AN ACT Relating to job search requirements for unemployment compensation claimants; amending RCW 50.20.240; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1.  RCW 50.20.240 and 2006 c 13 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

(1)(a) To ensure that following the initial application for benefits, an individual is actively engaged in searching for work, the employment security department shall implement a job search monitoring program. Effective January 4, 2004, the department shall contract with employment security agencies in other states to ensure that individuals residing in those states and receiving benefits under this title are actively engaged in searching for work in accordance with the requirements of this section. The department may use interactive voice technology and other electronic means to ensure that individuals are subject to comparable job search monitoring, regardless of whether they reside in Washington or elsewhere.

(b)(i) Except for those individuals with employer attachment or union referral, individuals who qualify for unemployment compensation under RCW 50.20.050 (1)(b)(iv) or (2)(b)(iv), as applicable, and individuals in commissioner-approved training, an individual who has received five or more weeks of benefits under this title, regardless of whether the individual resides in Washington or elsewhere, must provide evidence of seeking work, as directed by the commissioner or the commissioner's agents, for each week beyond five in which a claim is filed. ((With regard to claims with an effective date before January 4, 2004, the evidence must demonstrate contacts with at least three employers per week or documented in-person job search activity at the local reemployment center. With regard to claims with an effective date on or after January 4, 2004,))

(ii) The evidence must ((demonstrate)) document at least three instances per week of any combination of the following:

(A) Contacts with ((at least three)) employers ((per week or documented));

(B) Approved in-person job search activities at the local reemployment center ((at least three times per week));

(D) Job search activity by other methods as defined in rule.

(c) In developing the requirements for the job search monitoring program, the commissioner or the commissioner's agents shall utilize an existing advisory committee having equal representation of employers and workers.

(2) ((Effective January 4, 2004,)) An individual who fails to comply fully with the requirements for actively seeking work under RCW 50.20.010 shall lose all benefits for all weeks during which the individual was not in compliance, and the individual shall be liable for repayment of all such benefits under RCW 50.20.190.

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