F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 1493 2023
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to reemployment assistance; amending
3 s. 443.036, F.S.; defining the term "alternative base
4 period" and revising the definition of the term "high
5 quarter" for purposes of the Reemployment Assistance
6 Program Law; amending s. 443.091, F.S.; revising
7 requirements for reemployment assistance benefits
8 eligibility; creating s. 443.092, F.S.; prohibiting
9 the Department of Economic Opportunity from denying a
10 person reemployment assistance solely on the basis of
11 pregnancy; amending s. 443.111, F.S.; requiring an
12 alternative base period to be used under certain
13 circumstances when calculating wages in determining
14 qualification for reemployment assistance benefits;
15 requiring the department to contact an individual's
16 employer if certain wage information is unavailable
17 through specified means; specifying that wages that
18 fall within an alternative base period are not
19 available for reuse in subsequent benefit years;
20 requiring the department to adopt rules; revising the
21 weekly benefit amounts an individual may receive;
22 replacing the term "Florida average unemployment rate"
23 with the term "most recent monthly unemployment rate";
24 increasing the cap on the total benefit amount an
25 individual is entitled to receive during a benefit
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26 year; increasing the duration of benefits; amending
27 ss. 215.425, 443.1216, and 443.131, F.S.; conforming
28 cross-references; reenacting ss. 443.041(2)(b) and
29 443.1116(6), (7), and (8)(a), F.S., relating to fees
30 and short-time compensation, respectively, to
31 incorporate the amendments made by the act; providing
32 an effective date.
33
34 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
35
36 Section 1. Subsections (3) through (46) of section
37 443.036, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4)
38 through (47), respectively, present subsection (24) is amended,
39 and a new subsection (3) is added to that section, to read:
40 443.036 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
41 (3) "Alternative base period" means the four most recently
42 completed calendar quarters before an individual's be nefit year,
43 if such quarters qualify the individual for benefits and were
44 not previously used to establish a prior valid benefit year.
45 (25)(24) "High quarter" means the quarter in an
46 individual's base period, or in an individual's alternative base
47 period if an alternative base period is used for determining
48 benefits eligibility, in which the individual has the greatest
49 amount of wages paid, regardless of the number of employers
50 paying wages in that quarter.
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51 Section 2. Paragraphs (d) and (g) of subsection (1) of
52 section 443.091, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
53 443.091 Benefit eligibility conditions.—
54 (1) An unemployed individual is eligible to receive
55 benefits for any week only if the Department of Economic
56 Opportunity finds that:
57 (d) She or he is able to work and is available for work.
58 In order to assess eligibility for a claimed week of
59 unemployment, the department shall develop criteria to determine
60 a claimant's ability to work and availability for work. A
61 claimant must be actively seeking work in order to be considered
62 available for work. This means engaging in systematic and
63 sustained efforts to find work, including contacting at least
64 three five prospective employers for each week of unemployment
65 claimed. For the purposes of meeting the requirements of this
66 paragraph, a claimant may contact a prospective employer by
67 submitting a resume to an employer through an online job search
68 service. A claimant who submits a resume to at least three
69 employers through an online job search service sati sfies the
70 work search requirements of this paragraph. The department may
71 require the claimant to provide proof of such efforts to the
72 one-stop career center as part of reemployment services. A
73 claimant's proof of work search efforts may not include the sam e
74 prospective employer at the same location in 3 consecutive
75 weeks, unless the employer has indicated since the time of the
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76 initial contact that the employer is hiring. The department
77 shall conduct random reviews of work search information provided
78 by claimants. As an alternative to contacting at least three
79 five prospective employers for any week of unemployment claimed,
80 a claimant may, for that same week, report in person to a one -
81 stop career center to meet with a representative of the center
82 and access reemployment services of the center. The center shall
83 keep a record of the services or information provided to the
84 claimant and shall provide the records to the department upon
85 request by the department. However:
86 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph
87 or paragraphs (b) and (e), an otherwise eligible individual may
88 not be denied benefits for any week because she or he is in
89 training with the approval of the department, or by reason of s.
90 443.101(2) relating to failure to apply for, or refusal to
91 accept, suitable work. Training may be approved by the
92 department in accordance with criteria prescribed by rule. A
93 claimant's eligibility during approved training is contingent
94 upon satisfying eligibility conditions prescribed by rule.
95 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an
96 otherwise eligible individual who is in training approved under
97 s. 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, may not be
98 determined ineligible or disqualified for benefits due to
99 enrollment in such training or because of leaving work that is
100 not suitable employment to enter such training. As used in this
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101 subparagraph, the term "suitable employment" means work of a
102 substantially equal or higher skill level than the worker's past
103 adversely affected employment, as defined for purposes of the
104 Trade Act of 1974, as amended, the wages for which are at least
105 80 percent of the worker's average weekly wage as determined for
106 purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.
107 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an
108 otherwise eligible individual may not be denied benefits for any
109 week because she or he is before any state or federal court
110 pursuant to a lawfully issued summons to appear for jury duty.
111 4. Union members who customarily obtain employmen t through
112 a union hiring hall may satisfy the work search requirements of
113 this paragraph by reporting daily to their union hall.
114 5. The work search requirements of this paragraph do not
115 apply to persons who are unemployed as a result of a temporary
116 layoff or who are claiming benefits under an approved short-time
117 compensation plan as provided in s. 443.1116.
118 6. In small counties as defined in s. 120.52(19), a
119 claimant engaging in systematic and sustained efforts to find
120 work must contact at least two three prospective employers for
121 each week of unemployment claimed.
122 7. The work search requirements of this paragraph do not
123 apply to persons required to participate in reemployment
124 services under paragraph (e).
125 (g) She or he has been paid wages for insured work equal
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126 to 1.5 times her or his high quarter wages during her or his
127 base period, except that an unemployed individual is not
128 eligible to receive benefits if the base period wages are less
129 than $3,400. If an unemployed individual is ineligible for
130 benefits based on base period wages, her or his wages shall be
131 calculated using the alternative base period and her or his
132 claim shall be established using such wages.
133 Section 3. Section 443.092, Florida Statutes, is created
134 to read:
135 443.092 Denial of reemployment assistance solely on the
136 basis of pregnancy prohibited.—The Department of Economic
137 Opportunity may not deny a person reemployment assistance solely
138 on the basis of pregnancy.
139 Section 4. Subsections (2) and (3) and paragraphs (a),
140 (b), and (c) of subsection (5) of section 443.111, Florida
141 Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of
142 that section is republished, to read:
143 443.111 Payment of benefits.—
144 (1) MANNER OF PAYMENT.—Benefits are payable from the fund
145 in accordance with rules adopted by the Department of Economic
146 Opportunity, subject to the following requirements:
147 (b) As required under s. 443.091(1), each claimant must
148 report at least biweekly to receive reemployment assistance
149 benefits and to attest to the fact that she or he is able and
150 available for work, has not refused suitable work, is seeking
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151 work and has met the requirements of s. 443.091(1)(d), and, if
152 she or he has worked, to report earnings from that work. Each
153 claimant must continue to report regardless of any appeal or
154 pending appeal relating to her or his eligibility or
155 disqualification for benefits.
156 (2) QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS.—
157 (a) To establish a benefit year for reemployment
158 assistance benefits, an individual must have:
159 1.(a) Wage credits in two or more calendar quarters of the
160 individual's base period or alternative base period.
161 2.(b) Minimum total base period wage credits equal to the
162 high quarter wages multiplied by 1.5, but at least $3,400 in the
163 base period, or in the alternative base period if the
164 alternative base period is used for benefits eligibility .
165 (b)1. If an individual is ineligible for benefits based on
166 base period wages, wages for that individual must be calculated
167 using the alternative base period and the claim shall be
168 established using such wages.
169 2. If the wage information for an individual's most
170 recently completed calendar quarter is unavailable to the
171 Department of Economic Opportunity from regular quarterly
172 reports of systematically accessible wage information, the
173 department must promptly contact the individual's employer to
174 obtain the wage information.
175 3. Wages that fall within the alternative base period of
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176 claims established under this paragraph are not available for
177 reuse in qualifying for any subsequent benefit years.
178 4. The department shall adopt rules to administer this
179 paragraph.
180 (3) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT.—
181 (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), an individual's
182 "weekly benefit amount" is an amount equal to one twenty -sixth
183 of the total wages for insured work paid during that quarter of
184 the base period in which the total wages paid were the highest,
185 but not less than $100 $32 or more than $375 $275. The weekly
186 benefit amount, if not a multiple of $1, is rounded downward to
187 the nearest full dollar amount. The maximum weekly benefit
188 amount in effect at the time the claimant establishes an
189 individual weekly benefit amount is the maximum benefit amount
190 applicable throughout the claimant's benefit year.
191 (b) If an individual's weekly benefit amount calcula ted
192 pursuant to paragraph (a) would result in a weekly benefit
193 amount of less than $100, the individual's weekly benefit amount
194 may not exceed one-thirteenth of the total wages for insured
195 work paid during the quarter of the base period in which the
196 total wages paid were the highest or $100, whichever is less.
197 (5) DURATION OF BENEFITS.—
198 (a) As used in this section, the term "most recent monthly
199 unemployment rate" "Florida average unemployment rate" means the
200 most recently available month's average of the 3 months for the
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201 most recent third calendar year quarter of the seasonally
202 adjusted statewide unemployment rate rates as published by the
203 Department of Economic Opportunity.
204 (b) Each otherwise eligible individual is entitled during
205 any benefit year to a total amount of benefits equal to 25
206 percent of the total wages in his or her base period, not to
207 exceed $9,375 $6,325 or the product arrived at by multiplying
208 the weekly benefit amount with the number of weeks determined in
209 paragraph (c), whichever is