HB 1333

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";
4	requiring an employer to provide wage information to
5	support an individual's eligibility for benefits;
6	providing for an alternative base period after a certain
7	date; defining the term "alternative base period";
8	authorizing the Agency for Workforce Innovation to accept
9	an affidavit from the claimant to support eligibility for
10	benefits; amending s. 443.101, F.S.; prohibiting an
11	individual from being disqualified from benefits if he or
12	she leaves work due to certain compelling family reasons;
13	prohibiting unemployed individuals from being disqualified
14	for unemployment benefits based solely on the individual's
15	availability for only part-time work under certain
16	circumstances; providing an effective date.
17
18	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20	Section 1.  Subsection (7) of section 443.036, Florida
21	Statutes, is amended to read:
22	443.036  Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the term:
23	(7)  "Base period" means the first four of the last five
24	completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day
25	of an individual's benefit year. Wages in a base period used to
26	establish a monetarily eligible benefit year may not be used to
27	establish monetary eligibility in a subsequent benefit year.
28	(a)  If information regarding wages for the calendar
29	quarters immediately preceding the benefit year has not been
30	entered into the Agency for Workforce Innovation's mainframe
31	database from the regular quarterly reports of wage information
32	submitted under s. 443.163 or is otherwise unavailable, the
33	agency shall request the information from the employer by mail.
34	The employer must provide the requested information within 10
35	days after the agency mails the request. An employer that fails
36	to provide the requested wage information within the required
37	time period is subject to the penalty for delinquent reports
38	under s. 443.141.
39	(b)  For a benefit year commencing on or after January 1,
40	2010, if an individual is not monetarily eligible in the base
41	period to qualify for benefits, the Agency for Workforce
42	Innovation must designate an alternative base period. As used in
43	this subsection, the term "alternative base period" means the
44	last four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the
45	first day of an individual's benefit year. If the agency is
46	unable to access wage information through its mainframe database
47	for determining monetary eligibility for benefits based on the
48	individual's alternative base period, the agency may base the
49	determination on an affidavit submitted by the individual
50	attesting to his or her wages for those calendar quarters. The
51	individual must also furnish payroll information, if available,
52	in support of the affidavit. Benefits based on an alternative
53	base period must be adjusted if the quarterly report of wage
54	information received from the employer under s. 443.141 results
55	in a change in the monetary determination.
56	Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraph
57	(a) of subsection (2) of section 443.101, Florida Statutes, are
58	amended to read:
59	443.101  Disqualification for benefits.--An individual
60	shall be disqualified for benefits:
61	(1)(a)  For the week in which he or she has voluntarily
62	leaves left his or her work without good cause attributable to
63	his or her employing unit or is in which the individual has been
64	discharged by his or her employing unit for misconduct connected
65	with his or her work, based on a finding by the Agency for
66	Workforce Innovation. As used in this paragraph, the term "work"
67	means any work, whether full-time, part-time, or temporary.
68	1.  Disqualification for voluntarily quitting continues for
69	the full period of unemployment next ensuing after the
70	individual leaves he or she has left his or her full-time, part-
71	time, or temporary work voluntarily without good cause and until
72	the individual earns has earned income equal to or in excess of
73	17 times his or her weekly benefit amount. As used in this
74	subsection, the term "good cause" includes only that cause
75	attributable to the employing unit or an which consists of
76	illness or disability of the individual requiring separation
77	from his or her work. Any other disqualification may not be
78	imposed. An individual may not be is not disqualified for
79	benefits under this subsection for voluntarily leaving temporary
80	work to return immediately when called to work by the permanent
81	employing unit that temporarily terminated his or her work
82	within the previous 6 calendar months, or. For benefit years
83	beginning on or after July 1, 2004, an individual is not
84	disqualified under this subsection for voluntarily leaving work
85	to relocate as a result of his or her military-connected
86	spouse's permanent change of station orders, activation orders,
87	or unit deployment orders.
88	2.  An unemployed individual may not be disqualified for
89	benefits if he or she separates from work for the following
90	compelling family reasons:
91	a.  Domestic violence, as defined in s. 741.28 and verified
92	by an injunction, protective order, or other such reasonable and
93	confidential documentation authorized by state law, which causes
94	the individual to reasonably believe that continued employment
95	will jeopardize the individual's safety, the safety of a member
96	of his or her immediate family, or the safety of other
97	employees.
98	b.  The illness or disability of a member of the
99	individual's immediate family.
100	c.  The need for the individual to accompany his or her
101	spouse to a place from which it is impractical for the
102	individual to commute or due to a change in the location of the
103	spouse's employment.
104	3.2.  Disqualification for being discharged for misconduct
105	connected with his or her work continues for the full period of
106	unemployment next ensuing after being having been discharged and
107	until the individual is has become reemployed and earns has
108	earned income of at least 17 times his or her weekly benefit
109	amount and for not more than 52 weeks that immediately follow
110	that week, as determined by the agency for Workforce Innovation
111	in each case according to the circumstances in each case or the
112	seriousness of the misconduct, under the agency's rules adopted
113	for determinations of disqualification for benefits for
114	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; the individual's his or her physical
140	fitness, and prior training,; the individual's experience, and
141	prior earnings,; his or her length of unemployment, and
142	prospects for securing local work in his or her customary
143	occupation; and the distance of the available work from his or
144	her residence. An unemployed individual may not be disqualified
145	from eligibility for benefits solely because he or she is
146	available for only part-time work. If an individual restricts
147	his or her availability to part-time work, he or she may be
148	considered able and available for work if it is determined that
149	the claimant:
150	1.  Has a history of part-time employment;
151	2.  Is actively seeking and is willing to accept work under
152	essentially the same conditions that existed when the wage
153	credits were accrued; and
154	3.  Imposes no other restrictions and is in a labor market
155	in which there is a reasonable demand for the part-time services
156	he or she offers.
157	Section 3.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2009.

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