Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

S-3573.1
                               SENATE BILL 5777
     State of Washington       68th Legislature       2024 Regular Session
     By Senators Keiser, Conway, Lovick, Valdez, Trudeau, Shewmake,
     Randall, Van De Wege, Dhingra, Stanford, Hasegawa, Nguyen, Hunt,
     Kauffman, Liias, Frame, Kuderer, Nobles, Pedersen, Salomon, and C.
     Wilson
     Prefiled 12/04/23. Read first time 01/08/24.    Referred to Committee
     on Labor & Commerce.
     AN ACT Relating to unemployment insurance benefits for striking
 or lockout workers; amending RCW 50.20.090; reenacting and amending
 RCW 50.29.021; and creating a new section.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1. RCW 50.20.090 and 1988 c 83 s 1 are each amended to read
 as follows:
     (1) An individual shall be disqualified for benefits for any week
 with respect to which the commissioner finds that the individual's
 unemployment is((:
     (a) Due)) due to a strike at the factory, establishment, or other
 premises at which the individual is or was last employed((; or
     (b) Due to a lockout by his or her employer who is a member of a
 multi-employer bargaining unit and who has locked out the employees
 at the factory, establishment, or other premises at which the
 individual is or was last employed after one member of the multi-
 employer bargaining unit has been struck by its employees as a result
 of the multi-employer bargaining process)).
     (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply if it is shown
 to the satisfaction of the commissioner that:
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     (a) The individual is not participating in or financing or
 directly interested in the strike ((or lockout)) that caused the
 individual's unemployment; and
     (b) The individual does not belong to a grade or class of workers
 of which, immediately before the commencement of the strike ((or
 lockout)), there were members employed at the premises at which the
 strike ((or lockout)) occurs, any of whom are participating in or
 financing or directly interested in the strike ((or lockout)):
 PROVIDED, That if in any case separate branches of work which are
 commonly conducted as separate businesses in separate premises are
 conducted in separate departments of the same premises, each such
 department shall, for the purpose of this ((subdivision)) subsection,
 be deemed to be a separate factory, establishment, or other premises.
     (3) Any disqualification imposed under this section shall end
 ((when)) at the earlier of the Sunday following: (a) The first day of
 the strike; or (b) the date the strike ((or lockout)) is terminated.
 When the disqualification ends, the individual is subject to the one
 week waiting period as provided in RCW 50.20.010.
     Sec. 2. RCW 50.29.021 and 2023 c 451 s 2 and 2023 c 240 s 3 are
 each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) An experience rating account shall be established and
 maintained for each employer, except employers as described in RCW
 50.44.010, 50.44.030, and 50.50.030 who have properly elected to make
 payments in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers
 as described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required
 to make payments in lieu of contributions, based on existing records
 of the employment security department.
     (b) Benefits paid to an eligible individual shall be charged to
 the experience rating accounts of each of such individual's employers
 during the individual's base year in the same ratio that the wages
 paid by each employer to the individual during the base year bear to
 the wages paid by all employers to that individual during that base
 year, except as otherwise provided in this section.
     (c) When the eligible individual's separating employer is a
 covered contribution paying base year employer, benefits paid to the
 eligible individual shall be charged to the experience rating account
 of only the individual's separating employer if:
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     (i) The individual qualifies for benefits under RCW 50.20.050
 (1)(b)(i) or (2)(b)(i), as applicable, and became unemployed after
 having worked and earned wages in the bona fide work;
     (ii) The individual qualifies for benefits under RCW 50.20.050
 (1)(b) (v) through (x) or (2)(b) (v) through (x); or
     (iii) During a public health emergency, the claimant worked at a
 health care facility as defined in RCW 9A.50.010, was directly
 involved in the delivery of health services, and was terminated from
 work due to entering quarantine because of exposure to or contracting
 the disease that is the subject of the declaration of the public
 health emergency.
     (2) The legislature finds that certain benefit payments, in whole
 or in part, should not be charged to the experience rating accounts
 of employers except those employers described in RCW 50.44.010,
 50.44.030, and 50.50.030 who have properly elected to make payments
 in lieu of contributions, taxable local government employers
 described in RCW 50.44.035, and those employers who are required to
 make payments in lieu of contributions, as follows:
     (a) Benefits paid to any individual later determined to be
 ineligible shall not be charged to the experience rating account of
 any contribution paying employer, except as provided in subsection
 (4) of this section.
     (b) Benefits paid to an individual filing under the provisions of
 chapter 50.06 RCW shall not be charged to the experience rating
 account of any contribution paying employer only if:
     (i) The individual files under RCW 50.06.020(1) after receiving
 crime victims' compensation for a disability resulting from a
 nonwork-related occurrence; or
     (ii) The individual files under RCW 50.06.020(2).
     (c) Benefits paid which represent the state's share of benefits
 payable as extended benefits defined under RCW 50.22.010(6) shall not
 be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution
 paying employer.
     (d) In the case of individuals who requalify for benefits under
 RCW 50.20.050 or 50.20.060, benefits based on wage credits earned
 prior to the disqualifying separation shall not be charged to the
 experience rating account of the contribution paying employer from
 whom that separation took place.
     (e) Benefits paid to an individual who qualifies for benefits
 under RCW 50.20.050(1)(b) (iv) or (xi), (2)(b)(ii), only for
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 separation that was necessary because the care for a child or a
 vulnerable adult in the claimant's care is inaccessible, (iv), (xi),
 (xii), or (xiii), or (3), as applicable, shall not be charged to the
 experience rating account of any contribution paying employer.
     (f) Benefits paid that exceed the benefits that would have been
 paid if the weekly benefit amount for the claim had been determined
 as one percent of the total wages paid in the individual's base year
 shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any
 contribution paying employer. This subsection (2)(f) does not apply
 to the calculation of contribution rates under RCW 50.29.025 for rate
 year 2010 and thereafter.
     (g) Upon approval of an individual's training benefits plan
 submitted in accordance with RCW 50.22.155(2), an individual is
 considered enrolled in training, and regular benefits beginning with
 the week of approval shall not be charged to the experience rating
 account of any contribution paying employer.
     (h) Training benefits paid to an individual under RCW 50.22.155
 shall not be charged to the experience rating account of any
 contribution paying employer.
     (i)(i) Benefits paid during the one week waiting period when the
 one week waiting period is fully paid or fully reimbursed by the
 federal government shall not be charged to the experience rating
 account of any contribution paying employer.
     (ii) In the event the one week waiting period is partially paid
 or partially reimbursed by the federal government, the department
 may, by rule, elect to not charge, in full or in part, benefits paid
 during the one week waiting period to the experience rating account
 of any contribution paying employer.
     (j) Benefits paid for all weeks starting with the week ending
 March 28, 2020, and ending with the week ending May 30, 2020, shall
 not be charged to the experience rating account of any contribution
 paying employer.
     (k) The individual's unemployment is due to a strike at the
 separating employer's factory, establishment, or other premises at
 which the individual is or was last employed.
     (3)(a) A contribution paying base year employer, except employers
 as provided in subsection (5) of this section, not otherwise eligible
 for relief of charges for benefits under this section, may receive
 such relief if the benefit charges result from payment to an
 individual who:
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     (i) Last left the employ of such employer voluntarily for reasons
 not attributable to the employer;
     (ii) Was discharged for misconduct or gross misconduct connected
 with his or her work not a result of inability to meet the minimum
 job requirements;
     (iii) Is unemployed as a result of closure or severe curtailment
 of operation at the employer's plant, building, worksite, or other
 facility. This closure must be for reasons directly attributable to a
 catastrophic occurrence such as fire, flood, or other natural
 disaster, or to the presence of any dangerous, contagious, or
 infectious disease that is the subject of a public health emergency
 at the employer's plant, building, worksite, or other facility;
     (iv) Continues to be employed by the employer seeking relief and:
 (A) The employer furnished part-time work to the individual during
 the base year; (B) the individual has become eligible for benefits
 because of loss of employment with one or more other employers; and
 (C) the employer has continued to furnish or make available part-time
 work to the individual in substantially the same amount as during the
 individual's base year. This subsection does not apply to shared work
 employers under chapter 50.60 RCW;
     (v) Was hired to replace an employee who is a member of the
 military reserves or National Guard and was called to federal active
 military service by the president of the United States and is
 subsequently laid off when that employee is reemployed by their
 employer upon release from active duty within the time provided for
 reemployment in RCW 73.16.035;
     (vi) Worked for an employer for 20 weeks or less, and was laid
 off at the end of temporary employment when that employee temporarily
 replaced a permanent employee receiving family or medical leave
 benefits under Title 50A RCW, and the layoff is due to the return of
 that permanent employee. This subsection (3)(a)(vi) applies to claims
 with an effective date on or after January 1, 2020; or
     (vii) Was discharged because the individual was unable to satisfy
 a job prerequisite required by law or administrative rule.
     (b) The employer requesting relief of charges under this
 subsection must request relief in writing within 30 days following
 mailing to the last known address of the notification of the valid
 initial determination of such claim, stating the date and reason for
 the separation or the circumstances of continued employment. The
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 commissioner, upon investigation of the request, shall determine
 whether relief should be granted.
     (4) When a benefit claim becomes invalid due to an amendment or
 adjustment of a report where the employer failed to report or
 inaccurately reported hours worked or remuneration paid, or both, all
 benefits paid will be charged to the experience rating account of the
 contribution paying employer or employers that originally filed the
 incomplete or inaccurate report or reports. An employer who
 reimburses the trust fund for benefits paid to workers and who fails
 to report or inaccurately reported hours worked or remuneration paid,
 or both, shall reimburse the trust fund for all benefits paid that
 are based on the originally filed incomplete or inaccurate report or
 reports.
     (5) An employer's experience rating account may not be relieved
 of charges for a benefit payment and an employer who reimburses the
 trust fund for benefit payments may not be credited for a benefit
 payment if a benefit payment was made because the employer or
 employer's agent failed to respond timely or adequately to a written
 request of the department for information relating to the claim or
 claims without establishing good cause for the failure and the
 employer or employer's agent has a pattern of such failures. The
 commissioner has the authority to determine whether the employer has
 good cause under this subsection.
     (a) For the purposes of this subsection, "adequately" means
 providing accurate information of sufficient quantity and quality
 that would allow a reasonable person to determine eligibility for
 benefits.
     (b)(i) For the purposes of this subsection, "pattern" means a
 benefit payment was made because the employer or employer's agent
 failed to respond timely or adequately to a written request of the
 department for information relating to a claim or claims without
 establishing good cause for the failure, if the greater of the
 following calculations for an employer is met:
     (A) At least three times in the previous two years; or
     (B) Twenty percent of the total current claims against the
 employer.
     (ii) If an employer's agent is utilized, a pattern is established
 based on each individual client employer that the employer's agent
 represents.
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     NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. If any part of this act is found to be in
 conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to
 the allocation of federal funds to the state or the eligibility of
 employers in this state for federal unemployment tax credits, the
 conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of
 the conflict, and this finding or determination does not affect the
 operation of the remainder of this act. Rules adopted under this act
 must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the
 receipt of federal funds by the state or the granting of federal
 unemployment tax credits to employers in this state.
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Statutes affected: 
Original Bill: 50.20.090