BILL NUMBER:  S306

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the eligibility for
unemployment benefits for individuals who voluntarily separate from
employment to accompany a spouse who is the subject of a military
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
              

mutualized 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 conditions 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
disqualification. 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
unemployed, has separated from employment for a non-disqualifying
reason, was employed by an employer or employers who are subject to
the Unemployment 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 requirements of
the federal Unemployment Compensation Law.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-2016: S.3633A - Ordered to third reading, cal. 1357
2014: S.6629 - Passed Senate

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.