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HB1018 • 2021

Unemployment benefits-failure to comply with local 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 local COVID-19 prevention requirements are qualified to receive unemployment benefits; and providing for an effective date.

Labor
Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

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

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not specify whether employers will face penalties or if it includes all types of safety measures.

Unemployment Benefits for Leaving Due to Employer's Non-Compliance

This act allows people who quit their jobs because their employers did not follow local COVID-19 prevention rules to receive unemployment benefits.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the law so that workers can get unemployment if they leave a job due to an employer's failure to comply with local health orders related to COVID-19.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Workers who leave their jobs because of an employer's failure to follow local COVID-19 prevention rules.
  • Employers whose workers may leave due to non-compliance with health orders.

Terms To Know

Public Health Order
A directive issued by a government official, such as the state or county health officer, to protect public health during an emergency like a pandemic.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill did not pass, so it has no legal effect.
  • It only applies to situations involving local health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bill History

  1. 2021-11-03 House

    H Did Not Consider for Introduction

  2. 2021-10-22 House

    H Received for Introduction

  3. 2021-10-21 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
21LSO-1061
2021
STATE OF WYOMING
21LSO-1061
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB1018

Unemployment benefits-failure to comply with local 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 local 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)

If unemployed because of a decision by the individual to voluntarily terminate his employment because of his employer's failure to comply with any public health order issued by the state health officer or the appropriate county, municipal or district health officer as authorized under Wyoming law in response to the COVID
‑
19
pandemic, including any COVID
‑
19 vaccination requirement or any other COVID
‑
19 prevention measure.

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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HB1018