HB 0589

AN ACT relative to eligibility for unemployment benefits for part-time workers.

SPONSORS: Rep. L. Fraser, Merr 9; Rep. Whittier, Rock 18; Rep. Mears, Coos 7; Rep. M. Fuller Clark, Rock 36; Sen. Wheeler, Dist 21

This bill allows individuals willing and able to work at least 20 hours per week to collect unemployment benefits. The commissioner of employment security shall prepare and submit an annual report to the speaker of the house, the senate president, and the governor on the amount of additional benefits paid and administrative expenses incurred as a result. The provisions of this bill will expire on June 30, 2006.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Unemployment Compensation; Total and Partial Unemployment. Amend RSA 282-A:14, II to read as follows:

II.(a) An individual shall be deemed to be "partially unemployed" in any week of less than full-time work if the wages computed to the nearest dollar payable to him or her with respect to such week fail to equal his or her weekly benefit amount.

(b) An individual who is seeking only part-time work shall be deemed to be partially unemployed in any week during which the individual was employed fewer than 20 hours.

2 Unemployment Compensation; Benefit Eligibility Conditions; Part-Time Workers. Amend RSA 282-A:31, I(a)-(f) to read as follows:

(a) [He] The individual has been classified in accordance with his or her experience and abilities and so registered for employment with and by the commissioner and has reported and continues thereafter to report at an employment office in accordance with such rules as the commissioner may adopt.

(b) [He] The individual has made a claim for benefits in accordance with the provisions of RSA 282-A:43.

(c) [He] The individual is ready, willing and able to accept and perform suitable work [~~on all the shifts and during all the hours~~] for which there is a market for the services [he] the individual offers and that [he] the individual has exposed himself or herself to employment to the extent commensurate with the economic conditions and the efforts of a reasonably prudent [~~man~~] person seeking work.

(d) [He] The individual is available for and seeking permanent, full-time work for which he or she is qualified.

(e) [He] The individual has disclosed whether or not he or she owes child support obligations that are payable through any agency of the state of New Hampshire or its political subdivisions.

(f) [He] The individual has participated in reemployment services when so directed by the commissioner unless he or she has completed such services or has good cause for failure to participate in such services.

3 New Paragraphs; Unemployment Compensation; Benefit Eligibility Conditions. Amend RSA 282-A:31 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraphs:

IV. Subparagraphs I(c) and I(d) of this section shall not apply to individuals who are seeking solely part-time work if the individual establishes that:

(a) The individual does not meet the requirements of subparagraphs I(c) and I(d) due to the individual being the only available adult to:

(1) Care for the individual's natural, adopted, step, or foster child under the age of 16; or

(2) Care for an ill or infirm immediate family member whom a licensed physician has certified is in need of care for the activities of daily living; and

(b) The individual earned at least 60 percent of the individual's wage credits in part-time employment during the base period.

(c) The individual is ready, willing, and able to accept and perform suitable work at least 20 hours per week for which there is a market for the services the individual offers, and that the individual has exposed himself or herself to employment to the extent commensurate with the economic conditions and the efforts of a reasonable prudent person seeking work.

(d) The individual remains substantially attached to the labor market and there exists in the individual's labor market area sufficient suitable work during the hours or shifts to which the individual is restricted.

V. The commissioner shall prepare an annual report based on the outcomers of paragraph IV and submit the report to the speaker of the house, the senate president, and the governor on or before November 15 of each year. The report shall include the amount of benefits paid as a result of RSA 282-A:31, IV, the additional administrative expense required thereunder, and recommendations for legislation.

4 Unemployment Compensation; Disqualification for Benefits. Amend RSA 282-A:32, I(d) to read as follows:

(d) [He] The individual has failed, without good cause, either to apply for available, suitable work when so directed by the employment office or the commissioner or to accept any suitable work when offered [~~him~~], or to return to [~~his~~] the individual's customary self-employment (if any) when so directed by the commissioner.

(1) The commissioner, in determining whether or not any work is suitable for an individual, shall consider the following:

(A) The degree of risk involved to [~~his~~] the individual's health, safety and morals; and

(E) [~~His~~] The individual's prospects for securing, in his labor market area, work in his or her customary occupation; and

(F) The distance of the available work from [~~his~~] the individual's residence; but such distance shall not be substantially greater than that distance to all those places to which others living in the same town or city travel for work which utilizes similar or related skills or services, and also to where he or she acquired his or her currently available annual earnings; and

(G) [~~His~~] Prior earnings, prior shifts and hours, and length of unemployment, but [~~his~~] prior earnings shall be given more weight than [~~his~~] length of unemployment, and length of unemployment shall be given more weight than prior shifts and hours.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no work shall be deemed suitable and benefits shall not be denied under this chapter to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work under any of the following conditions:

(A) If the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute;

(B) If the wages, hours or other conditions of the work are substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality;

(C) If, as a condition of being employed, the individual would be required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization;

(D) If [he] the individual is unable to apply for or accept work during the hours of [~~the third~~] a particular shift, [~~so-called,~~] because he or she is the only adult available for the care of [~~his children~~] a natural, adopted, stepchild, or foster child under the age of [15] 16 during said hours or for the care of an ill or infirm [~~elderly person who is dependent on him for support~~] family member whom a licensed physician has certified is in need of care for the activities of daily living.

(E) If the individual is permanently physically and/or mentally disabled, full-time work for such individual shall be deemed to be the hours and shifts the individual is physically able to work as certified by a licensed physician provided there is a market for the services the individual offers during such hours and shifts.

(3) For the purposes of section 3304(a)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, this subsection, together with RSA 282-A:31, I(c) shall be waived.

I. RSA 282-A:14, II(b), relative to partial unemployment as defined by hours worked.

II. RSA 282-A:31, IV and V, relative to eligibility of individuals only available to work part-time and the commissioner's annual report thereon.

The Department of Employment Security has determined this bill as amended by the Senate (Senate Amendment #2002-3366s) will increase expenditures for the state by $131,834, county by $5,520 and local by $30,505 in FY 2003 through FY 2005. There will be no fiscal impact on state county and local revenue.

The Department has estimated the total projected annual cost of this bill to be $2,905,200. Estimates of the impact on state, county and local government are based on the ratio of benefits paid which are reimbursed by or chargeable to these entities compared to the total amount of benefits paid. Using the period of time from April 1, 1999 through March 31, 2001, benefits reimbursed by State entities represented .66% of the total benefits paid; counties,.19% and local governments 1.05%. Applying these percentages to the total benefits paid the Department estimates the increase in benefit cost to the State of $19,174, to the Counties $5,520 and to Local government and sub-divisions $30,505.

The Department further stated estimated $112,660 of additional annual administrative costs will be incurred by the Department. These would include computer programming, development of fact finding forms and procedures, fact finding interviews, claims adjudication, and monthly claims tracking to confirm that claimants still met the criteria exempting them from being available for full-time work.