Provides that spouses who voluntarily separate from employment to accompany a spouse who is the subject of a military transfer shall be eligible for unemployment benefits

BILL NUMBER:S5354

Title of bill

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the eligi- bility for unemployment benefits for individuals who voluntarily sepa- rate from employment to accompany a spouse who is the subject of a mili- tary transfer

Purpose

The purpose of this bill is to permit an individual who quits work to accompany the individual's spouse on a military transfer to be eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.

Summary of provisions

An individual's spouse being a member of the United States armed services, the subject of a military transfer, and the individual having left employment to accompany the spouse are added to the list of non-disqualifying reasons for separation from employment. Individuals who fall under these circumstances are therefore eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.

If the individual was previously employed by a contributory employer, the benefits are not charged to the employer and are paid from the mutu- alized account in the Unemployment Compensation Fund. This account is a separate account in the fund the primary use of which is to pay benefits when an employer's account cannot be charged for those benefits. If the employer was a reimbursing employer, the employer pays the benefits by reimbursing the fund.

Justification

The Unemployment Compensation Law includes certain condi- tions that an individual must meet and certain procedures the individual must follow in order to qualify for unemployment compensation benefits. It also specifies disqualifying factors for those who lose jobs and, in such cases, procedures under which an individual may remove the disqual- ification. Qualification is generally easy when a valid application is submitted, a proper claim made for benefits, registration made at an employment office, and the individual can and actively seeks employment.

An application for benefits is valid if the filing individual is unem- ployed, has separated from employment for a non-disqualifying reason, was employed by an employer or employers who are subject to the Unem- ployment Compensation Law for at least 20 weeks within the calendar year preceding the first day of the individual's alternate base period, and has earned an average weekly wage of less than 27.5% of the statewide average weekly wage for that 20-week minimum period.

Unemployment compensation is funded through a federal-state partnership. Federal law requires each state to establish its own unemployment compensation fund for purposes of paying unemployment benefits so that employers receive a tax credit under the Unemployment Tax Act. States can determine how much to pay in unemployment benefits, meaning that state system must pay whatever the state establishes, and no more. In the event of a depletion of the state's fund, a governor may apply to the U.S. Secretary of Labor to get a three-month advance for the payment of unemployment benefits if the state can't pay its benefits. Having

received federal advance money makes a state more restricted in the changes it can make to its unemployment compensation system. The state is then unable to take action which will reduce either its unemployment tax effort or decrease the solvency of its unemployment compensation system. However, despite these restrictions, the U.S. Department of Labor has stated that similar bills did not interfere with the require- ments of the federal Unemployment Compensation Law.

Legislative history

2014: S.6629 Passed Senate

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.