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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2068
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE CASTEEL.
5504H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 288.050, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to
employment security .
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 288.050, RSMo, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as sections 288.050 and 288.104, to read as follows:
288.050. 1. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this law , a claimant shall be
2 disqualified for waiting week credit or benefits until after the claimant has earned wages for
3 work insured pursuant to the unemployment compensation laws of any state equal to ten
4 times the claimant's weekly benefit amount if the deputy finds:
5 (1) That the claimant has left work voluntarily without good cause attributable to such
6 work or to the claimant's employer . A temporary employee of a temporary help firm will be
7 deemed to have voluntarily quit employment if the employee does not contact the temporary
8 help firm for reassignment prior to filing for benefits. Failure to contact the temporary help
9 firm will not be deemed a voluntary quit unless the claimant has been advised of the
10 obligation to contact the firm upon completion of assignments and that unemployment
11 benefits may be denied for failure to do so. "Good cause", for the purposes of this
12 subdivision, shall include only that cause which would compel a reasonable employee to
13 cease working or which would require separation from work due to illness or disability . The
14 claimant shall not be disqualified:
15 (a) If the deputy finds the claimant quit such work for the purpose of accepting a
16 more remunerative job which the claimant did accept and earn some wages therein;
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 (b) If the claimant quit temporary work to return to such claimant's regular employer;
18 or
19 (c) If the deputy finds the individual quit work, which would have been determined
20 not suitable in accordance with paragraphs [ (a) ] (c) and [ (b) ] (d) of subdivision (3) of this
21 subsection, within twenty-eight calendar days of the first day worked;
22 (d) As to initial claims filed after December 31, 1988, if the claimant presents
23 evidence supported by competent medical proof that she was forced to leave her work
24 because of pregnancy , notified her employer of such necessity as soon as practical under the
25 circumstances, and returned to that employer and of fered her services to that employer as
26 soon as she was physically able to return to work, as certified by a licensed and practicing
27 physician, but in no event later than ninety days after the termination of the pregnancy . An
28 employee shall have been employed for at least one year with the same employer before she
29 may be provided benefits pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph;
30 (e) If the deputy finds that, due to the spouse's mandatory and permanent military
31 change of station order , the claimant quit work to relocate with the spouse to a new residence
32 from which it is impractical to commute to the place of employment and the claimant
33 remained employed as long as was reasonable prior to the move. The claimant's spouse shall
34 be a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who is on active duty , or a member of the National
35 Guard or other reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces who is on active National Guard
36 or reserve duty . The provisions of this paragraph shall only apply to individuals who have
37 been determined to be an insured worker as provided in subdivision (22) of subsection 1 of
38 section 288.030;
39 (2) That the claimant has retired pursuant to the terms of a labor agreement between
40 the claimant's employer and a union duly elected by the employees as their of ficial
41 representative or in accordance with an established policy of the claimant's employer; or
42 (3) (a) That the claimant failed without good cause [ either ] to :
43 a. Apply for available suitable work when so directed by a deputy of the division or
44 designated staf f of an employment of fice as defined in subsection 1 of section 288.030[ , or
45 to ] ;
46 b. Accept suitable work when of fered [ the claimant, either through the division or
47 directly by an employer by whom the individual was formerly employed , or to ] ;
48 c. Appear for a scheduled job interview for suitable work or a skills test thr ee
49 times within an unemployment cycle when such interview or skills test is offered to the
50 claimant, either thr ough the division or dir ectly by an employer; or
51 d. Return to the individual's customary self-employment, if any , when so directed by
52 the deputy[ . ] ;
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53 (b) For the purposes of this subdivision, an of fer of suitable work , suitable job
54 interview , or skills test shall be rebuttably presumed if an employer notifies the claimant in
55 writing of such of fer [ by sending an acknowledgment via any form of certified mail issued by
56 the United States Postal Service stating such of fer to the claimant at the claimant's last known
57 address ] or by a method or manner pr escribed by the division . Nothing in this subdivision
58 shall be construed to limit the means by which the deputy may establish that the claimant has
59 or has not been suff iciently notified of available work. In enforci ng this subdivision, the
60 division shall establish a method allowing verified employers to rep ort any individual
61 who fails to accept or res pond to an offer of employment or appear for a previ ously
62 scheduled job interview or skills test;
63 [ (a) ] (c) In determining whether or not any work is suitable for an individual, the
64 division shall consider , among other factors and in addition to those enumerated in paragraph
65 (b) of this subdivision, the degree of risk involved to the individual's health, safety and
66 morals, the individual's physical fitness and prior training, the individual's experience and
67 prior earnings, the individual's length of unemployment, the individual's prospects for
68 securing work in the individual's customary occupation, the distance of available work from
69 the individual's residence and the individual's prospect of obtaining local work; except that, if
70 an individual has moved from the locality in which the individual actually resided when such
71 individual was last employed to a place where there is less probability of the individual's
72 employment at such individual's usual type of work and which is more distant from or
73 otherwise less accessible to the community in which the individual was last employed, work
74 of fered by the individual's most recent employer if similar to that which such individual
75 performed in such individual's last employment and at wages, hours, and working conditions
76 which are substantially similar to those prevailing for similar work in such community , or any
77 work which the individual is capable of performing at the wages prevailing for such work in
78 the locality to which the individual has moved, if not hazardous to such individual's health,
79 safety or morals, shall be deemed suitable for the individual[ . ] ;
80 [ (b) ] (d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this law , no work shall be deemed
81 suitable and benefits shall not be denied pursuant to this law to any otherwise eligible
82 individual for refusing to accept new work under any of the following conditions:
83 a. If the position offere d is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or other labor
84 dispute;
85 b. If the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work of fered are substantially less
86 favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality;
87 c. If as a condition of being employed the individual would be required to join a
88 company union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor or ganization.
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89 2. If a deputy finds that a claimant has been dischar ged for misconduct connected
90 with the claimant's work, such claimant shall be disqualified for waiting week credit and
91 benefits, and no benefits shall be paid nor shall the cost of any benefits be char ged against any
92 employer for any period of employment within the base period until the claimant has earned
93 wages for work insured under the unemployment laws of this state or any other state as
94 prescribed in this section. In addition to the disqualification for benefits pursuant to this
95 provision the division may in the more aggravated cases of misconduct cancel all or any part
96 of the individual's wage credits, which were established through the individual's employment
97 by the employer who dischar ged such individual, according to the seriousness of the
98 misconduct. A disqualification provided for pursuant to this subsection shall not apply to any
99 week which occurs after the claimant has earned wages for work insured pursuant to the
100 unemployment compensation laws of any state in an amount equal to six times the claimant's
101 weekly benefit amount. Should a claimant be disqualified on a second or subsequent
102 occasion within the base period or subsequent to the base period the claimant shall be
103 required to earn wages in an amount equal to or in excess of six times the claimant's weekly
104 benefit amount for each disqualification.
105 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section, a claimant may not
106 be determined to be disqualified for benefits because the claimant is in training approved
107 pursuant to Section 236 of the T rade Act of 1974, as amended, (19 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2296, as
108 amended), or because the claimant left work which was not suitable employment to enter
109 such training. For the purposes of this subsection "suitable employment" means, with respect
110 to a worker , work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the worker's past adversely
111 af fected employment, and wages for such work at not less than eighty percent of the worker's
112 average weekly wage as determined for the purposes of the T rade Act of 1974.
288.104. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Employment
2 Security Pr ogram Integrity Act of 2026".
3 2. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
4 (1) "Department of corr ections", the Missouri department of corr ections;
5 (2) "Division", the division of employment security of the Missouri department
6 of labor and industrial r elations;
7 (3) "Employment security rolls" , the list of all persons curre ntly receivi ng
8 unemployment compensation benefits under this chapter , to be kept and updated by the
9 division;
10 (4) "National data check system", any public, private, or nonprofi t national data
11 system designed to verify the identity , employment status, eligibility status, and claims
12 submitted status of any individual participating in, or applying to participate in, an
13 unemployment compensation progra m;
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14 (5) "New-hir e records" , the dir ectory of newly hir ed and reh ired employees
15 r eported under applicable state and federal laws;
16 (6) "W elfar e agency", any state agency , department, or entity that distributes or
17 administers public assistance benefits, other than unemployment compensation benefits,
18 thr ough the T emporary Assistance for Needy Families (T ANF), Supplemental Nutrition
19 Assistance Pr ogram (SNAP), Medicaid, or public housing progr ams.
20 3. The division shall engage with and utilize a national data check system to
21 ensur e that only eligible individuals recei ve unemployment compensation benefits
22 pursuant to this chapter .
23 4. The division shall, on a weekly basis, check its employment security rolls
24 against a list of incar cerated individuals, which shall be prov ided to the division by the
25 department of correct ions, to verify the eligibility of unemployment compensation
26 benefit claimants and to ensure that only eligible individuals rece ive unemployment
27 compensation benefits pursuant to this chapter .
28 5. The division shall, on a weekly basis, check its employment security rolls
29 against state death rec ords.
30 6. The division shall, on a weekly basis, check its new-hire r ecords against the
31 r ecords contained in the National Dir ectory of New Hir es in order to verify the
32 eligibility of the individuals named in the division's new-hire record s.
33 7. The division shall verify the identity of unemployment compensation benefit
34 claimants by methods including, but not limited to:
35 (1) V erifying the identity of an applicant prior to awarding benefits; and
36 (2) Requiring multi-factor authentication as part of online applications.
37 8. The division shall perform a full eligibility revi ew of suspicious or potentially
38 impr oper claims in cases including, but not limited to:
39 (1) Multiple or duplicative claims filed online originating fr om the same internet
40 pr otocol addr ess;
41 (2) Claims filed online fr om for eign internet pro tocol addr esses;
42 (3) Multiple or duplicative claims filed that are associated with the same mailing
43 addr ess; and
44 (4) Multiple or duplicative claims filed that are associated with the same bank
45 account.
46 9. Any welfare agency , upon r eceipt of information that an enr olled individual
47 has become employed, shall notify the division in order that the division may determine
48 whether the individual r emains eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.
49 10. (1) The division shall adopt and implement internal administrative policies
50 to prioritize and pursue the r ecovery of fraudulent or otherwise impr oper
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51 unemployment compensation benefit overpayments to the fullest extent allowable under
52 applicable state and federal law . The division shall attempt to recover all outstanding
53 unemployment compensation benefit overpayments unless doing so would violate state
54 or federal law .
55 (2) The division shall maintain record s of all of its attempts to re cover
56 unemployment compensation benefit overpayments. The division shall issue a written
57 r eport to the general assembly each year , no later than December thirty-first, describing
58 impr oper unemployment compensation benefit payments and their reco very , the extent
59 to which any impr oper unemployment compensation benefit payments have not been
60 corr ected or r ecovered , and the r easons for the failur e of the division to secur e such
61 corr ection or r ecovery .
62 1 1. The division is her eby authorized to execute a memorandum of
6 3 understanding with any governmental entity of this state in order to shar e and
64 r eceive such information as may be necessary for the division to administer the
65 pr ovisions of this section.
66 12. If the division r eceives information rel ating to an individual who has been
67 found eligible for unemployment compensation benefits and such information indicates
68 a change in cir cumstances that could affect the individual's eligibility , the division shall
69 r eview the individual's eligibility case.
70 13. The division may pr omulgate all necessary rules and regula tions for the
71 administration of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in
72 section 536.010, that is crea ted under the authority delegated in this section shall
73 become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provi sions of chapter
74 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable
75 and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to
76 r eview , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul a rule are subsequently
77 held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or
78 adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
✔
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