Concerning eligibility for unemployment benefits

This bill relates to unemployment benefits. Under current law, the department of workforce development may establish by rule a process to waive or alter the work search requirements for a claim for benefits if an individual has a reasonable expectation that the individual will be returning to employment and is attached to a regular job or industry or a member in good standing of a union therein eligible for referral for employment. To be considered attached to a regular job or industry, an individual must be on a “short-term temporary layoff”, which is defined as a layoff period of 16 weeks or less due to seasonal weather conditions that impact the ability to perform work related to highway construction, repair, or maintenance with a specific return-to-work date verified by the employer. The bill changes the defined term to “short-term seasonal or temporary layoff”, provides that conditions other than weather conditions are included in the definition, and strikes the language that the work to be performed must be related to highway construction, repair, or maintenance and must have a specific return-to-work date verified by the employer. The bill provides that benefits shall not be denied to an eligible individual for refusing to accept work if the individual has a reasonable expectation that the individual will be returning to employment, as defined by the department by rule, and is attached to a regular job or industry or is a member in good standing of a union therein eligible for referral for employment. To be considered attached to a regular job or industry, an individual must be on a short-term seasonal or temporary layoff. The bill provides that benefits shall not be denied to an eligible individual for refusing to accept work if the individual is unemployed due to the individual’s employer temporarily ceasing operations or going out of business at the factory, establishment, or other premises at which the individual was last employed; the reason for the employer going out of business was a result of unforeseen circumstances; and the individual has a reasonable expectation that the individual will be returning to employment with the employer that temporarily ceased operations or went out of business.