AN ACT relating to unemployment insurance.

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AN ACT relating to unemployment insurance. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 341.350 is amended to read as follows: 3
An unemployed worker shall, except as provided in KRS 341.360 and 341.370, be 4
eligible for benefits with respect to any week of unemployment only if: 5
(1) He or she has made a claim for benefits; 6
(2) [For an initial claim made on or after January 1, 2012, he or she has served a 7
waiting period of one (1) week, during which he or she has not received benefits. 8
The waiting week period shall be the first compensable week of an initial claim for 9
benefits for which he or she is eligible and qualified to receive benefits under this 10
chapter. A waiting week period shall be required for each benefit year, whether or 11
not consecutive. No more than one (1) waiting week period shall be required in any 12
benefit year. The waiting week shall become compensable once the remaining 13
balance on the claim is equal to or less than the compensable amount for the 14
waiting week; 15
(3) ](a) He or she has registered for work with respect to such week in accordance 16
with administrative regulations promulgated by the secretary; 17
(b) He or she participates in reemployment services, such as job search assistance 18
services, if pursuant to a profiling system established by the secretary, he or 19
she has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular benefits unless: 20
1. The claimant has completed the services to which he or she is referred; 21
or 22
2. There is justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to p articipate in the 23
services. For the purpose of this section, "justifiable cause" shall be 24
interpreted to mean what a reasonable person would do in like 25
circumstances; and 26
(c) He or she engages in at least five (5) verifiable work search activities during 27
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each week in which he or she claims eligibility. At least three (3) of these 1
activities each week shall consist of formally submitting an application for 2
employment or interviewing for employment. "Work search activities" 3
includes any of the following: 4
1. Formally submitting an application for employment, either in person or 5
online; 6
2. Interviewing for employment virtually, in person, or online; 7
3. Job shadowing; 8
4. Attending a job fair or networking event hosted by state or local 9
government or a business organization; 10
5. Participating in a job search skills workshop or seminar; and 11
6. Participating in official Kentucky Career Center or partner programs 12
related to employment or the search for employment; 13
(3)[(4)] He or she is physically and mentally able to work; 14
(4)[(5)] He or she is available for suitable work, and making such reasonable effort to 15
obtain work as might be expected of a prudent person under like circumstances; 16
(5)[(6)] His or her base-period wages in that calendar quarter of his or her base p eriod 17
in which such wages were highest are equal to at least one thousand five hundred 18
dollars ($1,500), and his or her total base -period wages are not less than one and 19
one-half (1-1/2) times the base-period wages paid to him or her in such quarter and 20
he or she was paid base -period wages in the last six (6) months of his or her base 21
period equal to at least eight (8) times his or her weekly benefit rate with a 22
minimum of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) earned outside the high 23
quarter. Beginning on January 1, 2020, and continuing on January 1 in even -24
numbered years thereafter, the secretary shall adjust the minimum base -period 25
wages at a rate that is directly proportional to the average percentage change in the 26
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the two (2) previous 27
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calendar years; 1
(6)[(7)] An otherwise eligible worker shall not be denied benefits under subsection 2
(4)[(5)] of this section or because of his or her failure to actively seek work under 3
subsection (2)[(3)] of this section, nor disqualified under paragraph (a) of 4
subsection (1) of KRS 341.370: 5
(a) With respect to any week he or she is certified as being enrolled and making 6
satisfactory progress in an approved job training or certification program; or 7
(b) If he or sh e has verified definite return -to-work or recall -to-work prospects 8
within a period of sixteen (16) weeks from the date of filing of the initial or 9
reopened claim. 10
(7)[(8)] Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, no otherwise eligible 11
worker s hall be denied benefits for any week because he or she is in training 12
approved under 19 U.S.C. sec. 2296 (Section 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974), 13
nor shall such worker be denied benefits by reason of leaving work to enter such 14
training provided such w ork is not suitable employment, or because of the 15
application to any such week in training of provisions in this law (or any applicable 16
federal unemployment compensation law) relating to availability for work, active 17
search for work, or refusal to accept w ork. For purpose of this subsection, the term 18
"suitable employment" shall mean employment of a substantially equal or higher 19
skill level than the worker's past adversely affected employment as defined in 19 20
U.S.C. sec. 2319 (Trade Act of 1974), and wages f or such work are not less than 21
eighty percent (80%) of the workers' average weekly wage as determined for 22
purposes of the Trade Act of 1974. 23
(8)[(9)] The foregoing eligibility requirements and the conditions of benefit 24
disqualifications imposed by KRS 341. 370 shall be strictly construed. Nothing in 25
this section, excepting subsection (5)[(6)] of this section, nor in KRS 341.360 or 26
341.370 shall affect the establishment of a "benefit year." 27
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(9)[(10)] The cabinet shall conduct randomized weekly audits of a num ber determined 1
by the secretary as sufficient to evaluate compliance with the work search activity 2
requirements of this section, and shall submit an annual report to the Governor and 3
the Interim Joint Committee on Economic Development and Workforce Investm ent 4
detailing: 5
(a) The percentage of audited claimants that failed to comply with the work 6
search activity requirement outlined in this section; 7
(b) The work search activities that were most commonly engaged in by audited 8
claimants; 9
(c) Recommendations to make the work search activity requirement more 10
effective in assisting claimants in finding employment; 11
(d) The number of claims audited each week and the total number of claims 12
audited during the reporting period; 13
(e) The percentage of total claims audited each week and percentage of total 14
claims audited during the reporting period; and 15
(f) A summary of the methodology used to conduct randomized auditing. 16
(10)[(11)] The secretary shall promulgate regulations and standards for the verification 17
of claimants' work search activities and the methods by which claimants shall 18
submit work search activities and any associated documentation required by the 19
secretary for verification. 20
Section 2. KRS 341.090 is amended to read as follows: 21
As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: 22
(1) "Base period" means the first four (4) of the last five (5) completed calendar 23
quarters immediately preceding the first day of a worker's benefit year. However, if 24
an individual lacks sufficient base-period wages because of a job-related injury, and 25
he has received or was eligible to receive workers' compensation, upon written 26
application by the claimant an extended base period will be substituted for the 27
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current base period on a quarter -by-quarter basis as needed to establish a valid 1
claim or to increase the benefit rate of a claim if: 2
(a) The individual did not earn wages because of a j ob-related injury for at least 3
seven (7) weeks of each base period quarter to be substituted by an extended 4
base period quarter; 5
(b) No later than one (1) month prior to the expiration of workers' compensation 6
benefits, the employer or carrier shall inform , orally and in writing, all 7
recipients of their potential eligibility for unemployment insurance, and also 8
provide a statement verifying the individual's eligibility for workers' 9
compensation; and 10
(c) A claim for unemployment insurance compensation is fil ed no later than the 11
fourth week of unemployment after the end of the period of injury 12
compensated or eligible to be compensated by workers' compensation; 13
(2) "Extended base period" means the four (4) quarters prior to the claimant's base 14
period. These fou r (4) quarters may be substituted for base -period quarters on a 15
quarter-for-quarter basis in order to establish a valid claim or increase the benefit 16
rate of a valid claim regardless of whether the wages have been used to establish a 17
prior claim, except wa ges transferred to or from another state under a combined 18
wage agreement will be excluded if used in a prior claim. Benefits paid on the basis 19
of an extended base period, which would not otherwise be payable, shall be charged 20
to the pooled account if the c hargeable employer is a contributing employer. If the 21
chargeable employer is a reimbursing employer, benefits shall be billed to his 22
reimbursing account; 23
(3) "Benefit year" for any worker means the fifty -two (52) week period beginning with 24
the first day of the week with respect to which he first requests a determination 25
which establishes his status as a fully insured worker after the termination of his last 26
preceding benefit year, if any, except that the last preceding benefit year shall be a 27
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fifty-three (53) week period if fifty -two (52) weeks would result in the overlapping 1
of any calendar quarter of the base period of the new benefit year with the same 2
calendar quarter of the base period of the previous benefit year. As used in this 3
subsection, a worker shall be considered as having insured status, without regard to 4
any other provision of this chapter, if at the time of his request he has satisfied the 5
conditions required under KRS 341.350(5)[(6)]; and 6
(4) "Base-period wages" means the wages paid to a work er during his base period by 7
subject employers for covered employment. The secretary, upon request of the 8
employee, with respect to this subsection, shall consider wages payable to mean 9
wages paid in order to prevent inequities caused by employer failure t o meet a 10
regularly scheduled payday. Lump -sum payments deemed to be wages under this 11
chapter shall be reallocated to periods covered by the payments. 12