AN ACT Relating to
unemployment insurance claimant profiling; amending RCW 50.20.010 and
50.20.043; adding a new section to chapter 50.20 RCW; creating new sections;
and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 50.20.010 and 1981 c
35 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
An unemployed
individual shall be eligible to receive waiting period credits or benefits with
respect to any week in his or her eligibility period only if the commissioner
finds that:
(1) He or she has
registered for work at, and thereafter has continued to report at, an
employment office in accordance with such regulation as the commissioner may
prescribe, except that the commissioner may by regulation waive or alter either
or both of the requirements of this subdivision as to individuals attached to
regular jobs and as to such other types of cases or situations with respect to
which ((he or she)) the commissioner finds that the compliance
with such requirements would be oppressive, or would be inconsistent with the
purposes of this title;
(2) He or she has filed
an application for an initial determination and made a claim for waiting period
credit or for benefits in accordance with the provisions of this title;
(3) He or she is able
to work, and is available for work in any trade, occupation, profession, or
business for which he or she is reasonably fitted. To be available for work an
individual must be ready, able, and willing, immediately to accept any suitable
work which may be offered to him or her and must be actively seeking
work pursuant to customary trade practices and through other methods when so
directed by the commissioner or ((his)) the commissioner's
agents;
(4) He or she has been
unemployed for a waiting period of one week; ((and))
(5) He or she
participates in reemployment services if the individual has been referred to
reemployment services pursuant to the profiling system established by the
commissioner under section 2 of this act, unless the commissioner determines
that:
(a) The individual
has completed such services; or
(b) There is
justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to participate in such services;
and
(6) As to weeks
beginning after March 31, 1981, which fall within an extended benefit period as
defined in RCW 50.22.010(((1), as now or hereafter amended)), the
individual meets the terms and conditions of RCW 50.22.020((, as now or
hereafter amended,)) with respect to benefits claimed in excess of
twenty-six times the individual's weekly benefit amount.
An individual's
eligibility period for regular benefits shall be coincident to his or her
established benefit year. An individual's eligibility period for additional or
extended benefits shall be the periods prescribed elsewhere in this title for
such benefits.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. A new section is added
to chapter 50.20 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The commissioner
shall establish and use a profiling system for new claimants for regular
compensation under this title that identifies permanently separated workers who
are likely to exhaust regular compensation and will need job search assistance
services to make a successful transition to new employment. The profiling
system shall use a combination of individual characteristics and labor market
information to assign each individual a unique probability of benefit
exhaustion. Individuals identified as likely to exhaust benefits shall be
referred to reemployment services, such as job search assistance services, to
the extent such services are available at public expense.
(2) The profiling
system shall include collection and review of follow-up information relating to
the services received by individuals under this section and the employment
outcomes for the individuals following receipt of the services. The
information shall be used in making profiling identifications.
(3) In carrying out
reviews of individuals receiving services, the department may contract with
public or private entities and may disclose information or records necessary to
permit contracting entities to assist in the operation and management of department
functions. Any information or records disclosed to public or private entities
shall be used solely for the purposes for which the information was disclosed
and the entity shall be bound by the same rules of privacy and confidentiality
as department employees. The misuse or unauthorized disclosure of information
or records deemed private and confidential under chapter 50.13 RCW by any
person or organization to which access is permitted by this section shall
subject the person or organization to a civil penalty of five thousand dollars
and other applicable sanctions under state and federal law. Suit to enforce
this section shall be brought by the attorney general and the amount of any
penalties collected shall be paid into the employment security department
administrative contingency fund. The attorney general may recover reasonable
attorneys' fees for any action brought to enforce this section.
Sec. 3. RCW 50.20.043 and 1985 c
40 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) No otherwise
eligible individual shall be denied benefits for any week because the
individual is in training with the approval of the commissioner, nor shall such
individual be denied benefits with respect to any week in which the individual
is satisfactorily progressing in a training program with the approval of the
commissioner by reason of the application of RCW 50.20.010(3), 50.20.015,
50.20.080, or 50.22.020(1) relating to availability for work and active search
for work, or failure to apply for or refusal to accept suitable work.
(2) An
individual shall be considered to be in training with the approval of the
commissioner if the individual is one who:
(a)(i) The
commissioner determines to be a dislocated worker as defined by RCW 50.04.075;
or
(ii) Fits the
department's profile of unemployed workers who are likely to exhaust their
benefits; and ((who))
(b) Is
satisfactorily progressing in a training program approved by the commissioner
((shall be considered to be in training with the approval of the
commissioner)).
(3) At the time of
filing for an initial determination, individuals determined to be dislocated
workers as defined in RCW 50.04.075 or who fit the department's profile of
unemployed workers who are likely to exhaust their benefits shall be provided
with information concerning the opportunity, if the individual is otherwise
eligible, to receive benefits while satisfactorily progressing in training
approved by the commissioner.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
4. The commissioner may
adopt rules as necessary to implement the 1995 c ... ss 1 and 3 (sections 1 and
3 of this act) amendments to RCW 50.20.010 and 50.20.043 and section 2 of this
act, including but not limited to definitions, eligibility standards, program
review criteria and procedures, and provisions necessary to comply with
applicable federal laws and regulations that are a condition to receipt of
federal funds by the state or the granting of federal unemployment tax credits
to employers in this state.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
5. If any part of this act
is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that 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 that 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. 6. 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 immediately.
