S-0727

AN ACT Relating to unemployment compensation benefits for an individual who leaves work voluntarily to relocate with his or her spouse; and amending RCW 50.20.050 and 50.29.020.

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 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.)) An individual shall not be considered to have left work voluntarily without good cause if the individual leaves work voluntarily to relocate with his or her spouse.

Sec. 2. RCW 50.29.020 and 1988 c 27 s 1 are each 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 such individual's employers during the individual's 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 otherwise provided in this section.

(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)(i) 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.

(ii) Benefits paid to an individual under RCW 50.20.090(1) for weeks of unemployment ending before February 20, 1987, shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any base year 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 resulting from a closure or severe curtailment of operations at the employer's plant, building, work site, or facility due to damage caused by fire, flood, or other natural disaster shall not be charged to the experience rating account of the employer if:

(i) The employer petitions for relief of charges; and

(ii) The commissioner approves granting relief of charges.

(k) Benefits paid to an individual who leaves work voluntarily to relocate with his or her spouse.