AN ACT relating to unemployment insurance and declaring an emergency.

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AN ACT relating to unemployment insurance and declaring an emergency. 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 waiting 7
period of one (1) week, during which he or she has not received benefits. The 8
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 ben efits 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 remainin g 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
(4) He or she is physically and mentally able to work; 14
(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
(6) His or her base -period wages in that calendar quarter of his or her base period in 17
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 pai d 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
(7) An otherwise eligible worker shall not be denied benefits under subsection (5) of 2
this section or because of his or her failure to actively seek work under subsection 3
(3) of this section, nor disqualified und er paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of KRS 4
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 she has verified definite retu rn-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; or 10
(c) If he or she has a definite return -to-work or recall -to-work prospect no 11
longer than one (1) year from the filing date of the initial or reopened claim 12
which the secretary has evaluated and confirmed in writing to be a bona 13
fide return -to-work or recall -to-work prospect. As used in this paragraph, 14
"bona fide return -to-work or recall -to-work prospect" means prospective 15
employment which: 16
1. Would allow an employee to return to employment with his or her 17
former employer with a break in service not to exceed one (1) year; 18
and 19
2. Is attested to in a letter from the employer to the secretary which: 20
a. States the employer's reasons for the period of nonemployment; 21
b. Identifies the affected worker or workers by name; 22
c. Identifies each affected worker's expected return -to-work or 23
recall-to-work date; and 24
d. Authorizes the employer's reserve account to be charged for 25
benefits payable to the affected employee or employees. 26
The employer shall notify the secretary of any changes to the plans or 27
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circumstances set forth in the letter. The secretary shall not confirm a bona 1
fide return-to-work or recall -to-work prospect if the secre tary has grounds 2
to believe that such confirmation is contrary to federal law or could 3
jeopardize the Commonwealth's compliance with federal law. The secretary 4
shall rescind any previous confirmation of a bona fide return -to-work or 5
recall-to-work prospect if the secretary has grounds to believe that it is 6
contrary to federal law or could jeopardize the Commonwealth's compliance 7
with federal law. 8
(8) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, no otherwise eligible worker 9
shall be denied benefits for any week because he or she is in training approved 10
under 19 U.S.C. sec. 2296 (Section 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974), nor shall 11
such worker be denied benefits by reason of leaving work to enter such training 12
provided such work is not suitable employment, or because of the application to any 13
such week in training of provisions in this law (or any applicable federal 14
unemployment compensation la w) relating to availability for work, active search 15
for work, or refusal to accept work. For purpose of this subsection, the term 16
"suitable employment" shall mean employment of a substantially equal or higher 17
skill level than the worker's past adversely af fected employment as defined in 19 18
U.S.C. sec. 2319 (Trade Act of 1974), and wages for such work are not less than 19
eighty percent (80%) of the workers' average weekly wage as determined for 20
purposes of the Trade Act of 1974. 21
(9) The foregoing eligibility r equirements and the conditions of benefit 22
disqualifications imposed by KRS 341.370 shall be strictly construed. Nothing in 23
this section, excepting subsection (6) of this section, nor in KRS 341.360 or 24
341.370 shall affect the establishment of a "benefit year." 25
(10) The cabinet shall conduct randomized weekly audits of a number determined by the 26
secretary as sufficient to evaluate compliance with the work search activity 27
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requirements of this section, and shall submit an annual report to the Governor and 1
the Interim Joint Committee on Economic Development and Workforce Investment 2
detailing: 3
(a) The percentage of audited claimants that failed to comply with the work 4
search activity requirement outlined in this section; 5
(b) The work search activities that were m ost commonly engaged in by audited 6
claimants; 7
(c) Recommendations to make the work search activity requirement more 8
effective in assisting claimants in finding employment; 9
(d) The number of claims audited each week and the total number of claims 10
audited during the reporting period; 11
(e) The percentage of total claims audited each week and percentage of total 12
claims audited during the reporting period; and 13
(f) A summary of the methodology used to conduct randomized auditing. 14
(11) The secretary shall promulgat e regulations and standards for the verification of 15
claimants' work search activities and the methods by which claimants shall submit 16
work search activities and any associated documentation required by the secretary 17
for verification. 18
Section 2. KRS 341.416 is amended to read as follows: 19
(1) Any person suspected of fraudulently obtaining or attempting to obtain any benefit 20
under this chapter, or under any unemployment insurance law of any other state or 21
the federal governm ent, shall be referred by the cabinet to [the Kentucky Justice 22
and Public Safety Cabinet, ] the appropriate county attorney or Commonwealth's 23
attorney and the United States Department of Labor [, and, if applicable, the 24
United States Department of Justice]. The referral shall include: 25
(a) The name of the applicable employer, employee, claimant, and name used in 26
the suspected fraud; 27
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(b) Any contact information the cabinet possesses for the suspected fraudulent 1
actor; and 2
(c) Any information filed with or repor ted to the cabinet regarding the suspected 3
fraud. 4
(2) The cabinet shall make the referral under subsection (1) of this section no later than 5
thirty (30) days after determining suspected fraud has occurred. 6
(3) A legal disposition finding the employee or co ntractor guilty under the evidentiary 7
standard and burden of proof pursuant to KRS 500.070 shall be required to 8
terminate employment under this section. 9
Section 3. Whereas it is vital to address return -to-work or recall -to-work 10
prospects and give employers and employees necessary guidance regarding these 11
prospects, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Act takes effect upon its passage 12
and approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law. 13