S‑0329.4   _____________________________________________

 

SENATE BILL 5189

 

           _____________________________________________

 

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

 

By Senators B. Sheldon, Fairley, Patterson, Prentice, Kohl‑Welles, Thibaudeau, Costa, Eide, Spanel, Shin, Regala, Kline, Gardner, Haugen, Jacobsen, Brown, Fraser, Franklin and McAuliffe

 

Read first time 01/15/2001.  Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Financial Institutions.

_1      AN ACT Relating to allowing victims of domestic violence or

_2  stalking to receive unemployment insurance benefits; and amending

_3  RCW 50.20.050, 50.20.100, 50.20.240, and 50.29.020.

     

_4  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

     

_5      Sec. 1.  RCW 50.20.050 and 2000 c 2 s 12 are each amended to read

_6  as follows:

_7      (1) An individual shall be disqualified from benefits beginning

_8  with the first day of the calendar week in which he or she has

_9  left work voluntarily without good cause and thereafter for seven

10  calendar weeks and until he or she has obtained bona fide work in

11  employment covered by this title and earned wages in that

12  employment equal to seven times his or her weekly benefit amount.

13      The disqualification shall continue if the work obtained is a

14  mere sham to qualify for benefits and is not bona fide work.  In

15  determining whether work is of a bona fide nature, the

16  commissioner shall consider factors including but not limited to

17  the following:

18      (a) The duration of the work;

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_1      (b) The extent of direction and control by the employer over

_2  the work; and

_3      (c) The level of skill required for the work in light of the

_4  individual's training and experience.

_5      (2) An individual shall not be considered to have left work

_6  voluntarily without good cause when:

_7      (a) He or she has left work to accept a bona fide offer of bona

_8  fide work as described in subsection (1) of this section;

_9      (b) The separation was because of the illness or disability of

10  the claimant or the death, illness, or disability of a member of

11  the claimant's immediate family if the claimant took all

12  reasonable precautions, in accordance with any regulations that

13  the commissioner may prescribe, to protect his or her employment

14  status by having promptly notified the employer of the reason for

15  the absence and by having promptly requested reemployment when

16  again able to assume employment:  PROVIDED, That these precautions

17  need not have been taken when they would have been a futile act,

18  including those instances when the futility of the act was a

19  result of a recognized labor/management dispatch system; ((or))

20      (c) He or she has left work to relocate for the spouse's

21  employment that is due to an employer-initiated mandatory transfer

22  that is outside the existing labor market area if the claimant

23  remained employed as long as was reasonable prior to the move; or

24      (d) The separation was necessary to protect the claimant or the

25  claimant's immediate family members from domestic violence, as

26  defined in RCW 26.50.010, or stalking, as defined in RCW

27  9A.46.110.

28      (3) In determining under this section whether an individual has

29  left work voluntarily without good cause, the commissioner shall

30  only consider work-connected factors such as the degree of risk

31  involved to the individual's health, safety, and morals, the

32  individual's physical fitness for the work, the individual's

33  ability to perform the work, and such other work connected factors

34  as the commissioner may deem pertinent, including state and

35  national emergencies.  Good cause shall not be established for

36  voluntarily leaving work because of its distance from an

37  individual's residence where the distance was known to the

38  individual at the time he or she accepted the employment and

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_1  where, in the judgment of the department, the distance is

_2  customarily traveled by workers in the individual's job

_3  classification and labor market, nor because of any other

_4  significant work factor which was generally known and present at

_5  the time he or she accepted employment, unless the related

_6  circumstances have so changed as to amount to a substantial

_7  involuntary deterioration of the work factor or unless the

_8  commissioner determines that other related circumstances would

_9  work an unreasonable hardship on the individual were he or she

10  required to continue in the employment.

11      (4) Subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall not apply to

12  an individual whose marital status or domestic responsibilities

13  cause him or her to leave employment.  Such an individual shall not

14  be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits beginning with the

15  first day of the calendar week in which he or she left work and

16  thereafter for seven calendar weeks and until he or she has

17  requalified, either by obtaining bona fide work in employment

18  covered by this title and earning wages in that employment equal

19  to seven times his or her weekly benefit amount or by reporting in

20  person to the department during ten different calendar weeks and

21  certifying on each occasion that he or she is ready, able, and

22  willing to immediately accept any suitable work which may be

23  offered, is actively seeking work pursuant to customary trade

24  practices, and is utilizing such employment counseling and

25  placement services as are available through the department.  This

26  subsection does not apply to individuals covered by subsection

27  (2)(b) or (c) of this section.

     

28      Sec. 2.  RCW 50.20.100 and 1989 c 380 s 80 are each amended to read

29  as follows:

30      (1) Suitable work for an individual is employment in an

31  occupation in keeping with the individual's prior work experience,

32  education, or training and if the individual has no prior work

33  experience, special education, or training for employment

34  available in the general area, then employment which the

35  individual would have the physical and mental ability to

36  perform((, and for individuals with base year work experience in

37  agricultural labor, any agricultural labor available from any

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_1  employer shall be deemed suitable unless it meets the conditions

_2  in RCW 50.20.110 or the commissioner finds elements of specific

_3  work opportunity unsuitable for a particular individual)).  In

_4  determining whether work is suitable for an individual, the

_5  commissioner shall also consider the degree of risk involved to

_6  the individual's health, safety, and morals, the individual's

_7  physical fitness, the individual's length of unemployment and

_8  prospects for securing local work in the individual's customary

_9  occupation, the distance of the available work from the

10  individual's residence, and such other factors as the commissioner

11  may deem pertinent, including state and national emergencies.

12      (2) For individuals with base year work experience in

13  agricultural labor, any agricultural labor available from any

14  employer shall be deemed suitable unless it meets conditions in

15  RCW 50.20.110 or the commissioner finds elements of specific work

16  opportunity unsuitable for a particular individual.

17      (3) For individuals who have qualified for unemployment

18  compensation benefits under RCW 50.20.050(2)(d), an evaluation of

19  the suitability of the work must consider the individual's need to

20  address the physical, psychological, legal, and other effects of

21  domestic violence or stalking.

     

22      Sec. 3.  RCW 50.20.240 and 1998 c 161 s 4 are each amended to read

23  as follows:

24      To ensure that following the initial application for benefits,

25  an individual is actively engaged in searching for work, effective

26  July 1, 1999, the employment security department shall implement a

27  job search monitoring program.  Except for those individuals with

28  employer attachment or union referral, individuals who qualify for

29  unemployment compensation under RCW 50.20.050(2)(d), and

30  individuals in commissioner-approved training, an individual who

31  has received five or more weeks of benefits under this title must

32  provide evidence of seeking work, as directed by the commissioner

33  or (([the])) the commissioner's agents, for each week beyond five

34  in which a claim is filed.  The evidence must demonstrate contacts

35  with at least three employers per week or documented in-person job

36  search activity at the local reemployment center.  In developing the

37  requirements for the job search monitoring program, the

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_1  commissioner or the commissioner's agents shall utilize an

_2  existing advisory committee having equal representation of

_3  employers and workers.

     

_4      Sec. 4.  RCW 50.29.020 and 2000 c 2 s 3 are each amended to read as

_5  follows:

_6      (1) An experience rating account shall be established and

_7  maintained for each employer, except employers as described in RCW

_8  50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments

_9  in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers as

10  described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required

11  to make payments in lieu of contributions, based on existing

12  records of the employment security department.  Benefits paid to any

13  eligible individuals shall be charged to the experience rating

14  accounts of each of such individual's employers during the

15  individual's base year in the same ratio that the wages paid by

16  each employer to the individual during the base year bear to the

17  wages paid by all employers to that individual during that base

18  year, except as otherwise provided in this section.

19      (2) The legislature finds that certain benefit payments, in

20  whole or in part, should not be charged to the experience rating

21  accounts of employers except those employers described in RCW

22  50.44.010 and 50.44.030 who have properly elected to make payments

23  in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers

24  described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required

25  to make payments in lieu of contributions, as follows:

26      (a) Benefits paid to any individuals later determined to be

27  ineligible shall not be charged to the experience rating account

28  of any contribution paying employer.

29      (b) Benefits paid to an individual filing under the provisions

30  of chapter 50.06 RCW shall not be charged to the experience rating

31  account of any contribution paying employer only if:

32      (i) The individual files under RCW 50.06.020(1) after receiving

33  crime victims' compensation for a disability resulting from a

34  nonwork-related occurrence; or

35      (ii) The individual files under RCW 50.06.020(2).

36      (c) Benefits paid which represent the state's share of benefits

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_1  payable as extended benefits defined under RCW 50.22.010(6) shall

_2  not be charged to the experience rating account of any

_3  contribution paying employer.

_4      (d) In the case of individuals who requalify for benefits under

_5  RCW 50.20.050 or 50.20.060, benefits based on wage credits earned

_6  prior to the disqualifying separation shall not be charged to the

_7  experience rating account of the contribution paying employer from

_8  whom that separation took place.

_9      (e) Individuals who qualify for benefits under RCW

10  50.20.050(2)(d) shall not have their benefits charged to the

11  experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.

12      (f) In the case of individuals identified under RCW 50.20.015,

13  benefits paid with respect to a calendar quarter, which exceed the

14  total amount of wages earned in the state of Washington in the

15  higher of two corresponding calendar quarters included within the

16  individual's determination period, as defined in RCW 50.20.015,

17  shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any

18  contribution paying employer.

19      (((f))) (g) Benefits paid under RCW 50.22.150 shall not be

20  charged to the experience rating account of any contribution

21  paying employer.

22      (3)(a) A contribution-paying base year employer, not otherwise

23  eligible for relief of charges for benefits under this section,

24  may receive such relief if the benefit charges result from payment

25  to an individual who:

26      (i) Last left the employ of such employer voluntarily for

27  reasons not attributable to the employer;

28      (ii) Was discharged for misconduct connected with his or her

29  work not a result of inability to meet the minimum job

30  requirements;

31      (iii) Is unemployed as a result of closure or severe

32  curtailment of operation at the employer's plant, building, work

33  site, or other facility.  This closure must be for reasons directly

34  attributable to a catastrophic occurrence such as fire, flood, or

35  other natural disaster; or

36      (iv) Continues to be employed on a regularly scheduled

37  permanent part-time basis by a base year employer and who at some

38  time during the base year was concurrently employed and

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_1  subsequently separated from at least one other base year

_2  employer.  Benefit charge relief ceases when the employment

_3  relationship between the employer requesting relief and the

_4  claimant is terminated.  This subsection does not apply to shared

_5  work employers under chapter 50.60 RCW.

_6      (b) The employer requesting relief of charges under this

_7  subsection must request relief in writing within thirty days

_8  following mailing to the last known address of the notification of

_9  the valid initial determination of such claim, stating the date

10  and reason for the separation or the circumstances of continued

11  employment.  The commissioner, upon investigation of the request,

12  shall determine whether relief should be granted.

 

‑‑‑ END ‑‑‑

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