BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to allowing an employer to request relief of benefit charges within thirty days of notice of the claim being filed; amending RCW 50.29.020; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 50.29.020 and 1995 c 57 s 3 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 filing under the provisions of chapter 50.06 RCW shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution paying employer only if:

(i) The individual files under RCW 50.06.020(1) after receiving crime victims' compensation for a disability resulting from a nonwork-related occurrence; or

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

(c) 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.

(d) 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.

(e) 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.

(3)(a) 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 the benefit charges result from payment to an individual who:

(i) Last left the employ of such employer voluntarily for reasons not attributable to the employer;

(ii) Was discharged for misconduct connected with his or her work not a result of inability to meet the minimum job requirements;

(iii) Is unemployed as a result of closure or severe curtailment of operation at the employer's plant, building, work site, or other facility. This closure must be for reasons directly attributable to a catastrophic occurrence such as fire, flood, or other natural disaster; or

(iv) Continues to be employed on a regularly scheduled permanent part-time basis by a base year employer and who at some time during the base year was concurrently employed and subsequently separated from at least one other base year employer. Benefit charge relief ceases when the employment relationship between the employer requesting relief and the claimant is terminated. This subsection does not apply to shared work employers under chapter 50.60 RCW.

(b) The employer requesting relief of charges under this subsection must request relief in writing within thirty days ((~~following mailing to the last known address of the notification of the valid initial determination of such claim, stating~~)) of the date on which the first notice was mailed to the employer's address of record with the department. The first notice is the notice reasonably calculated to be the first time the employer is informed that benefit payments may be charged to the experience rating account of that employer. In the case of a subsequent situation that may qualify for relief of charges, the first notice is the first notice mailed to the employer after a subsequent situation occurs. The written request for relief of charges must include all pertinent facts including, but not limited to, the date and reason for the separation or the circumstances of continued employment. The commissioner, upon investigation of the request, shall determine whether relief should be granted. The commissioner may consider a request for benefit charge relief not received or postmarked within the thirty-day period if the employer establishes good cause for not requesting relief in a timely manner. Any denial of a request for noncharging relief must be in writing and will be the basis of appeal pursuant to RCW 50.32.050.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. 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 inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and the finding or determination does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act. Rules adopted under this act must 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. 3. (1) This act takes effect July 1, 2000.

(2) This act applies to benefit charging relief situations, as defined in RCW 50.29.020(3)(a), occurring on or after July 1, 2000.