Florida Senate - 2021                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1948
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì185376HÎ185376                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/15/2021           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Bean) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (538568) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 413 - 714
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 8. Subsection (43) of section 443.036, Florida
    7  Statutes, is amended to read:
    8         443.036 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
    9         (43) “Temporary layoff” means an individual’s a job
   10  separation due to lack of work which does not exceed 8
   11  consecutive weeks and which has a fixed or approximate return
   12  to-work date; or an individual’s employer-initiated furlough
   13  that causes a mandatory complete stoppage of work if such
   14  furlough is temporary and the individual remains job attached
   15  and is expected to return to work with the employer.
   16         Section 9. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
   17  443.091, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   18         443.091 Benefit eligibility conditions.—
   19         (1) An unemployed individual is eligible to receive
   20  benefits for any week only if the Department of Economic
   21  Opportunity finds that:
   22         (c) To make continued claims for benefits, she or he is
   23  reporting to the department in accordance with this paragraph
   24  and department rules. Department rules may not conflict with s.
   25  443.111(1)(b), which requires that each claimant continue to
   26  report regardless of any pending appeal relating to her or his
   27  eligibility or disqualification for benefits.
   28         1. For each week of unemployment claimed, each report must,
   29  at a minimum, include the name and, address, and telephone
   30  number of each prospective employer contacted, or the date the
   31  claimant reported to a one-stop career center, pursuant to
   32  paragraph (d). For the purposes of this subparagraph, the term
   33  “address” means a website address, a physical address, or an e
   34  mail address.
   35         2. The department shall offer an online assessment aimed at
   36  identifying an individual’s skills, abilities, and career
   37  aptitude. The skills assessment must be voluntary, and the
   38  department shall allow a claimant to choose whether to take the
   39  skills assessment. The online assessment shall be made available
   40  to any person seeking services from a local workforce
   41  development board or a one-stop career center.
   42         a. If the claimant chooses to take the online assessment,
   43  the outcome of the assessment shall be made available to the
   44  claimant, local workforce development board, and one-stop career
   45  center. The department, local workforce development board, or
   46  one-stop career center shall use the assessment to develop a
   47  plan for referring individuals to training and employment
   48  opportunities. Aggregate data on assessment outcomes may be made
   49  available to CareerSource Florida, Inc., and Enterprise Florida,
   50  Inc., for use in the development of policies related to
   51  education and training programs that will ensure that businesses
   52  in this state have access to a skilled and competent workforce.
   53         b. Individuals shall be informed of and offered services
   54  through the one-stop delivery system, including career
   55  counseling, the provision of skill match and job market
   56  information, and skills upgrade and other training
   57  opportunities, and shall be encouraged to participate in such
   58  services at no cost to the individuals. The department shall
   59  coordinate with CareerSource Florida, Inc., the local workforce
   60  development boards, and the one-stop career centers to identify,
   61  develop, and use best practices for improving the skills of
   62  individuals who choose to participate in skills upgrade and
   63  other training opportunities. The department may contract with
   64  an entity to create the online assessment in accordance with the
   65  competitive bidding requirements in s. 287.057. The online
   66  assessment must work seamlessly with the Reemployment Assistance
   67  Claims and Benefits Information System.
   68         Section 10. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
   69  (6) of section 443.101, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   70         443.101 Disqualification for benefits.—An individual shall
   71  be disqualified for benefits:
   72         (1)(a) For the week in which he or she has voluntarily left
   73  work without good cause attributable to his or her employing
   74  unit or for the week in which he or she has been discharged by
   75  the employing unit for misconduct connected with his or her
   76  work, based on a finding by the Department of Economic
   77  Opportunity. As used in this paragraph, the term “work” means
   78  any work, whether full-time, part-time, or temporary.
   79         1. Disqualification for voluntarily quitting continues for
   80  the full period of unemployment next ensuing after the
   81  individual has left his or her full-time, part-time, or
   82  temporary work voluntarily without good cause and until the
   83  individual has earned income equal to or greater than 17 times
   84  his or her weekly benefit amount. As used in this subsection,
   85  the term “good cause” includes only that cause attributable to
   86  the employing unit which would compel a reasonable employee to
   87  cease working or attributable to the individual’s illness or
   88  disability requiring separation from his or her work. Any other
   89  disqualification may not be imposed.
   90         2. An individual is not disqualified under this subsection
   91  for:
   92         a. Voluntarily leaving temporary work to return immediately
   93  when called to work by the permanent employing unit that
   94  temporarily terminated his or her work within the previous 6
   95  calendar months;
   96         b. Voluntarily leaving work to relocate as a result of his
   97  or her military-connected spouse’s permanent change of station
   98  orders, activation orders, or unit deployment orders; or
   99         c. Voluntarily leaving work if he or she proves that his or
  100  her discontinued employment is a direct result of circumstances
  101  related to domestic violence as defined in s. 741.28. An
  102  individual who voluntarily leaves work under this sub
  103  subparagraph must:
  104         (I) Make reasonable efforts to preserve employment, unless
  105  the individual establishes that such remedies are likely to be
  106  futile or to increase the risk of future incidents of domestic
  107  violence. Such efforts may include seeking a protective
  108  injunction, relocating to a secure place, or seeking reasonable
  109  accommodation from the employing unit, such as a transfer or
  110  change of assignment;
  111         (II) Provide evidence such as an injunction, a protective
  112  order, or other documentation authorized by state law which
  113  reasonably proves that domestic violence has occurred; and
  114         (III) Reasonably believe that he or she is likely to be the
  115  victim of a future act of domestic violence at, in transit to,
  116  or departing from his or her place of employment. An individual
  117  who is otherwise eligible for benefits under this sub
  118  subparagraph is ineligible for each week that he or she no
  119  longer meets such criteria or refuses a reasonable accommodation
  120  offered in good faith by his or her employing unit.
  121         3. The employment record of an employing unit may not be
  122  charged for the payment of benefits to an individual who has
  123  voluntarily left work under sub-subparagraph 2.c.
  124         4. Disqualification for being discharged for misconduct
  125  connected with his or her work continues for the full period of
  126  unemployment next ensuing after having been discharged and until
  127  the individual is reemployed and has earned income of at least
  128  17 times his or her weekly benefit amount and for not more than
  129  52 weeks immediately following that week, as determined by the
  130  department in each case according to the circumstances or the
  131  seriousness of the misconduct, under the department’s rules for
  132  determining disqualification for benefits for misconduct.
  133         5. If an individual has provided notification to the
  134  employing unit of his or her intent to voluntarily leave work
  135  and the employing unit discharges the individual for reasons
  136  other than misconduct before the date the voluntary quit was to
  137  take effect, the individual, if otherwise entitled, shall
  138  receive benefits from the date of the employer’s discharge until
  139  the effective date of his or her voluntary quit.
  140         6. If an individual is notified by the employing unit of
  141  the employer’s intent to discharge the individual for reasons
  142  other than misconduct and the individual quits without good
  143  cause before the date the discharge was to take effect, the
  144  claimant is ineligible for benefits pursuant to s. 443.091(1)(d)
  145  for failing to be available for work for the week or weeks of
  146  unemployment occurring before the effective date of the
  147  discharge.
  148         (6) For making any false or fraudulent representation for
  149  the purpose of obtaining benefits contrary to this chapter,
  150  constituting a violation under s. 443.071. The disqualification
  151  imposed under this subsection shall begin with the week for in
  152  which the false or fraudulent representation was is made and
  153  shall continue for a period not to exceed 1 year after the date
  154  the Department of Economic Opportunity discovers the false or
  155  fraudulent representation and until any overpayment of benefits
  156  resulting from such representation has been repaid in full. This
  157  disqualification may be appealed in the same manner as any other
  158  disqualification imposed under this section. A conviction by any
  159  court of competent jurisdiction in this state of the offense
  160  prohibited or punished by s. 443.071 is conclusive upon the
  161  appeals referee and the commission of the making of the false or
  162  fraudulent representation for which disqualification is imposed
  163  under this section.
  164         Section 11. Section 443.1113, Florida Statutes, is amended
  165  to read:
  166         443.1113 Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits
  167  Information System.—
  168         (1) The Department of Economic Opportunity shall implement
  169  an integrated, modular system hosted in a cloud computing
  170  service, as defined in s. 282.0041, that provides for rapid
  171  provisioning of additional data processing when necessary. The
  172  system must support the efficient distribution of benefits and
  173  the effective operation and management of the reemployment
  174  assistance program. To The extent that funds are appropriated
  175  for each phase of the Reemployment Assistance Claims and
  176  Benefits Information system may be cited by the Legislature, the
  177  Department of Economic Opportunity shall replace and enhance the
  178  functionality provided in the following systems with an
  179  integrated Internet-based system that is known as the
  180  “Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System”
  181  and must:
  182         (a) Be accessible through the Internet on both mobile
  183  devices and personal computers Claims and benefit mainframe
  184  system.
  185         (b) Process reemployment assistance claims Florida
  186  unemployment Internet direct.
  187         (c) Process benefit payments Florida continued claim
  188  Internet directory.
  189         (d) Process and manage overpayments Call center interactive
  190  voice response system.
  191         (e) Perform adjudication functions Benefit overpayment
  192  screening system.
  193         (f) Process appeals and manage appeal hearings Internet and
  194  Intranet appeals system.
  195         (g)Manage and process employer charging.
  196         (2) Wherever cost-effective and operationally feasible, the
  197  Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits System shall
  198  accomplish the following main business objectives:
  199         (a) Wherever cost-effective and operationally feasible,
  200  Eliminate or automate existing paper processes and enhance any
  201  existing automated workflows in order to expedite customer
  202  transactions and eliminate redundancy.
  203         (b) Enable and enhance online, self-service capabilities
  204  access to claimant and employer information and federal and
  205  state reporting.
  206         (c) Integrate benefit payment control with the adjudication
  207  program and collection system in order to improve the detection
  208  of fraud.
  209         (d) Comply with all requirements established in federal and
  210  state law for reemployment assistance.
  211         (e) Integrate with the Department of Revenue’s statewide
  212  unified tax system that collects reemployment assistance taxes.
  213         (f)Maintain interoperability with other department
  214  workforce systems.
  215         (g) Allow for employer-assisted claims.
  216         (3) The scope of the Reemployment Assistance Claims and
  217  Benefits Information System does not include any of the
  218  following functionalities:
  219         (a) Collection of reemployment assistance taxes.
  220         (b) General ledger, financial management, or budgeting
  221  capabilities.
  222         (c) Human resource planning or management capabilities.
  223         (4)(a)The Department of Economic Opportunity shall perform
  224  an annual review of the system and identify enhancements or
  225  modernization efforts that improve the delivery of services to
  226  claimants and employers and reporting to state and federal
  227  entities. These improvements must include, but need not be
  228  limited to:
  229         1.Infrastructure upgrades through cloud services.
  230         2.Software improvements.
  231         3.Enhanced data analytics and reporting.
  232         4.Increased cybersecurity pursuant to s. 282.318.
  233         (b)The department shall seek input on recommended
  234  enhancements from, at a minimum, the following entities:
  235         1.The Florida Digital Service within the Department of
  236  Management Services.
  237         2.The General Tax Administration Program Office within the
  238  Department of Revenue.
  239         3.The Division of Accounting and Auditing within the
  240  Department of Financial Services.
  241         (5) By October 1, 2023, and each year thereafter, the
  242  Department of Economic Opportunity shall submit a Reemployment
  243  Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System report to the
  244  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
  245  House of Representatives. The report must, at a minimum,
  246  include:
  247         (a) A summary of maintenance, enhancement, and
  248  modernization efforts over the last fiscal year.
  249         (b) A 3-year outlook of recommended enhancements or
  250  modernization efforts that includes projected costs and
  251  timeframes for completion The project to implement the
  252  Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System
  253  is comprised of the following phases and corresponding
  254  implementation timeframes:
  255         (a) No later than the end of fiscal year 2009-2010
  256  completion of the business re-engineering analysis and
  257  documentation of both the detailed system requirements and the
  258  overall system architecture.
  259         (b) The Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits
  260  Internet portal that replaces the Florida Unemployment Internet
  261  Direct and the Florida Continued Claims Internet Directory
  262  systems, the Call Center Interactive Voice Response System, the
  263  Benefit Overpayment Screening System, the Internet and Intranet
  264  Appeals System, and the Claims and Benefits Mainframe System
  265  shall be deployed to full operational status no later than the
  266  end of fiscal year 2013-2014.
  267         (5) The Department of Economic Opportunity shall implement
  268  the following project governance structure until such time as
  269  the project is completed, suspended, or terminated:
  270         (a) The project sponsor for the Reemployment Assistance
  271  Claims and Benefits Information System project is the
  272  department.
  273         (b) The project shall be governed by an executive steering
  274  committee composed of the following voting members or their
  275  designees:
  276         1. The executive director of the department.
  277         2. The executive director of the Department of Revenue.
  278         3.The director of the Division of Workforce Services
  279  within the department.
  280         4. The program director of the General Tax Administration
  281  Program Office within the Department of Revenue.
  282         5. The chief information officer of the department.
  283         (c) The executive steering committee has the overall
  284  responsibility for ensuring that the project meets its primary
  285  objectives and is specifically responsible for:
  286         1. Providing management direction and support to the
  287  project management team.
  288         2. Assessing the project’s alignment with the strategic
  289  goals of the department for administering the reemployment
  290  assistance program.
  291         3. Reviewing and approving or disapproving any changes to
  292  the project’s scope, schedule, and costs.
  293         4. Reviewing, approving or disapproving, and determining
  294  whether to proceed with any major project deliverables.
  295         5. Recommending suspension or termination of the project to
  296  the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
  297  the House of Representatives if it determines that the primary
  298  objectives cannot be achieved.
  299         (d) The project management team shall work under the
  300  direction of the executive steering committee and shall be
  301  minimally comprised of senior managers and stakeholders from the
  302  department and the Department of Revenue. The project management
  303  team is responsible for:
  304         1. Providing daily planning, management, and oversight of
  305  the project.
  306         2. Submitting an operational work plan and providing
  307  quarterly updates to that plan to the executive steering
  308  committee. The plan must specify project milestones,
  309  deliverables, and expenditures.
  310         3. Submitting written monthly project status reports to the
  311  executive steering committee which include:
  312         a. Planned versus actual project costs;
  313         b. An assessment of the status of major milestones and
  314  deliverables;
  315         c. Identification of any issues requiring resolution, the
  316  proposed resolution for these issues, and information regarding
  317  the status of the resolution;
  318         d. Identification of risks that must be managed; and
  319         e. Identification of and recommendations regarding
  320  necessary changes in the project’s scope, schedule, or costs.
  321  All recommendations must be reviewed by project stakeholders
  322  before submission to the executive steering committee in order
  323  to ensure that the recommendations meet required acceptance
  324  criteria.
  325         Section 12. For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the Department
  326  of Economic Opportunity shall take actions to modernize the
  327  Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits Information System
  328  as provided in the General Appropriations Act.
  329         Section 13. Section 443.1118, Florida Statutes, is created
  330  to read:
  331         443.1118Employer-assisted claims.—
  332         (1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
  333         (a)“Employer-assisted claim” means an initial claim filed
  334  by an employer on behalf of its employees who are a part of a
  335  mass separation from the employer.
  336         (b)“Mass separation” means a full, partial, permanent, or
  337  temporary separation, including a temporary layoff, of full-time
  338  employees from their employer if the separation occurs at or
  339  around the same time, the employees are separated for the same
  340  reason, and the separation is due to circumstances for which the
  341  employees are not at fault. At a minimum, a mass separation
  342  involves 1,000 or more employees.
  343         (2) EMPLOYER-ASSISTED CLAIM PROCESS.—
  344         (a) Initiation.—An employer that commences a mass
  345  separation may initiate an employer-assisted claim by submitting
  346  employee information to the department within 10 days after the
  347  date of the mass separation pursuant to rules adopted by the
  348  department.
  349         (b) Form of submission.—Due to the sensitive nature of
  350  employee information, an employer shall submit employee
  351  information through secure means approved by department rule.
  352         (c) Notice and Affidavit.—For each employer-assisted claim,
  353  the employer shall give notice and instructions to the employees
  354  for which claims are filed and direct the employees to complete
  355  further steps as required by the department. The employer shall
  356  provide an attestation to the department in a form and format
  357  required by the department.
  358         (3)EFFECTIVE DATE OF CLAIM.—The effective date of an
  359  employer-assisted claim is the Sunday immediately preceding the
  360  date on which the employer-assisted claim was received by the
  361  department.
  362         (4)PAYMENTS.—Weeks of benefits paid to a claimant pursuant
  363  to an employer-assisted claim count toward the maximum benefits
  364  for which the claimant is eligible.
  365         (5)CLAIMANT FILING REQUIREMENTS.—A claimant covered by an
  366  employer-assisted claim must file continued biweekly claims
  367  pursuant to department rule.
  368         (6)CONSTRUCTION.—This section does not limit, alter, or
  369  amend a claimant’s rights under this chapter relating to a
  370  hearing if a claimant is denied a claim.
  371         (7)RULEMAKING.—The department shall adopt rules
  372  establishing additional procedures for filing an employer
  373  assisted claim and may adopt additional rules to administer this
  374  section.
  375  
  376  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  377  And the title is amended as follows:
  378         Delete lines 32 - 53
  379  and insert:
  380         amending s. 443.036, F.S.; revising the definition of
  381         the term “temporary layoff”; amending s. 443.091,
  382         F.S.; revising the reporting requirements for
  383         reemployment assistance benefit eligibility; defining
  384         the term “address”; amending s. 443.101, F.S.;
  385         deleting a provision providing that individuals who
  386         voluntarily leave work as a direct result of
  387         circumstances relating to domestic violence are
  388         ineligible for benefits under certain circumstances;
  389         amending s. 443.1113, F.S.; requiring the department
  390         to implement an integrated, modular system hosted in a
  391         cloud service, rather than an integrated Internet
  392         based system, for the reemployment assistance program;
  393         revising the functions and objectives of the
  394         Reemployment Assistance Claims and Benefits
  395         Information System; requiring the department to
  396         perform an annual review of the system; requiring the
  397         department to seek input from certain state entities
  398         when performing such review; requiring the department
  399         to submit an annual report to the Governor and the
  400         Legislature beginning on a specified date; providing
  401         requirements for such report; deleting obsolete
  402         language; requiring the department take actions to
  403         modernize the system in the 2021-2022 fiscal year as
  404         directed in the General Appropriations Act; creating
  405         s. 443.1118, F.S.; defining terms; providing
  406         requirements for employer-assisted claims relating to
  407         mass separations; specifying the effective date of
  408         such claims; providing that benefits paid to a
  409         claimant pursuant to an employer-assisted claim count
  410         toward maximum benefits for which the claimant is
  411         eligible; requiring a claimant covered by an employer
  412         assisted claim to file continued biweekly claims;
  413         providing construction; requiring and authorizing the
  414         department to adopt specified rules; amending