SENATE BILL REPORT

 

 

                                   SHB 2772

 

 

BYHouse Committee on Commerce & Labor (originally sponsored by Representatives Vekich and Walker; by request of Employment Security Department)

 

 

Revising provisions for disqualification from unemployment compensation benefits.

 

 

House Committe on Commerce & Labor

 

 

Senate Committee on Economic Development & Labor

 

      Senate Hearing Date(s):February 15, 1990

 

      Senate Staff:Forrest Bathurst (786-7429)

 

 

                            AS OF FEBRUARY 20, 1990

 

BACKGROUND:

 

Claimants are ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits if they quit their jobs without good cause, are terminated for misconduct (which includes misdemeanor and felony convictions), or if the claimant admits to a competent authority that he/she was involved in a misdemeanor or felony that caused them to be terminated from employment.

 

Until 1988, the Department of Employment Security determined eligibility for benefits based on the circumstances leading to claimants termination from the last job during the base year.  In Othello Community Hospital v. Employment Security Department, the Washington Court of Appeals found this policy invalid.

 

As a result of the Othello case, the department must review all separations from employment during the base year for potentially disqualifying separations.

 

SUMMARY:

 

Eligibility for unemployment benefits will be based entirely on the circumstances leading to the claimant's termination from his or her last job. 

 

To be eligible for benefits, unemployed persons must show they are willing, able, and available for work, actively searching for work, that they did not voluntarily quit their job without good cause, and that misconduct did not cause the loss of their employment.

 

Appropriation:    none

 

Revenue:    none

 

Fiscal Note:      available

 

Effective Date:The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.