H-3714

AN ACT Relating to disqualification from unemployment benefits; amending RCW 50.20.050 and 50.20.060; adding a new section to chapter 50.20 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature recognizes that unemployment insurance provides partial replacement of lost wages for unemployed workers. Further, the legislature finds that eligibility for unemployment benefits is primarily related to the separation from employment immediately preceding the period of unemployment. Accordingly, it is the intent of the legislature that adjudication of a claimant's eligibility for benefits be limited to the claimant's most recent separation.

Sec. 2. 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 the most recent 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 the most recent 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 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 the most recent 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 the most recent 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. 3. 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 misconduct connected with his or her most recent work and thereafter until he or she has obtained work and earned wages of not less than the suspended weekly benefit amount in each of five calendar weeks. 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. 4. A new section is added to chapter 50.20 RCW to read as follows:

(1) An individual who has been discharged or voluntarily leaves work because of a felony or gross misdemeanor of which he or she has been convicted, or has admitted committing to a competent authority, and that is connected with his or her work shall have all hourly wage credits based on that employment cancelled.

(2) The employer shall notify the department of such an admission or conviction, not later than six months following the admission or conviction.

(3) The claimant shall disclose any conviction of the claimant of a work-connected felony or gross misdemeanor occurring in the previous two years to the department at the time of application for benefits.

(4) All benefits that are paid in error based on wage/hour credits that should have been removed from the claimant's base year are recoverable, notwithstanding RCW 50.20.190 or 50.24.020 or any other provisions of this title.