade practices, and is using such employment counseling and placement services as are available through the department.

(2) Alcoholism shall not constitute a defense to disqualification from benefits due to misconduct.

(((2) An individual who has been discharged because of a felony or a gross misdemeanor of which he or she has been convicted, or has admitted committing to a competent authority, and which is connected with his or her work shall be disqualified from receiving any benefits for which base year credits are earned in any employment prior to the discharge. Such disqualification begins with the first day of the calendar week in which he or she has been discharged, and all benefits paid during the period the individual was disqualified shall be recoverable, notwithstanding RCW 50.20.190, 50.24.020, or any other provision of this title.))

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 50.20 RCW to read as follows:

An individual who has been discharged because of a felony or a gross misdemeanor of which he or she has been convicted, or has admitted committing to a competent authority, and which is connected with his or her work shall be disqualified from receiving any benefits for which base year credits are earned in any employment prior to the discharge. Such disqualification begins with the first day of the calendar week in which he or she has been discharged, and all benefits paid during the period the individual was disqualified shall be recoverable, notwithstanding RCW 50.20.190, 50.24.020, or any other provision of this title.

Sec. 4. RCW 50.20.120 and 1984 c 205 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Subject to the other provisions of this title, benefits shall be payable to any eligible individual during the individual's benefit year in a maximum amount equal to the lesser of thirty times the weekly benefit amount (determined hereinafter) or one-third of the individual's base year wages under this title, but in no case less than fifteen times the weekly benefit amount: PROVIDED, That as to any week beginning on and after March 31, 1981, which falls in an extended benefit period as defined in RCW 50.22.010(1), as now or hereafter amended, an individual's eligibility for maximum benefits in excess of twenty-six times his or her weekly benefit amount will be subject to the terms and conditions set forth in RCW 50.22.020, as now or hereafter amended.

(2) An individual's weekly benefit amount shall be an amount equal to one twenty-fifth of the average quarterly wages of the individual's total wages during the two quarters of the individual's base year in which such total wages were highest. The maximum and minimum amounts payable weekly shall be determined as of each June 30th to apply to benefit years beginning in the twelve-month period immediately following such June 30th. The maximum amount payable weekly shall be fifty-five percent of the "average weekly wage" for the calendar year preceding such June 30th: PROVIDED, That if as of the first December 31st on which the ratio of the balance in the unemployment compensation fund to total remuneration paid by all employers subject to contributions during the calendar year ending on such December 31st and reported to the department by the following March 31st is 0.024 or more, the maximum amount payable weekly for benefit years beginning with the first full calendar week in July next following, and thereafter, shall be sixty percent of the "average weekly wage". The computation for this ratio shall be carried to the fourth decimal place with the remaining fraction, if any, disregarded: PROVIDED FURTHER, That for benefit years beginning before July 7, 1985, the maximum amount payable weekly shall not exceed one hundred eighty-five dollars. The minimum amount payable weekly shall be ((~~fifteen~~)) twenty-five percent of the "average weekly wage" for the calendar year preceding such June 30th. If any weekly benefit, maximum benefit, or minimum benefit amount computed herein is not a multiple of one dollar, it shall be reduced to the next lower multiple of one dollar.

Sec. 5. RCW 50.06.010 and 1984 c 65 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

This chapter is enacted for the purpose of providing the protection of the unemployment compensation system to persons who have suffered a temporary total disability compensable under industrial insurance or crime victims compensation laws ((~~and~~)) or who are reentering the work force after a temporary career disruption because of domestic responsibilities, marital status, or compelling personal reasons. It is a recognition by this legislature of the economic hardship confronting those persons who have not been promptly reemployed after a prolonged period of ((~~temporary total disability~~)) absence from the work force.

Sec. 6. RCW 50.06.020 and 1984 c 65 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

The benefits of this chapter shall be allowed only to:

(1) Individuals who have suffered a temporary total disability and have received compensation under the industrial insurance or crime victims compensation laws of this state, any other state or the United States for a period of not less than thirteen consecutive calendar weeks by reason of such temporary total disability ((~~shall be allowed the benefits of this chapter~~)); and

(2) Individuals who are reentering the work force after an absence related to domestic responsibilities, marital status, or compelling personal reasons, as defined by department rule, which reasons shall include but not be limited to providing care for family members, participating full-time in a formal educational or training program, or suffering temporary total disability because of a nonwork-related injury.

Sec. 7. RCW 50.06.030 and 1987 c 278 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In the case of individuals eligible under RCW 50.06.020(1), an application for initial determination made pursuant to this chapter, to be considered timely, must be filed in writing with the employment security department within twenty-six weeks following the week in which the period of temporary total disability commenced. Notice from the department of labor and industries shall satisfy this requirement. The records of the agency supervising the award of compensation shall be conclusive evidence of the fact of temporary disability and the beginning date of such disability.

(2) In the case of individuals eligible under RCW 50.06.020(2), an application for initial determination may be filed in writing at any time after the individual begins seeking full-time employment.

(3) The employment security department shall process and issue an initial determination of entitlement or nonentitlement as the case may be.

(4) For the purpose of this chapter, a special base year is established for an individual consisting of either the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters or the last four completed calendar quarters immediately prior to the first day of the calendar week in which the individual's temporary total disability commenced, and a special individual benefit year is established consisting of the entire period of disability and a fifty-two consecutive week period commencing with the first day of the calendar week immediately following the week or part thereof with respect to which the individual received his final temporary total disability compensation under the applicable industrial insurance or crime victims compensation laws except that no special benefit year shall have a duration in excess of three hundred twelve calendar weeks: PROVIDED HOWEVER, That such special benefit year will not be established unless the criteria contained in RCW 50.04.030 has been met, except that an individual meeting the disability and filing requirements of this chapter and who has an unexpired benefit year established which would overlap the special benefit year provided by this chapter, notwithstanding the provisions in RCW 50.04.030 relating to the establishment of a subsequent benefit year and RCW 50.40.010 relating to waiver of rights, may elect to establish a special benefit year under this chapter: PROVIDED FURTHER, that the unexpired benefit year shall be terminated with the beginning of the special benefit year if the individual elects to establish such special benefit year.

(5) For the purposes of establishing a benefit year, the department shall initially use the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters as the base year. If a benefit year is not established using the first four of the last five calendar quarters as the base year, the department shall use the last four completed calendar quarters as the base year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements which are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state or the eligibility of employers in this state for federal unemployment tax credits, the conflicting part of this act is hereby declared to be inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and such finding or determination shall not affect the operation of the remainder of this act. The rules under this act shall meet federal requirements which are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state or the granting of federal unemployment tax credits to employers in this state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Section 4 of this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 7, 1991, for new claims filed on or after July 7, 1991.