Extended-benefit disqualification draft-language correction

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| U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR | CLASSIFICATION |
| Employment and Training Administration | |
| Washington, D. C. 20213 | UI |
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| | CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL |
| | |
| | TURL |
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| | ISSUE DATE |
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| | March 31, 1981 |
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| RESCISSIONS | EXPIRATION DATE |
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| None | January 31, 1982 |
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| DIRECTIVE | : | UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 14-81, Change 1 |
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| TO | : | ALL STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AGENCIES |
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| FROM | : | OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY |
| | | ROBERTS T. JONES |
| | | Administrator |
| | | Office of Management Assistant |
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| SUBJECT | : | Amendments made P.L. 96-499 (Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1980) which Affect the Unemployment Compensation Program. |
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1. Purpose. To advise State agencies of a clarifying change to the draft language and commentary provided in Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 14-81 to implement and explain section 202(a)(4) of the Federal State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (EUCA).

2. Reference. UIPL No. 14-81; section 1024 of P.L. 96-499, section 202(a)(4), (EUCA).

3. Explanation of changes. New section 202(a)(4), added to the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 by section 1024 of P.L. 96-499, provides that no disqualification which has been imposed under a State law for "voluntary leaving employment, being discharged for misconduct, or refusing suitable employment will be deemed terminated for purposes of determining eligibility for extended benefits "unless such termination is based upon employment subsequent to the date of such disqualification". This provision applies if the disqualification is imposed on individuals who file claims for either regular or extended benefits since there is no specific limitation in section 202(a)(4) as to the type of claim on which the disqualification is imposed. The explanation provided on pages 17 and 18 of UIPL No. 14-81 under the heading "Requirement for duration of unemployment disqualification" properly indicates that section 202(a)(4) applies to disqualifications for regular benefits but does not stress that it also applies to such disqualification when imposed on individuals claiming extended benefits. Similarly, the draft language to implement section 202(a)(4), which appears in paragraph (7) on page 3 of the attachment to UIPL No. 14-81, refers only to individuals who have been "disqualified for regular benefits".

   Pages 17 and 18 of UIPL No. 14-81 have been revised to clarify the fact that section 202(a)(4) applies to disqualifications imposed under State law on claims for both regular and extended benefits. Additionally a change has been made to the draft language in paragraph (7) on page 3 of the attachment so that it applies to the specified disqualifications when applied to claimants in either regular or extended benefit claim status. The last sentence on page 17 is also revised to make clear what changes are required in State laws to meet the requirement of section 202(a)(4).

   In our efforts to provide an early release of UIPL No. 14-81 a phrase was erroneously added to the last sentence at the end of the first full paragraph on page 22. The phrase reads, "or the first week beginning after the end of the first regular session of the legislature ending more than 30 days after December 5, 1980." That phrase relates to the grace period allowed to States who need to amend their laws to eliminate their policy of paying regular compensation for the first week of otherwise compensable unemployment in order to avoid loss of the Federal share of the costs for the first week of extended benefits paid to any claimant. The phrase is totally inapplicable to the matters discussed in the above mentioned sentence and paragraph and, therefore, should be deleted.

4. Action Required. State Administrators are requested to provide the above information to the appropriate staff who should be instructed to discard the present pages 17 and 18, and page 3 of the attachment, and insert in their place the new pages 17 and 18 and page 3 of the attachment. The phrase on page 22 to the extent quoted above should also be deleted.

5. Inquiries. Questions should be directed to the appropriate regional office.

6. Attachments. Pages 17 and 18 to UIPL 14-81 and page 3 of the attachment to UIPL 14-81.

Corrected draft-language attachment (https://oui.doleta.gov/dmstree/uipl/uipl81/uipl_1481c1a.htm)

Attachment to UIPL 14-81

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Accordingly, the State law provisions on availability for work and the exceptions thereto which are applicable to claimants for regular benefits would not be applicable to the same extent to claimants for extended benefits.

Referrals by the State agency

Subparagraph (F) provides that extended benefit claimants should be referred to jobs which meet the suitability requirements applicable to extended benefit claimants under new section 202(a)(3). This means that appropriate personnel in the State agency must be familiar with the requirements. The intent of the provision is to require that State agencies actively refer extended benefit claimants to any suitable work to which clauses(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) of subparagraph (D) do not apply. Of course individuals should not be referred to jobs which are clearly unsuitable under the extended benefit suitability criteria.

Requirement for duration of unemployment disqualification

Section 202(a)(4) provides that no disqualification for regular or extended benefits which has been imposed under a State law for "voluntarily leaving employment, being discharged for misconduct, or refusing suitable employment" will be deemed terminated for purposes of determining eligibility for extended benefits unless the termination of the disqualification occurs as the result of the application of a State law provision requiring employment subsequent to the date of such disqualification in order to terminate the disqualification. A postponement of benefits (for example, denial of benefits for the week in which the disqualifying act occurred and the 5 weeks immediately following) would not meet the Federal provision. Nor would the disqualification be considered terminated by the fact that an individual when not required to do so under the State law had engaged in employment during or after serving such a disqualification. If a State law itself does not require a duration of unemployment disqualification in order to terminate a disqualification for the specified cause, the State law must be amended to meet the requirement of section 202(a)(4) by requiring employment (not necessarily covered employment) subsequent to the effective date of the disqualification as a condition of entitlement to extended benefits. The State law need not be changed in regard to entitlement to regular benefits. Otherwise a State law not requiring a duration of unemployment disqualification for such causes must include a provision rendering claimants ineligible for extended benefits if they were so disqualified and not required to terminate the disqualification by employment subsequent to the date of disqualification.

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Although section 202(a)(4) refers to disqualifications for voluntarily leaving employment, discharge for misconduct, and refusal of suitable work,it has reference to the provisions of the State laws imposing these types of disqualifications. Thus, paragraph (4) applies to all types of the three disqualifications as they may be provided in State law, including, for example, voluntary leaving without good cause, discharge or suspension for misconduct or gross misconduct, and refusal to accept a referral to or to apply for suitable work to which referred. It should be noted as indicated in the above comments, that the provisions in section 202(a)(4) apply to disqualifications for the specified causes whether imposed on claimants for regular or extended benefits.

We recommend that any State amending its law to impose a work requirement for terminating a disqualification for the specified causes require at a minimum that the individual be employed in at least 4 weeks and earn remuneration equal to not less than 4 times the individual's weekly benefit amount subsequent to the date of such a disqualification.

Sharable regular benefits

Section 202(a)(5) provides that "no payment shall be made under this act to any State in respect of any sharable regular compensation paid to any individual for any week" if compensation would not have been payable to such individuals under sections 202(a)(3) and (4). Thus the requirements of those sections apply also to claims for sharable regular compensation as defined in section 204 of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (EUCA). However, the only consequence of a State's failure to amend its law to apply the requirements in sections 202(a)(3) and (4) to claims for sharable regular compensation would be loss of the Federal share of the cost for such compensation. The applicability of the requirements in sections 202(a)(3) and (4) to sharable regular compensation is not a condition that must be met by the States for purposes of certification by the Secretary of Labor. This is the case because section 202(a)(5) only specifies the circumstances in which "payment" for the Federal share of costs for sharable regular compensation will be made to a State. Accordingly, if a State is to continue to receive the Federal share for the costs of sharable regular compensation, then it must amend its law to make such requirements applicable to claims for such compensation effective as of the first week beginning after March 31, 1981.

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(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) to the contrary, no work shall be deemed to be suitable work for an individual which does not accord with the labor standard provisions required by section, 3304(a)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and set forth herein under section _ . ¹

(5) For the purposes of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), an individual shall be treated as actively engaged in seeking work during any week if --

• (A) The individual has engaged in a systematic and sustained effort to obtain work during such week, and

  (B) The individual furnishes tangible evidence that he has engaged in such effort during such week.

(6) The State agency shall refer any claimant entitled to extended benefits under this Act to any suitable work which meets the criteria prescribed in paragraph (3).

(7) An individual shall not be eligible to receive extended benefits with respect to any week of unemployment in his eligibility period if such individual has been disqualified for regular or extended ² benefits under this act because he or she voluntarily left work, was discharged for misconduct or failed to accept an offer of or apply for suitable work unless the disqualification imposed for such reasons has been terminated in accordance with specific conditions established under this act requiring the individual to perform service for remuneration subsequent to the date of such disqualification.

Any State law under which regular benefits payable to any individual in his benefit year exceed 26 times the individual's weekly benefit amount should revise the above draft language to assure application of these provisions to weeks beyond week 26 since, under new section 202(a)(5) of the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act, all of the requirements with respect to refusals of offers for or referrals to suitable work, failure to actively seek

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1 Include reference to section of State law that contains the labor standard provisions corresponding to those in section 3304(a)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

2 Add reference to "additional" benefits here and other appropriate places if the State law provides for any form of such benefits.