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S.B. 181

             1     

APPRENTICESHIP UNEMPLOYMENT

             2     
INSURANCE AMENDMENTS

             3     
1999 GENERAL SESSION

             4     
STATE OF UTAH

             5     
Sponsor: Ed P. Mayne

             6      AN ACT RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT SECURITY; EXEMPTING EMPLOYERS FROM
             7      PAYING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WHILE AN EMPLOYEE ATTENDS
             8      MANDATORY APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING; AND EXEMPTING APPRENTICES FROM
             9      THE ONE-WEEK WAITING REQUIREMENT FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.
             10      This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
             11      AMENDS:
             12          35A-4-307, as renumbered and amended by Chapter 240, Laws of Utah 1996
             13          35A-4-403, as last amended by Chapter 375, Laws of Utah 1997
             14      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             15          Section 1. Section 35A-4-307 is amended to read:
             16           35A-4-307. Social costs -- Relief of charges.
             17          (1) Social costs shall consist of those benefit costs defined as follows:
             18          (a) Benefit costs of an individual will not be charged to a base-period employer, but will
             19      be considered social costs if the individual's separation from that employer occurred under any of
             20      the following circumstances:
             21          (i) the individual was discharged by the employer or voluntarily quit employment with the
             22      employer for disqualifying reasons, but subsequently requalified for benefits and actually received
             23      benefits;
             24          (ii) the individual received benefits following a quit which was not attributable to the
             25      employer; [or]
             26          (iii) the individual received benefits following a discharge for nonperformance due to
             27      medical reasons[.]; or


             28          (iv) the individual received benefits while attending mandatory apprenticeship training.
             29          (b) Social costs are benefit costs which are or have been charged to employers who have
             30      terminated coverage and are no longer liable for contributions, less the amount of contributions
             31      paid by such employers during the same time period.
             32          (c) The difference between the benefit charges of all employers whose benefit ratio
             33      exceeds the maximum overall contribution rate and the amount determined by multiplying the
             34      taxable payroll of the same employers by the maximum overall contribution rate is a social cost.
             35          (d) Benefit costs attributable to a concurrent base-period employer will not be charged to
             36      that employer if the individual's customary hours of work for that employer have not been reduced.
             37          (e) Benefit costs incurred during the course of division-approved training which occurs
             38      after December 31, 1985, will not be charged to base-period employers.
             39          (f) Benefit costs will not be charged to employers if such costs are attributable to:
             40          (i) the state's share of extended benefits;
             41          (ii) uncollectible benefit overpayments;
             42          (iii) the proportion of benefit costs of combined wage claims that are chargeable to Utah
             43      employers and are insufficient when separately considered for a monetary eligible claim under
             44      Utah law and which have been transferred to a paying state; and
             45          (iv) benefit costs attributable to wages used in a previous benefit year that are available
             46      for a second benefit year under Subsection 35A-4-401 (2) because of a change in method of
             47      computing base-periods, overlapping base-periods, or for other reasons required by law.
             48          (g) Any benefit costs that are not charged to an employer and not defined in this subsection
             49      are also social costs.
             50          (2) Subsection (1) applies only to contributing employers and not to employers that have
             51      elected to finance the payment of benefits in accordance with Section 35A-4-309 or 35A-4-311 .
             52          Section 2. Section 35A-4-403 is amended to read:
             53           35A-4-403. Eligibility of individual -- Conditions -- Furnishing reports -- Weeks of
             54      employment -- Successive benefit years.
             55          (1) [An] Except as provided in Section (2), an unemployed individual is eligible to receive
             56      benefits with respect to any week only if the division finds:
             57          (a) The individual has made a claim for benefits with respect to that week in accordance
             58      with any rules the department may prescribe.


             59          (b) The individual has registered for work at, and thereafter continued to report at, an
             60      employment office, in accordance with any rules the department may prescribe.
             61          (c) The individual is able to work and is available for work during each and every week
             62      with respect to which the individual made a claim for benefits under this chapter, and acted in good
             63      faith in an active effort to secure employment, except as provided in Subsection (3).
             64          (d) The individual has been unemployed for a waiting period of one week with respect to
             65      each benefit year. A week may not be counted as a week of unemployment for the purpose of this
             66      subsection:
             67          (i) unless it occurs within the benefit year that includes the week with respect to which the
             68      individual's claims benefits;
             69          (ii) if benefits have been paid with respect to the claim; or
             70          (iii) unless the individual was eligible for benefits with respect thereto as provided in this
             71      section and Sections 35A-4-401 and 35A-4-405 , except for the requirement of Subsection (1)(d).
             72          (e) (i) The individual has furnished the division separation and other information the
             73      department may by rule prescribe.
             74          (ii) Subsection (1)(e) does not apply if the individual proves to the satisfaction of the
             75      division that the individual had good cause for failing to furnish the information.
             76          (iii) If any employer fails to furnish reports concerning separation and employment as
             77      required by this chapter and rules adopted under the chapter, the division shall on the basis of such
             78      information as it may obtain, determine the eligibility and insured status of any individual affected
             79      by that failure and the employer is not considered to be an interested party to any such
             80      determination.
             81          (f) The individual's base period wages were at least 1-1/2 times the individual's wages for
             82      insured work paid during that quarter of the individual's base period in which the individual's
             83      wages were highest or the individual shows to the satisfaction of the division that the individual
             84      worked at least 20 weeks in insured work during the individual's base period and earned wages of
             85      at least 5% of the monetary base period wage requirement each week, rounded to the nearest whole
             86      dollar, provided that the individual's total base-period wages were not less than the monetary base
             87      period wage requirement. The monetary base period wage requirement is defined in Section
             88      35A-4-201 .
             89          (g) The individual applying for benefits in a successive benefit year has had subsequent


             90      employment since the effective date of the preceding benefit year equal to at least six times the
             91      individual's weekly benefit amount, in insured work, and the individual's total wages and
             92      employment experience in the individual's base period meet the requirements specified in
             93      Subsection (1)(f).
             94          (2) (a) An individual in training with the approval of the division is not ineligible to
             95      receive benefits by reason of nonavailability for work, failure to search for work, refusal of suitable
             96      work, [or] failure to apply for or to accept suitable work, or not having been unemployed for a
             97      waiting period of one week with respect to any week the individual is in the approved training.
             98      For purposes of this Subsection (2)(a), the division shall approve any mandatory
             99      apprenticeship-related training.
             100          (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no otherwise eligible individual
             101      shall be denied benefits for any week:
             102          (i) because the individual is in training approved under Section 236 (a)(1) of the Trade Act
             103      of 1974, 19 U.S.C. 2296(a);
             104          (ii) for leaving work to enter training described in Subsection (2)(b)(i) if the work left is
             105      not suitable employment; or
             106          (iii) because of the application to any such week in training of provisions in this law or any
             107      applicable federal unemployment compensation law relating to availability for work, active search
             108      for work, or refusal to accept work.
             109          (c) For purposes of this Subsection (2), "suitable employment" means work of a
             110      substantially equal or higher skill level than the individual's past adversely affected employment,
             111      as defined for purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, and wages for that work at not less than 80% of
             112      the individual's average weekly wage as determined for the purposes of the Trade Act of 1974.
             113          (3) The department may, by rule, waive or alter either or both of the requirements of
             114      Subsections (1)(a) and (b) as to individuals attached to regular jobs and as to other types of cases
             115      or situations with respect to which it finds that compliance with the requirements would be
             116      oppressive, or would be inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter as long as the rules do not
             117      conflict with Subsection 35A-4-401 (1).





Legislative Review Note
    as of 2-5-99 11:08 AM


A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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