Bill Text: MO HB163 | 2011 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Changes the laws regarding unemployment compensation and makes Missouri eligible to receive extended federal unemployment benefit funds
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2011-04-13 - Delivered to Secretary of State (G) [HB163 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2011-HB163-Enrolled.html
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
[TRULY AGREED TO AND FINALLY PASSED]
SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
0747S.06T 2011
AN ACT
To repeal sections 288.040, 288.060, and 288.062, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to unemployment compensation, with an emergency clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 288.040, 288.060, and 288.062, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 288.040, 288.060, and 288.062, to read as follows:
288.040. 1. A claimant who is unemployed and has been determined to be an insured worker shall be eligible for benefits for any week only if the deputy finds that:
(1) The claimant has registered for work at and thereafter has continued to report at an employment office in accordance with such regulations as the division may prescribe;
(2) The claimant is able to work and is available for work. No person shall be deemed available for work unless such person has been and is actively and earnestly seeking work. Upon the filing of an initial or renewed claim, and prior to the filing of each weekly claim thereafter, the deputy shall notify each claimant of the number of work search contacts required to constitute an active search for work. No person shall be considered not available for work, pursuant to this subdivision, solely because he or she is a substitute teacher or is on jury duty. A claimant shall not be determined to be ineligible pursuant to this subdivision because of not actively and earnestly seeking work if:
(a) The claimant is participating in training approved pursuant to Section 236 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, (19 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2296, as amended);
(b) The claimant is temporarily unemployed through no fault of his or her own and has a definite recall date within eight weeks of his or her first day of unemployment; however, upon application of the employer responsible for the claimant's unemployment, such eight-week period may be extended not to exceed a total of sixteen weeks at the discretion of the director;
(3) The claimant has reported in person to an office of the division as directed by the deputy, but at least once every four weeks, except that a claimant shall be exempted from the reporting requirement of this subdivision if:
(a) The claimant is claiming benefits in accordance with division regulations dealing with partial or temporary total unemployment; or
(b) The claimant is temporarily unemployed through no fault of his or her own and has a definite recall date within eight weeks of his or her first day of unemployment; or
(c) The claimant resides in a county with an unemployment rate, as published by the division, of ten percent or more and in which the county seat is more than forty miles from the nearest division office;
(d) The director of the division of employment security has determined that the claimant belongs to a group or class of workers whose opportunities for reemployment will not be enhanced by reporting in person, or is prevented from reporting due to emergency conditions that limit access by the general public to an office that serves the area where the claimant resides, but only during the time such circumstances exist. Ineligibility pursuant to this subdivision shall begin on the first day of the week which the claimant was scheduled to claim and shall end on the last day of the week preceding the week during which the claimant does report in person to the division's office;
(4) Prior to the first week of a period of total or partial unemployment for which the claimant claims benefits he or she has been totally or partially unemployed for a waiting period of one week. No more than one waiting week will be required in any benefit year. During calendar year 2008 and each calendar year thereafter, the one-week waiting period shall become compensable once his or her remaining balance on the claim is equal to or less than the compensable amount for the waiting period. No week shall be counted as a week of total or partial unemployment for the purposes of this subsection unless it occurs within the benefit year which includes the week with respect to which the claimant claims benefits;
(5) The claimant has made a claim for benefits within fourteen days from the last day of the week being claimed. The fourteen-day period may, for good cause, be extended to twenty-eight days;
(6) The claimant has reported to an employment office to participate in a reemployment assessment and reemployment services as directed by the deputy or designated staff of an employment office, unless the deputy determines that good cause exists for the claimant's failure to participate in such reemployment assessment and reemployment services. For purposes of this section, "reemployment services" may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) Providing an orientation to employment office services;
(b) Providing job search assistance; and
(c) Providing labor market statistics or analysis;
Ineligibility under this subdivision shall begin on the first day of the week which the claimant was scheduled to report for the reemployment assessment or reemployment services and shall end on the last day of the week preceding the week during which the claimant does report in person to the employment office for such reemployment assessment or reemployment services;
(7) The claimant is participating in reemployment services, such as job search assistance services, as directed by the deputy if the claimant has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular benefits and to need reemployment services pursuant to a profiling system established by the division, unless the deputy determines that:
(a) The individual has completed such reemployment services; or
(b) There is justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to participate in such reemployment services.
2. A claimant shall be ineligible for waiting week credit or benefits for any week for which the deputy finds he or she is or has been suspended by his or her most recent employer for misconduct connected with his or her work. Suspensions of four weeks or more shall be treated as discharges.
3. (1) Benefits based on "service in employment", defined in subsections 7 and 8 of section 288.034, shall be payable in the same amount, on the same terms and subject to the same conditions as compensation payable on the basis of other service subject to this law; except that:
(a) With respect to service performed in an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity for an educational institution, benefits shall not be paid based on such services for any week of unemployment commencing during the period between two successive academic years or terms, or during a similar period between two regular but not successive terms, or during a period of paid sabbatical leave provided for in the individual's contract, to any individual if such individual performs such services in the first of such academic years (or terms) and if there is a contract or a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform services in any such capacity for any educational institution in the second of such academic years or terms;
(b) With respect to services performed in any capacity (other than instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity) for an educational institution, benefits shall not be paid on the basis of such services to any individual for any week which commences during a period between two successive academic years or terms if such individual performs such services in the first of such academic years or terms and there is a contract or a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services in the second of such academic years or terms;
(c) With respect to services described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision, benefits shall not be paid on the basis of such services to any individual for any week which commences during an established and customary vacation period or holiday recess if such individual performed such services in the period immediately before such vacation period or holiday recess, and there is reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services immediately following such vacation period or holiday recess;
(d) With respect to services described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision, benefits payable on the basis of services in any such capacity shall be denied as specified in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this subdivision to any individual who performed such services at an educational institution while in the employ of an educational service agency, and for this purpose the term "educational service agency" means a governmental agency or governmental entity which is established and operated exclusively for the purpose of providing such services to one or more educational institutions.
(2) If compensation is denied for any week pursuant to paragraph (b) or (d) of subdivision (1) of this subsection to any individual performing services at an educational institution in any capacity (other than instructional, research or principal administrative capacity), and such individual was not offered an opportunity to perform such services for the second of such academic years or terms, such individual shall be entitled to a retroactive payment of the compensation for each week for which the individual filed a timely claim for compensation and for which compensation was denied solely by reason of paragraph (b) or (d) of subdivision (1) of this subsection.
4. (1) A claimant shall be ineligible for waiting week credit, benefits or shared work benefits for any week for which he or she is receiving or has received remuneration exceeding his or her weekly benefit amount or shared work benefit amount in the form of:
(a) Compensation for temporary partial disability pursuant to the workers' compensation law of any state or pursuant to a similar law of the United States;
(b) A governmental or other pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity, or other similar periodic payment which is based on the previous work of such claimant to the extent that such payment is provided from funds provided by a base period or chargeable employer pursuant to a plan maintained or contributed to by such employer; but, except for such payments made pursuant to the Social Security Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (or the corresponding provisions of prior law), the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply if the services performed for such employer by the claimant after the beginning of the base period (or remuneration for such services) do not affect eligibility for or increase the amount of such pension, retirement or retired pay, annuity or similar payment.
(2) If the remuneration referred to in this subsection is less than the benefits which would otherwise be due, the claimant shall be entitled to receive for such week, if otherwise eligible, benefits reduced by the amount of such remuneration, and, if such benefit is not a multiple of one dollar, such amount shall be lowered to the next multiple of one dollar.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, if a claimant has contributed in any way to the Social Security Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, or the corresponding provisions of prior law, no part of the payments received pursuant to such federal law shall be deductible from the amount of benefits received pursuant to this chapter.
5. A claimant shall be ineligible for waiting week credit or benefits for any week for which or a part of which he or she has received or is seeking unemployment benefits pursuant to an unemployment insurance law of another state or the United States; provided, that if it be finally determined that the claimant is not entitled to such unemployment benefits, such ineligibility shall not apply.
6. (1) A claimant shall be ineligible for waiting week credit or benefits for any week for which the deputy finds that such claimant's total or partial unemployment is due to a stoppage of work which exists because of a labor dispute in the factory, establishment or other premises in which such claimant is or was last employed. In the event the claimant secures other employment from which he or she is separated during the existence of the labor dispute, the claimant must have obtained bona fide employment as a permanent employee for at least the major part of each of two weeks in such subsequent employment to terminate his or her ineligibility. If, in any case, separate branches of work which are commonly conducted as separate businesses at separate premises are conducted in separate departments of the same premises, each such department shall for the purposes of this subsection be deemed to be a separate factory, establishment or other premises. This subsection shall not apply if it is shown to the satisfaction of the deputy that:
(a) The claimant is not participating in or financing or directly interested in the labor dispute which caused the stoppage of work; and
(b) The claimant does not belong to a grade or class of workers of which, immediately preceding the commencement of the stoppage, there were members employed at the premises at which the stoppage occurs, any of whom are participating in or financing or directly interested in the dispute.
(2) "Stoppage of work" as used in this subsection means a substantial diminution of the activities, production or services at the establishment, plant, factory or premises of the employing unit. This definition shall not apply to a strike where the employees in the bargaining unit who initiated the strike are participating in the strike. Such employees shall not be eligible for waiting week credit or benefits during the period when the strike is in effect, regardless of diminution, unless the employer has been found guilty of an unfair labor practice by the National Labor Relations Board or a federal court of law for an act or actions preceding or during the strike.
7. On or after January 1, 1978, benefits shall not be paid to any individual on the basis of any services, substantially all of which consist of participating in sports or athletic events or training or preparing to so participate, for any week which commences during the period between two successive sport seasons (or similar periods) if such individual performed such services in the first of such seasons (or similar periods) and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services in the later of such seasons (or similar periods).
8. Benefits shall not be payable on the basis of services performed by an alien, unless such alien is an individual who was lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time such services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing such services, or was permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time such services were performed (including an alien who was lawfully present in the United States as a result of the application of the provisions of Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
(1) Any data or information required of individuals applying for benefits to determine whether benefits are not payable to them because of their alien status shall be uniformly required from all applicants for benefits.
(2) In the case of an individual whose application for benefits would otherwise be approved, no determination that benefits to such individual are not payable because of such individual's alien status shall be made except upon a preponderance of the evidence.
9. A claimant shall be ineligible for waiting week credit or benefits for any week such claimant has an outstanding penalty which was assessed based upon an overpayment of benefits, as provided for in subsection 9 of section 288.380.
10. The directors of the division of employment security and the division of workforce development shall submit to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president pro tem of the senate no later than October 15, 2006, a report outlining their recommendations for how to improve work search verification and claimant reemployment activities. The recommendations shall include, but not limited to how to best utilize "greathires.org", and how to reduce the average duration of unemployment insurance claims. Each calendar year thereafter, the directors shall submit a report containing their recommendations on these issues by December thirty-first of each year.
288.060. 1. All benefits shall be paid through employment offices in accordance with such regulations as the division may prescribe.
2. Each eligible insured worker who is totally unemployed in any week shall be paid for such week a sum equal to his or her weekly benefit amount.
3. Each eligible insured worker who is partially unemployed in any week shall be paid for such week a partial benefit. Such partial benefit shall be an amount equal to the difference between his or her weekly benefit amount and that part of his or her wages for such week in excess of twenty dollars, and, if such partial benefit amount is not a multiple of one dollar, such amount shall be reduced to the nearest lower full dollar amount. For calendar year 2007 and each year thereafter, such partial benefit shall be an amount equal to the difference between his or her weekly benefit amount and that part of his or her wages for such week in excess of twenty dollars or twenty percent of his or her weekly benefit amount, whichever is greater, and, if such partial benefit amount is not a multiple of one dollar, such amount shall be reduced to the nearest lower full dollar amount. Termination pay, severance pay or pay received by an eligible insured worker who is a member of the organized militia for training or duty authorized by Section 502(a)(1) of Title 32, United States Code, shall not be considered wages for the purpose of this subsection.
4. The division shall compute the wage credits for each individual by crediting him or her with the wages paid to him or her for insured work during each quarter of his or her base period or twenty-six times his or her weekly benefit amount, whichever is the lesser. In addition, if a claimant receives wages in the form of termination pay or severance pay and such payment appears in a base period established by the filing of an initial claim, the claimant may, at his or her option, choose to have such payment included in the calendar quarter in which it was paid or choose to have it prorated equally among the quarters comprising the base period of the claim. The maximum total amount of benefits payable to any insured worker during any benefit year shall not exceed [twenty-six] twenty times his or her weekly benefit amount, or thirty-three and one-third percent of his or her wage credits, whichever is the lesser. For the purpose of this section, wages shall be counted as wage credits for any benefit year, only if such benefit year begins subsequent to the date on which the employing unit by whom such wages were paid has become an employer. The wage credits of an individual earned during the period commencing with the end of a prior base period and ending on the date on which he or she filed an allowed initial claim shall not be available for benefit purposes in a subsequent benefit year unless, in addition thereto, such individual has subsequently earned either wages for insured work in an amount equal to at least five times his or her current weekly benefit amount or wages in an amount equal to at least ten times his or her current weekly benefit amount.
5. In the event that benefits are due a deceased person and no petition has been filed for the probate of the will or for the administration of the estate of such person within thirty days after his or her death, the division may by regulation provide for the payment of such benefits to such person or persons as the division finds entitled thereto and every such payment shall be a valid payment to the same extent as if made to the legal representatives of the deceased.
6. The division is authorized to cancel any benefit warrant remaining outstanding and unpaid one year after the date of its issuance and there shall be no liability for the payment of any such benefit warrant thereafter.
7. The division may establish an electronic funds transfer system to transfer directly to claimants' accounts in financial institutions benefits payable to them pursuant to this chapter. To receive benefits by electronic funds transfer, a claimant shall satisfactorily complete a direct deposit application form authorizing the division to deposit benefit payments into a designated checking or savings account. Any electronic funds transfer system created pursuant to this subsection shall be administered in accordance with regulations prescribed by the division.
8. The division may issue a benefit warrant covering more than one week of benefits.
9. Prior to January 1, 2005, the division shall institute procedures including, but not limited to, name, date of birth, and Social Security verification matches for remote claims filing via the use of telephone or the Internet in accordance with such regulations as the division shall prescribe. At a minimum, the division shall verify the Social Security number and date of birth when an individual claimant initially files for unemployment insurance benefits. If verification information does not match what is on file in division databases to what the individual is stating, the division shall require the claimant to submit a division-approved form requesting an affidavit of eligibility prior to the payment of additional future benefits. The division of employment security shall cross-check unemployment compensation applicants and recipients with Social Security Administration data maintained by the federal government at least weekly. The division of employment security shall cross-check at least monthly unemployment compensation applicants and recipients with department of revenue drivers license databases.
288.062. 1. As used in this section, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) "Extended benefit period" means a period which begins with the third week after a week for which there is a state "on" indicator, and ends with either of the following weeks, whichever occurs later:
(a) The third week after the first week for which there is a state "off" indicator; or
(b) The thirteenth consecutive week of such period; provided, that no extended benefit period may begin by reason of a state "on" indicator before the fourteenth week following the end of a prior extended benefit period which was in effect with respect to this state;
(2) There is a "state 'on' indicator" for this state for a week if the director determines, in accordance with the regulations of the United States Secretary of Labor, that for the period consisting of such week and the immediately preceding twelve weeks, the rate of insured unemployment (not seasonally adjusted) under this law:
(a) a. Equaled or exceeded one hundred twenty percent of the average of such rates for the corresponding thirteen-week period ending in each of the preceding two calendar years; and
[(b)] b. Equaled or exceeded four percent for weeks beginning prior to or on September 25, 1982, or five percent for weeks beginning after September 25, 1982; except that, if the rate of insured unemployment as contemplated in this subdivision equals or exceeds five percent for weeks beginning prior to or on September 25, 1982, or six percent for weeks beginning after September 25, 1982, the determination of an "on" indicator shall be made under this subdivision as if this subdivision did not contain the provisions of subparagraph a. of paragraph (a) of this subdivision; or
[(c)] (b) With respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after February 1, 2009, and ending on or before the week ending four weeks prior to the last week of unemployment for which one hundred percent federal sharing is available under the provisions of Public Law 111-5, Section 2005(a) or [March 3, 2011] August 28, 2013, whichever should occur first:
a. The average rate of total unemployment in the state (seasonally adjusted), as determined by the United States Secretary of Labor, for the period consisting of the most recent three months for which data for all states are published before the close of such week equals or exceeds six and one-half percent; and
b. The average rate of total unemployment in the state (seasonally adjusted), as determined by the United States Secretary of Labor, for the three-month period referred to in subparagraph a. of this paragraph, equals or exceeds one hundred and ten percent of such average for either or both of the corresponding three-month periods ending in the two preceding calendar years; or
c. Effective with respect to compensation for weeks of unemployment beginning after the date of enactment of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, Public Law 111-312, and ending on or before the last day allowable by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, the average rate of total unemployment in the state (seasonally adjusted), as determined by the United States Secretary of Labor, for the three-month period referred to in subparagraph a. of this paragraph, equals or exceeds one hundred and ten percent of such average for any or all of the corresponding three-month periods ending in the three preceding calendar years;
(3) There is a "state 'off' indicator" for this state for a week if the director determines, in accordance with the regulations of the United States Secretary of Labor, that for the period consisting of such week and the immediately preceding twelve weeks, the rate of insured unemployment (not seasonally adjusted) under this law:
(a) Was less than one hundred twenty percent of the average of such rates for the corresponding thirteen-week period ending in each of the preceding two calendar years; or
(b) Was less than four percent (five percent for weeks beginning after September 25, 1982); except, there shall not be an "off" indicator for any week in which an "on" indicator as contemplated in subparagraph b. of paragraph [(b)] (a) of subdivision (2) of this subsection exists;
(4) "Rate of insured unemployment", for the purposes of subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection, means the percentage derived by dividing:
(a) The average weekly number of individuals filing claims for regular compensation in this state for weeks of unemployment with respect to the most recent thirteen-consecutive-week period, as determined by the director on the basis of his or her reports to the United States Secretary of Labor, by
(b) The average monthly employment covered under this law for the first four of the most recent six completed calendar quarters ending before the end of such thirteen-week period;
(5) "Regular benefits" means benefits payable to an individual under this law or under any other state law (including benefits payable to federal civilian employees and ex-servicemen pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Chapter 85) other than extended benefits;
(6) "Extended benefits" means benefits (including benefits payable to federal civilian employees and to ex-servicemen pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Chapter 85) payable to an individual under the provisions of this section for weeks of unemployment in his or her eligibility period;
(7) "Eligibility period" of an individual means the period consisting of the weeks in his or her benefit year which begin in an extended benefit period and, if his or her benefit year ends within such extended benefit period, any weeks thereafter which begin in such period;
(8) "Exhaustee" means an individual who, with respect to any week of unemployment in his or her eligibility period:
(a) Has received, prior to such week, all of the regular benefits that were available to him or her under this law or any other state law (including dependents' allowances and benefits payable to federal civilian employees and ex-servicemen under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 85) in his or her current benefit year that includes such week; provided, that, for the purposes of this paragraph, an individual shall be deemed to have received all of the regular benefits that were available to him or her although as a result of a pending appeal with respect to wages or employment, or both, that were not considered in the original monetary determination in his or her benefit year, he may subsequently be determined to be entitled to added regular benefits; or
(b) Has received, prior to such week, all the regular compensation available to him or her in his or her current benefit year that includes such week under the unemployment compensation law of the state in which he or she files a claim for extended compensation or the unemployment compensation law of any other state after a cancellation of some or all of his or her wage credits or the partial or total reduction of his or her right to regular compensation; or
(c) His or her benefit year having expired prior to such week, he or she has insufficient wages or employment, or both, on the basis of which he or she could establish in any state a new benefit year that would include such week, or having established a new benefit year that includes such week, he or she is precluded from receiving regular compensation by reason of a state law provision which meets the requirement of section 3304(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954; and
(d) a. Has no right to unemployment benefits or allowances, as the case may be, under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the Automotive Products Trade Act of 1965 and such other federal laws as are specified in regulations issued by the United States Secretary of Labor; and
b. Has not received and is not seeking unemployment benefits under the unemployment compensation law of Canada; but if he or she is seeking such benefits and the appropriate agency finally determines that he or she is not entitled to benefits under such law he or she is considered an exhaustee;
(9) "State law" means the unemployment insurance law of any state, approved by the United States Secretary of Labor under Section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
2. Except when the result would be inconsistent with the other provisions of this section, as provided in the regulations of the director, the provisions of this law which apply to claims for, or the payment of, regular benefits shall apply to claims for, and the payment of, extended benefits.
3. An individual shall be eligible to receive extended benefits with respect to any week of unemployment in his or her eligibility period only if the deputy finds that with respect to such week:
(1) He or she is an exhaustee as defined in subdivision (8) of subsection 1 of this section;
(2) He or she has satisfied the requirements of this law for the receipt of regular benefits that are applicable to individuals claiming extended benefits, including not being subject to a disqualification for the receipt of benefits; except that, in the case of a claim for benefits filed in another state, which is acting as an agent state under the Interstate Benefits Payment Plan as provided by regulation, which claim is based on benefit credits accumulated in this state, eligibility for extended benefits shall be limited to the first two compensable weeks unless there is an extended benefit period in effect in both this state and the agent state in which the claim was filed;
(3) The other provisions of this law notwithstanding, as to new extended benefit claims filed after September 25, 1982, an individual shall be eligible to receive extended benefits with respect to any week of unemployment in his or her eligibility period only if the deputy finds that the total wages in the base period of his or her benefit year equal at least one and one-half times the wages paid during that quarter of his or her base period in which his or her wages were highest.
4. A claimant shall not be eligible for extended benefits following any disqualification imposed under subsection 1 or 2 of section 288.050, unless subsequent to the effective date of the disqualification, the claimant has been employed during at least four weeks and has earned wages equal to at least four times his or her weekly benefit amount.
5. For the purposes of determining eligibility for extended benefits, the term "suitable work" means any work which is within such individual's capabilities except that, if the individual furnishes satisfactory evidence that the prospects for obtaining work in his or her customary occupation within a reasonably short period are good, the determination of what constitutes suitable work shall be made in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of section 288.050. If a deputy finds that a person who is claiming extended benefits has refused to accept or to apply for suitable work, as defined in this subsection, or has failed to actively engage in seeking work subsequent to the effective date of his or her claim for extended benefits, that person shall be ineligible for extended benefits for the period beginning with the first day of the week in which such refusal or failure occurred. That ineligibility shall remain in effect until the person has been employed for at least four weeks after the week in which the refusal or failure occurred and has earned wages equal to at least four times his or her weekly benefit amount.
6. Extended benefits shall not be denied under subsection 5 of this section to any individual for any week by reason of a failure to accept an offer of or apply for suitable work if:
(1) The gross average weekly remuneration for such work does not exceed the individual's weekly benefit amount plus the amount of any supplemental unemployment benefits, as defined in section 501(c)(17)(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, payable to such individual for such week; or
(2) The position was not offered to such individual in writing or was not listed with the state employment service; or
(3) If the remuneration for the work offered is less than the minimum wage provided by Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, without regard to any exemption or any applicable state or local minimum wage, whichever is the greater.
7. For the purposes of this section, an individual shall be considered as actively engaged in seeking work during any week with respect to which the individual has engaged in a systematic and sustained effort to obtain work as indicated by tangible evidence which the individual provides to the division.
8. Extended benefits shall not be denied for failure to apply for or to accept suitable work if such failure would not result in a denial of benefits under subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of section 288.050 to the extent that the provisions of subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of section 288.050 are not inconsistent with the provisions of subsections 5 and 6 of this section.
9. The division shall refer any claimant entitled to extended benefits under this law to any suitable work which meets the criteria established in subsections 5 and 6 of this section.
10. Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, as to claims of extended benefits, subsections 4 to 9 of this section shall not apply to weeks of unemployment beginning after March 6, 1993, and before January 1, 1995. Entitlement to extended benefits for weeks beginning after March 6, 1993, and before January 1, 1995, shall be determined in accordance with provisions of this chapter not excluded by this subsection.
11. "Weekly extended benefit amount." The weekly extended benefit amount payable to an individual for a week of total unemployment in his or her eligibility period shall be an amount equal to the weekly benefit amount payable to him or her during his or her applicable benefit year, reduced by a percentage equal to the percentage of the reduction in federal payments to states under Section 204 of the Federal State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, in accord with any order issued under any law of the United States. Such weekly benefit amount, if not a multiple of one dollar, shall be reduced to the nearest lower full dollar amount.
12. (1) "Total extended benefit amount." The total extended benefit amount payable to any eligible individual with respect to his or her applicable benefit year shall be the lesser of the following amounts:
(a) Fifty percent of the total amount of regular benefits which were payable to him or her under this law in his or her applicable benefit year;
(b) Thirteen times his or her weekly benefit amount which was payable to him or her under this law for a week of total unemployment in the applicable benefit year.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, during any fiscal year in which federal payments to states under Section 204 of the Federal State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 are reduced under any order issued under any law of the United States, the total extended benefit amount payable to an individual with respect to his or her applicable benefit year shall be reduced by an amount equal to the aggregate of the reductions under subsection 11 of this section in the weekly amounts paid to the individual.
(3) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subsection, if the benefit year of any individual ends within an extended benefit period, the remaining balance of extended benefits that such individual would, but for this subdivision, be entitled to receive in that extended benefit period, with respect to weeks of unemployment beginning after the end of the benefit year, shall be reduced, but not below zero, by the product of the number of weeks for which the individual received trade readjustment allowances under the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, within that benefit year, multiplied by the individual's weekly benefit amount for extended benefits.
(4) (a) Effective with respect to weeks beginning in a high unemployment period, subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be applied by substituting:
a. Eighty percent for fifty percent in paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of this subsection; and
b. Twenty times for thirteen times in paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(b) For purposes of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the term "high unemployment period" means any period during which an extended benefit period would be in effect if subparagraph a. of paragraph [(c)] (b) of subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of this section were applied by substituting eight percent for six and one-half percent.
13. (1) Whenever an extended benefit period is to become effective in this state as a result of a state "on" indicator, or an extended benefit period is to be terminated in this state as a result of a state "off" indicator, the director shall make an appropriate public announcement.
(2) Computations required by the provisions of subdivision (4) of subsection 1 of this section shall be made by the director, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the United States Secretary of Labor.
Section B. Because immediate action is necessary to help Missourians during economic hardship, section A of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace, and safety, and is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and section A of this act shall be in full force and effect upon its passage and approval.
•
