WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2024 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced House Bill 5424
By Delegates Espinosa, Summers, Gearhart, Tully,
Hite, Fehrenbacher, Foster, Linville, Martin, Crouse and Hornby [Introduced February 02, 2024; Referred to the Committee on Finance]
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
1 A BILL to amend and reenact §21A-1A-28 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to
2 amend and reenact §21A-2D-2 and §21A-2D-3 of said code; to amend said code by
3 adding thereto a new section, designated §21A-2D-2a; to amend said code by adding
4 thereto a new article, designated §21A-3-1, §21A-3-2, and §21A-3-3; to amend and
5 reenact §21A-6-1 and §21A-6-10 of said code; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
6 new section, designated §21A-6-1d, all relating to eligibility for and amount of
7 unemployment benefits; modifying methodology for calculating maximum benefit rate;
8 modifying benefit table consistent with adoption of indexing; requiring Workforce West
9 Virginia Commissioner take certain actions to verify unemployment insurance claim
10 program integrity; requiring commissioner to review suspicious or potentially improper
11 claims under certain circumstances; defining "state average unemployment rate"; limiting
12 the maximum duration of unemployment benefits based on the state average
13 unemployment rate; requiring Workforce West Virginia to promulgate legislative rules;
14 establishing an internal effective date; reducing maximum benefit for each wage class;
15 requiring work search activities to qualify for unemployment benefits; defining what
16 constitutes work search activities; mandating submittal of proof of work search activities;
17 providing for verification of work search activities; granting commissioner of Workforce
18 West Virginia discretion in verification of work search activities; mandating establishment
19 of process to refer individuals seeking unemployment benefits to job opportunities;
20 requiring individuals receiving referrals to suitable work to apply for and accept that work;
21 mandating employers to report refusal of offer of employment to commissioner; allowing
22 individuals who accept part-time non-suitable employment to receive unemployment
23 benefits without reduction for wages under certain circumstances; making certain
24 individuals applying for or receiving unemployment benefits exempt from work search
25 requirements; establishing process for notification of work search activity requirements;
26 requiring rulemaking; and setting an internal effective date.
1
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 1A. DEFINITIONS.
§21A-1A-28. Wages; average annual wage; threshold wage.
1 (a) "Wages" means all remuneration for personal service, including commissions,
2 gratuities customarily received by an individual in the course of employment from persons other
3 than the employing unit, as long as such gratuities equal or exceed an amount of not less than $20
4 each month and which are required to be reported to the employer by the employee, bonuses and
5 the cash value of all remuneration in any medium other than cash except for agricultural labor and
6 domestic service. The term "wages" includes remuneration for service rendered to the state as a
7 member of the state National Guard or Air National Guard only when serving on a temporary basis
8 pursuant to a call made by the Governor under sections one and two, article one-d, chapter fifteen
9 of this code.
10 (b) The term "wages" does not include:
11 (1) That part of the remuneration which, after remuneration equal to $8,000 $10,000 or,
12 after the amendment and reenactment of this section during the 2009 legislative session, the
13 threshold wage is paid during a calendar year to an individual by an employer or his or her
14 predecessor with respect to employment during any calendar year, is paid to such individual by
15 such employer during such calendar year unless that part of the remuneration is subject to a tax
16 under a federal law imposing a tax against which credit may be taken for contributions required to
17 be paid into a state unemployment fund. For the purposes of this section, the term "employment"
18 includes service constituting employment under any unemployment compensation law of another
19 state; or which as a condition for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the federal
20 Unemployment Tax Act is required to be covered under this chapter; and, except that for the
21 purposes of sections one, ten, eleven and thirteen, article six of this chapter, all remuneration
22 earned by an individual in employment shall be credited to the individual and included in his or her
23 computation of base period wages: Provided, That the remuneration paid to an individual by an
2
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
24 employer with respect to employment in another state or other states upon which contributions
25 were required of and paid by such employer under an unemployment compensation law of such
26 other state or states shall be included as a part of the remuneration equal to the amounts of $8,000
27 $10,000. or, after the amendment and reenactment of this section during the 2009 legislative
28 session, the threshold wage herein referred to In applying such limitation on the amount of
29 remuneration that is taxable, an employer shall be accorded the benefit of all or any portion of such
30 amount which may have been paid by its predecessor or predecessors: Provided, however, That if
31 the definition of the term "wages" as contained in Section 3306 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code of
32 1954, as amended, is amended to include remuneration in excess of $8,000 or, after the
33 amendment and reenactment of this section during the 2009 legislative session, the threshold
34 wage paid to an individual by an employer under the federal Unemployment Tax Act during any
35 calendar year, wages for the purposes of this definition shall include remuneration paid in a
36 calendar year to an individual by an employer subject to this chapter or his or her predecessor with
37 respect to employment during any calendar year up to an amount equal to the amount of
38 remuneration taxable under the federal Unemployment Tax Act;
39 (2) The amount of any payment made (including any amount paid by an employer for
40 insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment) to, or on behalf of, an
41 individual in its employ or any of his or her dependents, under a plan or system established by an
42 employer which makes provision for individuals in its employ generally (or for such individuals and
43 their dependents), or for a class or classes of such individuals (or for a class or classes of such
44 individuals and their dependents) on account of: (A) Retirement; or (B) sickness or accident
45 disability payments made to an employee under an approved state workers' compensation law; or
46 (C) medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability; or (D)
47 death;
48 (3) Any payment made by an employer to an individual in its employ (including any amount
49 paid by an employer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment) on
3
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
50 account of retirement;
51 (4) Any payment made by an employer on account of sickness or accident disability, or
52 medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability to, or on
53 behalf of, an individual in its employ after the expiration of six calendar months following the last
54 calendar month in which such individual worked for such employer;
55 (5) Any payment made by an employer to, or on behalf of, an individual in its employ or his
56 or her beneficiary: (A) From or to a trust described in Section 401(a) which is exempt from tax
57 under Section 501(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code at the time of such payments unless
58 such payment is made to such individual as an employee of the trust as remuneration for services
59 rendered by such individual and not as a beneficiary of the trust; or (B) under or to an annuity plan
60 which, at the time of such payment, is a plan described in Section 403(a) of the federal Internal
61 Revenue Code;
62 (6) The payment by an employer of the tax imposed upon an employer under Section 3101
63 of the federal Internal Revenue Code with respect to remuneration paid to an employee for
64 domestic service in a private home or the employer of agricultural labor;
65 (7) Remuneration paid by an employer in any medium other than cash to an individual in its
66 employ for service not in the course of the employer's trade or business;
67 (8) Any payment (other than vacation or sick pay) made by an employer to an individual in
68 its employ after the month in which he or she attains the age of 65 if he or she did not work for the
69 employer in the period for which such payment is made;
70 (9) Payments, not required under any contract of hire, made to an individual with respect to
71 his or her period of training or service in the Armed Forces of the United States by an employer by
72 which such individual was formerly employed; and
73 (10) Vacation pay, severance pay or savings plans received by an individual before or after
74 becoming totally or partially unemployed but earned prior to becoming totally or partially
75 unemployed: Provided, That the term totally or partially unemployed does not include: (A)
4
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
76 Employees who are on vacation by reason of the request of the employees or their duly authorized
77 agent, for a vacation at a specific time, and which request by the employees or their agent is
78 acceded to by their employer; (B) employees who are on vacation by reason of the employer's
79 request provided they are so informed at least ninety days prior to such vacation; or (C) employees
80 who are on vacation by reason of the employer's request where such vacation is in addition to the
81 regular vacation and the employer compensates such employee at a rate equal to or exceeding
82 their regular daily rate of pay during the vacation period.
83 (c) The reasonable cash value of remuneration in any medium other than cash shall be
84 estimated and determined in accordance with rules prescribed by the commissioner, except for
85 remuneration other than cash for services performed in agricultural labor and domestic service.
86 (d) "Average annual wage" means the state's average annual wage which is computed on
87 or before September 30 of the year immediately preceding the rate year and is the total
88 remuneration paid by employers as reported on contribution reports on or before that date with
89 respect to all employment during the four consecutive calendar quarters ending on June 30 of that
90 year divided by the average monthly number of individuals performing services in employment
91 during the same four calendar quarters as reported on the contribution reports.
92 "Threshold wage" means the wage amount the employer pays unemployment taxes on for each
93 person in his or her employ during a calendar year. On and after the effective date of the
94 amendment and reenactment of this chapter by the Legislature in 2009, the threshold wage will be
95 $12,000: Provided, That when the moneys in the unemployment fund reach $220 million on
96 February 15 of any year, the threshold wage thereafter will be reduced to $9,000: Provided,
97 however, That each year thereafter the threshold wage shall increase or decrease by the same
98 percentage that the state's average wage increases or decreases ARTICLE 2D. UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM INTEGRITY ACT.
§21A-2D-2. Unemployment insurance program integrity.
1 The commissioner shall, on a weekly basis, unless otherwise specified: be required to
5
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
2 (a) (1) Check the unemployment insurance rolls against the Division of Corrections and
3 Rehabilitation's list of imprisoned individuals to verify eligibility for unemployment benefits and
4 ensure program integrity;
5 (b) (2) Check new hire records against the National Directory of New Hires to verify
6 eligibility for unemployment benefits; and
7 (c) (3) Check the unemployment insurance rolls against a commercially available database
8 that provides cross-matching functions to verify eligibility for unemployment benefits;
9 (4) On a monthly basis, cross-check the unemployment insurance rolls against state death
10 records; and
11 (5) Verify the identity of unemployment claimants by methods including, but not limited to,
12 verifying the identity of an applicant prior to awarding benefits and requiring multi-factor
13 authentication as part of online applications.
§21A-2D-2a. Automatic claim review.
1 The commissioner shall perform a full eligibility review of suspicious or potentially improper
2 claims in cases including, but not limited to:
3 (1) Multiple or duplicative claims filed online originating from the same IP address;
4 (2) Claims filed online from foreign IP addresses;
5 (3) Multiple or duplicative claims filed that are associated with the same mailing address;
6 and
7 (4) Multiple or duplicative claims filed that are associated with the same bank account.
§21A-2D-3. Data sharing.
1 The commissioner shall have the authority to may execute a memorandum of
2 understanding exchange information with any department, agency, or division for information
3 required to be shared between agencies outlined in this article as necessary to carry out the
4 requirements of this article.
ARTICLE 3. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS INDEXING.
6
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
§21A-3-1. Duration of benefits; calculation.
1 (a) For the purposes of this article, "state average unemployment rate" means the average
2 of the seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for the months comprising the previous quarter of
3 the most recent calendar year as published by Workforce West Virginia.
4 (b) For all valid unemployment compensation claims submitted during a calendar year, the
5 maximum duration of benefits will be as follows:
6 (1) If the state average unemployment rate is below 5.5 percent, the maximum duration of
7 benefits will be limited to 14 weeks;
8 (2) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 5.5 percent, but below 6.0
9 percent, the maximum duration of benefits will be limited to 15 weeks;
10 (3) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 6.0 percent, but below 6.5
11 percent, the maximum duration of benefits will be limited to 16 weeks;
12 (4) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 6.5 percent, but below 7.0
13 percent, the maximum duration of benefits will be limited to 17 weeks;
14 (5) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 7.0 percent, but below 7.5
15 percent, the maximum duration of benefits will be limited to 18 weeks;
16 (6) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 7.5 percent, but below 8.0
17 percent, the maximum duration of benefits will be limited to 19 weeks;
18 (7) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 8.0 percent, but below 8.5
19 percent, the maximum duration of benefits will be limited to 20 weeks;
20 (8) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 8.5 percent, but below 9.0
21 percent, the maximum duration of benefits will be limited to 21 weeks; and
22 (9) If the state average unemployment rate is at or above 9.0 percent, the maximum
23 duration of benefits will be limited to 22 weeks.
§21A-3-2. Rulemaking.
1 Workforce West Virginia shall promulgate legislative rules to carry out the requirements of
7
 Intr HB 2024R2867A
2 this article in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code.
§21A-3-3. Effective date.
1 The provisions of this article shall take effect on January 1, 2025.
ARTICLE 6. EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY; BENEFITS.
§21A-6-1. Eligibility qualifications.
2 An unemployed individual shall be eligible to receive benefits only if the commissioner
3 finds that:
4 (1) He or she has registered for work at and thereafter continues to report at an
5 employment office in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner;
6 (2) He or she has made a claim for benefits in accordance with the provisions of article
7 seven of this chapter §21A-7-1 et seq. of this code and has furnished his or her Social Security
8 number, or numbers if he or she has more than one such number;
9 (3) He or she is able to work and is available for full-time work for which he or she is fitted
10 by prior training or experience and is doing that which a reasonably prudent person in his or he