AN ACT Relating to unemployment compensation; reenacting and amending RCW 50.29.020; and adding a new section to chapter 50.44 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. Section 11, chapter 2, Laws of 1970 ex. sess. as last amended by section 1, chapter 42, Laws of 1985 and by section 2, chapter 270, Laws of 1985 and by section 1, chapter 299, Laws of 1985 and RCW 50.29.020 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) An experience rating account shall be established and maintained for each employer, except employers as described in RCW 50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers as described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions, based on existing records of the employment security department. Benefits paid to any eligible individuals shall be charged to the experience rating accounts of each of his or her employers during his or her base year in the same ratio that the wages paid by each employer to the individual during the base year bear to the wages paid by all employers to that individual during that base year, except as provided in RCW 50.29.022.

(2) The legislature finds that certain benefit payments, in whole or in part, should not be charged to the experience rating accounts of employers except those employers described in RCW 50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required to make payments in lieu of contributions, as follows:

(a) Benefits paid to any individuals later determined to be ineligible shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(b) Benefits paid to an individual under the provisions of RCW 50.12.050 shall not be charged to the account of any contribution paying employer if the wage credits earned in this state by the individual during his or her base year are less than the minimum amount necessary to qualify the individual for unemployment benefits.

(c) Benefits paid to an individual filing under the provisions of chapter 50.06 RCW shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(d) Benefits paid which represent the state's share of benefits payable under chapter 50.22 RCW shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(e) In the case of individuals who requalify for benefits under RCW 50.20.050 or 50.20.060, benefits based on wage credits earned prior to the disqualifying separation shall not be charged to the experience rating account of the contribution paying employer from whom that separation took place.

(f) Benefits paid to an individual as the result of a determination by the commissioner that no stoppage of work exists, pursuant to RCW 50.20.090, shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(g) In the case of individuals identified under RCW 50.20.015, benefits paid with respect to a calendar quarter, which exceed the total amount of wages earned in the state of Washington in the higher of two corresponding calendar quarters included within the individual's determination period, as defined in RCW 50.20.015, shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

(h) Beginning July 1, 1985, a contribution-paying base year employer, not otherwise eligible for relief of charges for benefits under this section, may receive such relief if:

(i) The benefit charges result from payment to an individual who last left the employ of such employer voluntarily for reasons not attributable to the employer, or was discharged for misconduct connected with his or her work; and

(ii) The employer requests relief of charges in writing within thirty days following mailing to the last known address of the notification of the initial determination of such a claim, stating the date and reason for the last leaving; and

(iii) Upon investigation of the separation, the commissioner rules that the relief should be granted.

(i) Benefits paid to an individual who does not successfully complete an approved on-the-job training program under RCW 50.12.240 shall not be charged to the experience rating account of the contribution paying employer who provided the approved on-the-job training.

(j) Benefits paid to an individual with multiple employers during the base year shall not be charged to the experience rating account of an employer of the individual during his or her base year if the employer is employing the individual for an equal or greater number of hours during the week the individual files an initial claim as compared to the average number of hours per week that the individual was employed by that employer during the last quarter of the base year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 50.44 RCW to read as follows:

Payments in lieu of contributions shall not be made by an employer of an individual with multiple employers during his or her base year if the employer is employing the individual for an equal or greater number of hours during the week the individual files an initial claim as compared to the average number of hours per week that the individual was employed by that employer during the last quarter of the base year.