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HB1013 • 2021

Unemployment benefits-failure to comply with federal law.

AN ACT relating to labor and employment; specifying that persons who voluntarily leave their employment due to an employer's failure to comply with federal COVID-19 prevention requirements are qualified to receive unemployment benefits; and providing for an effective date.

Labor
Inactive

Wyoming marks this bill as inactive, which usually means it is no longer moving in the current session.

Sponsor
Representative Connolly
Last action
2021-11-03
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2021

Plain English Breakdown

The bill did not pass and was marked as inactive in the current session.

Unemployment Benefits for Workers Leaving Due to Employer's Noncompliance with Federal COVID-19 Rules

This act allows workers who leave their jobs because their employers do not follow federal rules about preventing the spread of COVID-19 to receive unemployment benefits.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes state law so that people can get unemployment if they quit a job because their employer did not follow federal rules on stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Workers who leave their jobs because their employer does not follow federal rules about preventing the spread of COVID-19.
  • Employers whose noncompliance with federal laws or policies related to the pandemic could lead to workers leaving and becoming eligible for unemployment benefits.

Terms To Know

Disqualification
A reason why someone cannot get unemployment benefits.
Good cause
A valid reason that allows a person to leave their job and still be eligible for unemployment benefits.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill did not pass in the current session and is marked as inactive.
  • It does not specify what happens if an employer complies with federal rules but workers quit anyway.
  • The bill only applies to situations involving noncompliance with federal laws, rules, or policies related to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Bill History

  1. 2021-11-03 House

    H:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to HR 5-4

  2. 2021-11-03 House

    H No report prior to CoW Cutoff

  3. 2021-10-27 House

    H10 - Labor:Do Pass Failed 4-4-1-0-0

  4. 2021-10-26 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H10 - Labor

  5. 2021-10-22 House

    H Received for Introduction

  6. 2021-10-21 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
21LSO-1045
2021
STATE OF WYOMING
21LSO-1045
Introduced
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB1013

Unemployment benefits-failure to comply with federal law.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Connolly and Senator(s) Rothfuss

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to labor and employment; specifying that persons who voluntarily leave their employment due to an employer's failure to comply with federal COVID-19 prevention requirements are qualified to receive unemployment benefits; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S.
27
‑
3
‑
311(a)(i)(C), (D) and

by creating a new subparagraph (E) is amended to read:

27
‑
3
‑
311.

Disqualifications from entitlement; grounds; forfeiture.

(a)

An individual shall be disqualified from benefit entitlement beginning with the effective date of an otherwise valid claim or the week during which the failure occurred, until he has been employed in an employee
‑
employer relationship and has earned at least eight (8) times the weekly benefit amount of his current claim for services after that date, if the department finds that he:

(i)

Left his most recent work voluntarily without good cause attributable directly to his employment, except:

(C)

If forced to leave the most recent work as a result of being a victim of documented domestic violence;
or

(D)

If unemployed as a result of relocation due to the transfer of the unemployed individual's spouse, either within or outside the state, from which it is impractical to commute to the place of employment, and upon arrival at the new residence, the individual is in all respects able and available for suitable work and registers
for work with the department of workforce services or an equivalent agency of another state where the individual is residing. To qualify under this subparagraph, the individual shall be married to a member of the United States armed forces whose relocation is the result of an assignment on active duty as defined in 10 U.S.C. 101(d)(1), active guard or reserve duty as defined in 10 U.S.C. 101(d)(6), active duty pursuant to title 10 of the United States Code, or training or other duty performed by a member of the army national guard of the United States or the air national guard of the United States under section 316, 502, 503, 504 or 505 of title 32 of the United States Code.

Any benefits awarded under this subparagraph shall be noncharged benefits and shall not affect an employer's experience rating account
;
.

or

(E)

An employer's failure to comply with any federal law, rule or policy promulgated in response to the COVID
‑
19 pandemic, including any COVID
‑
19 vaccination requirement or any other COVID
‑
19 prevention measure, shall constitute good cause for an individual voluntarily leaving his most recent work under this paragraph.

Section 2
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

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HB1013