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Introduced Version Senate Bill 3 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted

FISCAL NOTEWEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2022 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

Senate Bill 3

By Senators Takubo, Jeffries, Romano, Nelson, and Martin

[Introduced January 12, 2022; referred
to the Committee on Finance]

A BILL to amend and reenact §21A-6-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §21A-6-1d, all relating to eligibility for unemployment benefits; requiring work search activities to qualify for unemployment benefits; defining what constitutes work search activities; mandating submittal of proof of work search activities; providing for verification of work search activities; granting commissioner of Workforce West Virginia discretion in verification of work search activities; mandating establishment of process to refer individuals seeking unemployment benefits to job opportunities; requiring individuals receiving referrals to suitable work to apply for and accept that work; mandating employers to report refusal of offer of employment to commissioner; allowing individuals who accept part-time non-suitable employment to receive unemployment benefits without reduction for wages under certain circumstances; making certain individuals applying for or receiving unemployment benefits exempt from work search requirements; establishing process for notification of work search activity requirements; requiring rulemaking; and setting effective date.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:


ARTICLE 6. EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY; BENEFITS.


§21A-6-1. Eligibility qualifications.

An unemployed individual shall be eligible to receive benefits only if the commissioner finds that:

(1) He or she has registered for work at and thereafter continues to report at an employment office in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner;

(2) He or she has made a claim for benefits in accordance with the provisions of article seven of this chapter and has furnished his or her Social Security number, or numbers if he or she has more than one such number;

(3) He or she is able to work and is available for full-time work for which he or she is fitted by prior training or experience and is doing that which a reasonably prudent person in his or her circumstances would do in seeking work actively seeking work as defined in §21A-6-1d of this code;

(4) He or she has been totally or partially unemployed during his or her benefit year for a waiting period of one week prior to the week for which he or she claims benefits for total or partial unemployment;

(5) He or she has within his or her base period been paid wages for employment equal to not less than $2,200 and must have earned wages in more than one quarter of his or her base period or, if he or she is not eligible under his or her base period, has within his or her alternative base period been paid wages for employment equal to not less than $2,200 and must have earned wages in more than one quarter of his or her alternative base period; and

(6) He or she participates in reemployment services as defined in §21A-6-1d of this code, such as job search assistance services, if the individual has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular benefits and needs reemployment services pursuant to a profiling system established by the commissioner, unless the commissioner determines that:

(a) The individual has completed such services; or

(b) There is justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to participate in such services.


§21A-6-1d. Jobs and Reemployment Act.

(a) In addition to compliance with all other eligibility requirements, an individual shall be eligible and shall remain eligible for unemployment benefits only if he or she actively seeks, and continues to seek, work by conducting at least four work search activities weekly, defined as:

(1) Registering for work with the state’s labor exchange system, placement firm, temporary work agencies, or educational institution with job placement offices;

(2) Logging on and looking for work in the state’s labor exchange or other online job matching system;

(3) Using reemployment services in job centers or completing similar online or self-service activities, including, but not limited to, obtaining and using labor market and career information, participating in Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) activities, participating in skills assessment for occupational matching, instructional workshops, or other specialized activities;

(4) Completing job applications for employers that have, or are reasonably expected to have, job openings, or following through on job referrals or job development attempts, as directed by Workforce West Virginia staff;

(5) Applying for or participating in employment and training services provided by partner programs in job centers;

(6) Participating in work-related networking events, such as job clubs, job fairs, industry association events, or networking groups;

(7) Making contacts with, or in-person visits to, employers that have, or are reasonably expected to have, job openings;

(8) Taking a civil service examination;

(9) Going on interviews with employers, either in-person or virtually; or

(10) Performing any other work search activities prescribed or allowed by rules promulgated by Workforce West Virginia.

(b) The commissioner shall:

(1) Require an individual, at the time of application for unemployment benefits and weekly thereafter, to provide proof of all his or her work search activities;

(2) Verify submissions of proof of work search activities by individuals applying for or receiving unemployment benefits; and

(3) Determine any individual who fails to perform work search activities or provide proof of work search activities as required by this section ineligible to receive unemployment benefits unless the individual can reasonably explain his or her failure to do so or timely remedy the failure to provide proof of his or her work search activity.

(c) The commissioner shall have discretion to determine the sufficiency of the proof of work search activities submitted, the explanation of a failure to submit such proof, the provision of such proof after an inaccuracy in the proof provided is identified, and whether an individual has otherwise complied with the requirements of this section.

(d) The commissioner shall, utilizing existing resources:

(1) Establish a process by which Workforce West Virginia will share open positions submitted to or posted by the Division of Personnel or any other state-administered job board by employers directly with individuals applying for or receiving unemployment benefits; and

(2) Establish a process by which, for the purpose of helping individuals applying for or receiving unemployment benefits secure suitable work, Workforce West Virginia shall refer individuals applying for or receiving unemployment benefits to such open positions, including facilitating contact between employers and those individuals and monitoring whether those individuals are sufficiently responsive to a referral.

(e) An individual applying for or receiving unemployment benefits who receives referrals from Workforce West Virginia to a job or jobs considered to be suitable, as that term is defined in this chapter, shall apply for that job or those jobs within one week of receiving the referrals and accept employment in suitable work if offered.

(f) Employers shall report the refusal of any individual who is receiving unemployment benefits to accept an offer of employment to the commissioner. The report shall be made in writing in a manner prescribed by the commissioner and shall be signed by the employer. The report shall become part of the file of the individual’s claim for benefits.

(g) Individuals receiving unemployment benefits who accept a referral to a part-time open position or otherwise accept part-time employment for which the wages are less than his or her weekly benefit rate shall continue to receive unemployment benefits without reduction for those wages for the duration of his or her benefits period.

(h) With the exception of individuals who have received or been served with a summons for jury duty or are serving on a jury in any court of this state, the United States, or any state of the United States; are receiving vocational training as described in the provisions of §21A-6-4 of this code; or who are members in good standing of a union that refers its members to employment from a union hall, all individuals applying for or receiving unemployment benefits shall be subject to the requirements of this section, including, but not limited to, individuals who are seasonally unemployed or laid off subject to recall by their employer.

(i) Workforce West Virginia shall notify individuals seeking benefits, at the time an initial claim is filed and at any other time during the benefit year that the requirements substantively change, of the obligation to actively seek work. Delivery of the notification shall be made by the method selected by the individual seeking benefits, and may include United States mail, email, online mailbox, or text message. The notification shall include, at a minimum, the types of work search activities that are acceptable; the number of work search activities that are required in any week; the requirement that work search activities be documented; and the requirement to apply, and accept if offered, suitable jobs referred by the agency.

(j) The commissioner shall promulgate rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code.

(k) The provisions of this section shall become effective January 1, 2023.

 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the Jobs and Reemployment Act of 2022, requiring individuals seeking or receiving unemployment benefits to conduct work search activities to qualify for or continue to receive such benefits. The bill defines what constitutes work search activities and provides for submittal of proof, and verification, of those activities. The bill provides for referral of individuals seeking or receiving benefits to open employment positions and requires acceptance of offers of suitable work. The bill mandates employers to report the refusal of an offer of employment to the commissioner. The bill allows individuals who accept certain part-time work to continue to receive benefits without reduction for the wages of that work. The bill exempts certain individuals from the work search activity requirement and establishes a process for notification of the work search activity mandate. The bill requires rule-making and sets a January 30, 2023, effective date.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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