H-3314

AN ACT Relating to disqualification for unemployment insurance; amending RCW 50.20.050; and creating a new section.

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 five times 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 because of compelling personal reasons of the claimant, including but not limited to the claimant's marital status or domestic responsibilities, or 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~~)). The claimant shall have taken 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~~)). However, 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. For the purposes of this subsection, "marital status" includes a marriage of the claimant pending within a reasonable period after leaving work.

(3)(a) 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, distance to work and transportation available, 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))

(b) Good cause shall be established whenever an individual quits work because:

(i) Hours of work offered, pay, distance travelled to work, or any other significant work factor has been reduced by more than ten percent, unless the reduction has been specifically agreed to in writing by the individual and the employer.

(ii) The employer or supervisory personnel of the employer committed misconduct. Misconduct includes but is not limited to failure to correct an illegal working condition after reasonable notice and any conduct that disqualifies an individual from unemployment benefits under RCW 50.20.060.

(c) Notwithstanding the requirement for written agreements in (b) of this subsection, good cause may be established when work-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.))

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. 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. 3. 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.