Florida Senate - 2009 SB 516
By Senator Hill
1-00605-09 2009516__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to unemployment compensation; amending
3 s. 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
7 certain date; defining the term “alternative base
8 period”; authorizing the Agency for Workforce
9 Innovation to accept an affidavit from the claimant to
10 support eligibility for benefits; amending s. 443.101,
11 F.S.; prohibiting an individual from being
12 disqualified from benefits if he or she leaves work
13 due to certain compelling family reasons; prohibiting
14 unemployed individuals from being disqualified for
15 unemployment benefits based solely on the individual's
16 availability for only part-time work under certain
17 circumstances; providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 443.036, Florida
22 Statutes, is amended to read:
23 443.036 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
24 (7) “Base period” means the first four of the last five
25 completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day
26 of an individual's benefit year. Wages in a base period used to
27 establish a monetarily eligible benefit year may not be used to
28 establish monetary eligibility in a subsequent benefit year.
29 (a) If information regarding wages for the calendar
30 quarters immediately preceding the benefit year has not been
31 entered into the Agency for Workforce Innovation's mainframe
32 database from the regular quarterly reports of wage information
33 submitted under s. 443.163 or is otherwise unavailable, the
34 agency shall request the information from the employer by mail.
35 The employer must provide the requested information within 10
36 days after the agency mails the request. An employer that fails
37 to provide the requested wage information within the required
38 time period is subject to the penalty for delinquent reports
39 under s. 443.141.
40 (b) For a benefit year commencing on or after January 1,
41 2010, if an individual is not monetarily eligible in the base
42 period to qualify for benefits, the Agency for Workforce
43 Innovation must designate an alternative base period. As used in
44 this subsection, the term “alternative base period” means the
45 last four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the
46 first day of an individual's benefit year. If the agency is
47 unable to access wage information through its mainframe database
48 for determining monetary eligibility for benefits based on the
49 individual's alternative base period, the agency may base the
50 determination on an affidavit submitted by the individual
51 attesting to his or her wages for those calendar quarters. The
52 individual must also furnish payroll information, if available,
53 in support of the affidavit. Benefits based on an alternative
54 base period must be adjusted if the quarterly report of wage
55 information received from the employer under s. 443.141 results
56 in a change in the monetary determination.
57 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraph
58 (a) of subsection (2) of section 443.101, Florida Statutes, are
59 amended to read:
60 443.101 Disqualification for benefits.—An individual shall
61 be disqualified for benefits:
62 (1)(a) For the week in which he or she has voluntarily
63 leaves left his or her work without good cause attributable to
64 his or her employing unit or is in which the individual has been
65 discharged by his or her employing unit for misconduct connected
66 with his or her work, based on a finding by the Agency for
67 Workforce Innovation. As used in this paragraph, the term “work”
68 means any work, whether full-time, part-time, or temporary.
69 1. Disqualification for voluntarily quitting continues for
70 the full period of unemployment next ensuing after the
71 individual leaves he or she has left his or her full-time, part
72 time, or temporary work voluntarily without good cause and until
73 the individual earns has earned income equal to or in excess of
74 17 times his or her weekly benefit amount. As used in this
75 subsection, the term “good cause” includes only that cause
76 attributable to the employing unit or an which consists of
77 illness or disability of the individual requiring separation
78 from his or her work. Any other disqualification may not be
79 imposed. An individual may not be is not disqualified for
80 benefits under this subsection for voluntarily leaving temporary
81 work to return immediately when called to work by the permanent
82 employing unit that temporarily terminated his or her work
83 within the previous 6 calendar months, or. For benefit years
84 beginning on or after July 1, 2004, an individual is not
85 disqualified under this subsection for voluntarily leaving work
86 to relocate as a result of his or her military-connected
87 spouse's permanent change of station orders, activation orders,
88 or unit deployment orders.
89 2. An unemployed individual may not be disqualified for
90 benefits if he or she separates from work for the following
91 compelling family reasons:
92 a. Domestic violence, as defined in s. 741.28 and verified
93 by an injunction, protective order, or other such reasonable and
94 confidential documentation authorized by state law, which causes
95 the individual to reasonably believe that continued employment
96 will jeopardize the individual's safety, the safety of a member
97 of the his or her immediate family, or the safety of other
98 employees.
99 b. The illness or disability of a member of the
100 individual's immediate family.
101 c. The need for the individual to accompany his or her
102 spouse to a place from which it is impractical for the
103 individual to commute or due to a change in the location of the
104 spouse's employment.
105 3.2. Disqualification for being discharged for misconduct
106 connected with his or her work continues for the full period of
107 unemployment next ensuing after being having been discharged and
108 until the individual is has become reemployed and earns has
109 earned income of at least 17 times his or her weekly benefit
110 amount and for not more than 52 weeks that immediately follow
111 that week, as determined by the agency for Workforce Innovation
112 in each case according to the circumstances in each case or the
113 seriousness of the misconduct, under the agency's rules adopted
114 for determinations of disqualification for benefits for
115 misconduct.
116 (2) If the Agency for Workforce Innovation finds that the
117 individual has failed without good cause to apply for available
118 suitable work when directed by the agency or the one-stop career
119 center, to accept suitable work when offered to him or her, or
120 to return to the individual's customary self-employment when
121 directed by the agency, the disqualification continues for the
122 full period of unemployment next ensuing after he or she failed
123 without good cause to apply for available suitable work, to
124 accept suitable work, or to return to his or her customary self
125 employment, under this subsection, and until the individual has
126 earned income at least 17 times his or her weekly benefit
127 amount. The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall by rule adopt
128 criteria for determining the “suitability of work,” as used in
129 this section. The Agency for Workforce Innovation in developing
130 these rules shall consider the duration of a claimant's
131 unemployment in determining the suitability of work and the
132 suitability of proposed rates of compensation for available
133 work. Further, after an individual has received 25 weeks of
134 benefits in a single year, suitable work is a job that pays the
135 minimum wage and is 120 percent or more of the weekly benefit
136 amount the individual is drawing.
137 (a) In determining whether or not any work is suitable for
138 an individual, the agency for Workforce Innovation shall
139 consider the degree of risk involved to his or her health,
140 safety, and morals; the individual's his or her physical
141 fitness, and prior training,; the individual's experience, and
142 prior earnings,; his or her length of unemployment, and
143 prospects for securing local work in his or her customary
144 occupation; and the distance of the available work from his or
145 her residence. An unemployed individual may not be disqualified
146 from eligibility for benefits solely because he or she is
147 available for only part-time work. If an individual restricts
148 his or her availability to part-time work, he or she may be
149 considered able and available for work if it is determined that
150 the claimant:
151 1. Has a history of part-time employment;
152 2. Is actively seeking and is willing to accept work under
153 essentially the same conditions that existed when the wage
154 credits were accrued; and
155 3. Imposes no other restrictions and is in a labor market
156 in which there is a reasonable demand for the part-time services
157 he or she offers.
158 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2009.