HB 1057

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to unemployment compensation; amending s.
3	443.036, F.S.; redefining the term "base period" for
4	purposes of determining eligibility for benefits;
5	providing an alternative base period; providing
6	applicability and calculation; amending s. 443.101, F.S.;
7	prohibiting certain persons choosing to separate from
8	employment from being disqualified from regular
9	unemployment compensation; prohibiting certain unemployed
10	individuals from disqualification for eligibility for
11	unemployment compensation benefits based solely on the
12	individual's availability for only part-time work;
13	providing an effective date.
14
15	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17	Section 1.  Subsection (7) of section 443.036, Florida
18	Statutes, is amended to read:
19	443.036  Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the term:
20	(7)  "Base period" means the first four of the last five
21	completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day
22	of an individual's benefit year.
23	(a)  With respect to a benefit year commencing on or after
24	October 1, 2008, if an individual is not monetarily eligible in
25	his or her base period to qualify for benefits, the division
26	must designate the alternative base period to be his or her base
27	period. As used in this subsection, the term "alternative base
28	period" means the last four completed calendar quarters
29	immediately preceding the first day of an individual's benefit
30	year. Wages used in a base period to establish a monetarily
31	eligible benefit year may not be applied to establish monetary
32	eligibility in any succeeding benefit year. If information
33	regarding wages for the calendar quarter or quarters immediately
34	preceding the benefit year has not been entered into the
35	division's mainframe database from the regular quarterly reports
36	of wage information or is otherwise unavailable, the division
37	shall request such information from the employer. An employer
38	must provide the requested wage information within 10 days after
39	receiving a request from the division. An employer that fails to
40	provide the requested wage information within the required time
41	is subject to the penalty for delinquent reports in s.
42	443.141(1)(b).
43	(b)  For monetary determinations based upon the alternative
44	base period, if the division is unable to access the wage
45	information through its mainframe database, the division may
46	base the determination of eligibility for benefits on an
47	affidavit submitted by the individual with respect to wages for
48	those calendar quarters. The individual must furnish payroll
49	information, if available, in support of the affidavit. A
50	determination of benefits based upon an alternative base period
51	shall be adjusted when the quarterly report of wage information
52	is received from the employer if that information causes a
53	change in the determination.
54	Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraph
55	(a) of subsection (2) of section 443.101, Florida Statutes, are
56	amended to read:
57	443.101  Disqualification for benefits.--An individual
58	shall be disqualified for benefits:
59	(1)(a)  For the week in which he or she has voluntarily
60	left his or her work without good cause attributable to his or
61	her employing unit or in which the individual has been
62	discharged by his or her employing unit for misconduct connected
63	with his or her work, based on a finding by the Agency for
64	Workforce Innovation. As used in this paragraph, the term "work"
65	means any work, whether full-time, part-time, or temporary.
66	1.  Disqualification for voluntarily quitting continues for
67	the full period of unemployment next ensuing after he or she has
68	left his or her full-time, part-time, or temporary work
69	voluntarily without good cause and until the individual has
70	earned income equal to or in excess of 17 times his or her
71	weekly benefit amount. As used in this subsection, the term
72	"good cause" includes only that cause attributable to the
73	employing unit or which consists of illness or disability of the
74	individual requiring separation from his or her work. Any other
75	disqualification may not be imposed. An individual is not
76	disqualified under this subsection for voluntarily leaving
77	temporary work to return immediately when called to work by the
78	permanent employing unit that temporarily terminated his or her
79	work within the previous 6 calendar months. For benefit years
80	beginning on or after July 1, 2004, an individual is not
81	disqualified under this subsection for voluntarily leaving work
82	to relocate as a result of his or her military-connected
83	spouse's permanent change of station orders, activation orders,
84	or unit deployment orders.
85	2.  An individual shall not be disqualified from regular
86	unemployment compensation benefits for separating from
87	employment if that separation is for compelling family reasons.
88	For purposes of this paragraph, the term "compelling family
89	reasons" includes:
90	a.  Domestic violence, as defined in s. 741.28, verified by
91	an injunction, protective order, or other such reasonable and
92	confidential documentation as authorized by state law, that
93	causes the individual reasonably to believe that such
94	individual's continued employment would jeopardize the safety of
95	the individual, any member of the individual's immediate family,
96	or other employees.
97	b.  The illness or disability of a member of the
98	individual's immediate family.
99	c.  The need for the individual to accompany such
100	individual's spouse:
101	(I)  To a place from which it is impractical for such
102	individual to commute.
103	(II)  Due to a change in location of the spouse's
104	employment.
105	2.  Disqualification for being discharged for misconduct
106	connected with his or her work continues for the full period of
107	unemployment next ensuing after having been discharged and until
108	the individual has become reemployed and has earned income of at
109	least 17 times his or her weekly benefit amount and for not more
110	than 52 weeks that immediately follow that week, as determined
111	by the Agency for Workforce Innovation in each case according to
112	the circumstances in each case or the seriousness of the
113	misconduct, under the agency's rules adopted for determinations
114	of disqualification for benefits for misconduct.
115	(2)  If the Agency for Workforce Innovation finds that the
116	individual has failed without good cause to apply for available
117	suitable work when directed by the agency or the one-stop career
118	center, to accept suitable work when offered to him or her, or
119	to return to the individual's customary self-employment when
120	directed by the agency, the disqualification continues for the
121	full period of unemployment next ensuing after he or she failed
122	without good cause to apply for available suitable work, to
123	accept suitable work, or to return to his or her customary self-
124	employment, under this subsection, and until the individual has
125	earned income at least 17 times his or her weekly benefit
126	amount. The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall by rule adopt
127	criteria for determining the "suitability of work," as used in
128	this section. The Agency for Workforce Innovation in developing
129	these rules shall consider the duration of a claimant's
130	unemployment in determining the suitability of work and the
131	suitability of proposed rates of compensation for available
132	work. Further, after an individual has received 25 weeks of
133	benefits in a single year, suitable work is a job that pays the
134	minimum wage and is 120 percent or more of the weekly benefit
135	amount the individual is drawing.
136	(a)  In determining whether or not any work is suitable for
137	an individual, the Agency for Workforce Innovation shall
138	consider the degree of risk involved to his or her health,
139	safety, and morals; his or her physical fitness and prior
140	training; the individual's experience and prior earnings; his or
141	her length of unemployment and prospects for securing local work
142	in his or her customary occupation; and the distance of the
143	available work from his or her residence. An unemployed
144	individual shall not be disqualified for eligibility for
145	unemployment compensation benefits solely on the basis that he
146	or she is only available for part-time work. If an individual
147	restricts his or her availability to part-time work, he or she
148	may be considered able and available for work if it is
149	determined that the claim is based on the claimant's history of
150	part-time employment, the claimant is actively seeking and is
151	willing to accept work under essentially the same conditions as
152	existed while the wage credits were accrued, and the claimant
153	imposes no other restrictions and is in a labor market in which
154	a reasonable demand exists for the part-time services he or she
155	offers.
156	Section 3.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2008.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.