AN
ACT Relating to allowing victims of domestic violence or stalking to receive
unemployment insurance benefits; and amending RCW 50.20.050, 50.20.100,
50.20.240, and 50.29.020.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
50.20.050 and 2000 c 2 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
An individual shall be disqualified from benefits beginning with the first day
of the calendar week in which he or she has left work voluntarily without good
cause and thereafter for seven calendar weeks and until he or she has obtained
bona fide work in employment covered by this title and earned wages in that
employment equal to seven times his or her weekly benefit amount.
The
disqualification shall continue if the work obtained is a mere sham to qualify
for benefits and is not bona fide work. In determining whether work is of a
bona fide nature, the commissioner shall consider factors including but not
limited to the following:
(a)
The duration of the work;
(b)
The extent of direction and control by the employer over the work; and
(c)
The level of skill required for the work in light of the individual's training
and experience.
(2)
An individual shall not be considered to have left work voluntarily without
good cause when:
(a)
He or she has left work to accept a bona fide offer of bona fide work as
described in subsection (1) of this section;
(b)
The separation was because of the illness or disability of the claimant or the
death, illness, or disability of a member of the claimant's immediate family if
the claimant took all reasonable precautions, in accordance with any
regulations that the commissioner may prescribe, to protect his or her
employment status by having promptly notified the employer of the reason for
the absence and by having promptly requested reemployment when again able to
assume employment: PROVIDED, That these precautions need not have been taken
when they would have been a futile act, including those instances when the
futility of the act was a result of a recognized labor/management dispatch
system; ((or))
(c)
He or she has left work to relocate for the spouse's employment that is due to
an employer-initiated mandatory transfer that is outside the existing labor
market area if the claimant remained employed as long as was reasonable prior
to the move; or
(d)
The separation was necessary to protect the claimant or the claimant's
immediate family members from domestic violence, as defined in RCW 26.50.010,
or stalking, as defined in RCW 9A.46.110.
(3)
In determining under this section whether an individual has left work
voluntarily without good cause, the commissioner shall only consider
work-connected factors such as the degree of risk involved to the individual's
health, safety, and morals, the individual's physical fitness for the work, the
individual's ability to perform the work, and such other work connected factors
as the commissioner may deem pertinent, including state and national
emergencies. Good cause shall not be established for voluntarily leaving work
because of its distance from an individual's residence where the distance was
known to the individual at the time he or she accepted the employment and
where, in the judgment of the department, the distance is customarily traveled
by workers in the individual's job classification and labor market, nor because
of any other significant work factor which was generally known and present at
the time he or she accepted employment, unless the related circumstances have
so changed as to amount to a substantial involuntary deterioration of the work
factor or unless the commissioner determines that other related circumstances
would work an unreasonable hardship on the individual were he or she required
to continue in the employment.
(4)
Subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall not apply to an individual whose
marital status or domestic responsibilities cause him or her to leave
employment. Such an individual shall not be eligible for unemployment
insurance benefits beginning with the first day of the calendar week in which
he or she left work and thereafter for seven calendar weeks and until he or she
has requalified, either by obtaining bona fide work in employment covered by
this title and earning wages in that employment equal to seven times his or her
weekly benefit amount or by reporting in person to the department during ten
different calendar weeks and certifying on each occasion that he or she is
ready, able, and willing to immediately accept any suitable work which may be
offered, is actively seeking work pursuant to customary trade practices, and is
utilizing such employment counseling and placement services as are available
through the department. This subsection does not apply to individuals covered
by subsection (2)(b) or (c) of this section.
Sec.
2. RCW
50.20.100 and 1989 c 380 s 80 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Suitable work for an individual is employment in an occupation in keeping with
the individual's prior work experience, education, or training and if the
individual has no prior work experience, special education, or training for
employment available in the general area, then employment which the individual
would have the physical and mental ability to perform((, and for individuals
with base year work experience in agricultural labor, any agricultural labor
available from any employer shall be deemed suitable unless it meets the
conditions in RCW 50.20.110 or the commissioner finds elements of specific work
opportunity unsuitable for a particular individual)). In determining
whether work is suitable for an individual, the commissioner shall also
consider the degree of risk involved to the individual's health, safety, and
morals, the individual's physical fitness, the individual's length of
unemployment and prospects for securing local work in the individual's
customary occupation, the distance of the available work from the individual's
residence, and such other factors as the commissioner may deem pertinent,
including state and national emergencies.
(2)
For individuals with base year work experience in agricultural labor, any
agricultural labor available from any employer shall be deemed suitable unless
it meets conditions in RCW 50.20.110 or the commissioner finds elements of
specific work opportunity unsuitable for a particular individual.
(3)
For individuals who have qualified for unemployment compensation benefits under
RCW 50.20.050(2)(d), an evaluation of the suitability of the work must consider
the individual's need to address the physical, psychological, legal, and other
effects of domestic violence or stalking.
Sec.
3. RCW
50.20.240 and 1998 c 161 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
To
ensure that following the initial application for benefits, an individual is
actively engaged in searching for work, effective July 1, 1999, the employment
security department shall implement a job search monitoring program. Except
for those individuals with employer attachment or union referral, individuals
who qualify for unemployment compensation under RCW 50.20.050(2)(d), and
individuals in commissioner-approved training, an individual who has received
five or more weeks of benefits under this title must provide evidence of
seeking work, as directed by the commissioner or (([the])) the
commissioner's agents, for each week beyond five in which a claim is filed.
The evidence must demonstrate contacts with at least three employers per week
or documented in-person job search activity at the local reemployment center.
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.
Sec.
4. RCW
50.29.020 and 2000 c 2 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 as extended
benefits defined under RCW 50.22.010(6) 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)
Individuals who qualify for benefits under RCW 50.20.050(2)(d) shall not
have their benefits charged to the experience rating account of any
contribution paying employer.
(f)
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.
(((f)))
(g) Benefits paid under RCW 50.22.150 shall not be charged to the
experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.
(3)(a)
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 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.
