Sponsored by:
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
Senator SAMUEL D. THOMPSON
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DOLWD to process unemployment claims within two weeks of filing.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the processing of unemployment claims and amending R.S.43:21-6.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.43:21-6 is amended to read as follows:
43:21-6. (a) Filing. (1) Claims for benefits shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the Director of the Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability Insurance of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development of the State of New Jersey may approve. Each employer shall post and maintain on his premises printed notices of his subject status, of such design, in such numbers and at such places as the director of the division may determine to be necessary to give notice thereof to persons in the employer's service. Each employer shall give to each individual at the time he becomes unemployed, for any reason, whether the unemployment is permanent or temporary, a printed copy of benefit instructions. The benefit instructions given to the individual shall include, but not be limited to, the following information: (A) the date upon which the individual becomes unemployed, and, in the case that the unemployment is temporary, to the extent possible, the date upon which the individual is expected to be recalled to work; and (B) that the individual may lose some or all of the benefits to which he is entitled if he fails to file a claim in a timely manner. Both the aforesaid notices and instructions, including information detailing the time sensitivity of filing a claim, shall be supplied by the division to employers without cost to them. Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to require an employer to re-hire an individual formerly in the employer's service.
(2) Any claimant may choose to certify, cancel or close his claim for unemployment insurance benefits at any time, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, via the Internet on a website developed by the division; however, any claim that is certified, cancelled or closed after 7:00 PM will not be processed by the division until the next scheduled posting date.
(b) (1) Procedure for making initial determinations with respect to benefit years commencing on or after January 1, 1953.
A representative or representatives designated by the director of the division and hereafter referred to as a "deputy" shall promptly examine the claim, and shall notify the most recent employing unit and, successively as necessary, each employer in inverse chronological order during the base year. Such notification shall require said employing unit and employer to furnish such information to the deputy as may be necessary to determine the claimant's eligibility and his benefit rights with respect to the employer in question.
In his discretion, the director may appoint special deputies to make initial or subsequent determinations under subsection (f) of R.S.43:21-4 and subsection (d) of R.S.43:21-5.
If any employer or employing unit fails to respond to the request for information within 10 days after the mailing, or communicating by electronic means, of such request, the deputy shall rely entirely on information from other sources, including an affidavit to the best of the knowledge and belief of the claimant with respect to his wages and time worked. Except in the event of fraud, if it is determined that any information in such affidavit is erroneous, no penalty shall be imposed on the claimant.
The deputy shall make an initial determination contingent upon the receipt of all necessary information and notify the claimant no later than [three] two weeks from the date on which the division received the claim for benefits. If an initial determination cannot be made due to the lack of documentation, notification will be sent to the claimant providing a status of the claim. The division will then have an additional two weeks to obtain the missing information in order to make the initial determination and advise the claimant accordingly. The initial determination shall show the weekly benefit amount payable, the maximum duration of benefits with respect to the employer to whom the determination relates, and the ratio of benefits chargeable to the employer's account for benefit years commencing on or after July 1, 1986, and also shall show whether the claimant is ineligible or disqualified for benefits under the initial determination. The employer whose account may be charged for benefits payable pursuant to said determination shall be promptly notified thereof.
Whenever an initial determination is based upon information other than that supplied by an employer because such employer failed to respond to the deputy's request for information, such initial determination and any subsequent determination thereunder shall be incontestable by the noncomplying employer, as to any charges to his employer's account because of benefits paid prior to the close of the calendar week following the receipt of his reply. Such initial determination shall be altered if necessary upon receipt of information from the employer, and any benefits paid or payable with respect to weeks occurring subsequent to the close of the calendar week following the receipt of the employer's reply shall be paid in accordance with such altered initial determination.
The deputy shall issue a separate initial benefit determination with respect to each of the claimant's base year employers, starting with the most recent employer and continuing as necessary in the inverse chronological order of the claimant's last date of employment with each such employer. If an appeal is taken from an initial determination, as hereinafter provided, by any employer other than the first chargeable base year employer or for benefit years commencing on or after July 1, 1986, that employer from whom the individual was most recently separated, then such appeal shall be limited in scope to include only one or more of the following matters:
(A) The correctness of the benefit payments authorized to be made under the determination;
(B) Fraud in connection with the claim pursuant to which the initial determination is issued;
(C) The refusal of suitable work offered by the chargeable employer filing the appeal;
(D) Gross misconduct as provided in subsection (b) of R.S.43:21-5.
The amount of benefits payable under an initial determination may be reduced or canceled if necessary to avoid payment of benefits for a number of weeks in excess of the maximum specified in subsection (d) of R.S.43:21-3.
Unless the claimant or any interested party, within seven calendar days after delivery of notification of an initial determination or within 10 calendar days after such notification was mailed to his or their last-known address and addresses, files an appeal from such decision, such decision shall be final and benefits shall be paid or denied in accordance therewith, except for such determinations as may be altered in benefit amounts or duration as provided in this paragraph. Benefits payable for periods pending an appeal and not in dispute shall be paid as such benefits accrue; provided that insofar as any such appeal is or may be an appeal from a determination to the effect that the claimant is disqualified under the provisions of R.S.43:21-5 o