BILL NUMBER: AB 2028	CHAPTERED  09/25/04

	CHAPTER  776
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 25, 2004
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 24, 2004
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 24, 2004
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 17, 2004

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Koretz

                        FEBRUARY 13, 2004

   An act to amend Section 1265.1 of the Unemployment Insurance Code,
relating to unemployment insurance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2028, Koretz.  Unemployment insurance:  WARN Act.
   Existing unemployment insurance law provides unemployment
compensation benefits to eligible unemployed individuals.  Existing
law specifies that a person is "unemployed" in any week during which
he or she performs no services and with respect to which no wages are
payable to him or her. Existing law requires that payments received
from an employer pursuant to the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining
Notification (WARN) Act not be construed as wages or compensation
for personal services for purposes of determination of eligibility
for unemployment compensation benefits.
   Existing labor law precludes employers from ordering a mass
layoff, relocation, or termination of an industrial or commercial
facility employing a prescribed number of people, without first
giving 60 days' notice to affected employees and specified government
agencies.  Payments to an employee by an employer who is liable to
that person, under either those labor law provisions or the WARN Act,
are not considered wages or compensation for personal services for
purposes of unemployment insurance, and unemployment insurance
benefits may not be denied or reduced by those payments.
   This bill, by adding a similar provision to the unemployment
insurance law, would clarify that payments received from an employer
pursuant to the specified labor law provisions may not be construed
as wages or compensation for personal services for purposes of
determination of eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 1265.1 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
   1265.1.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division,
payments to an individual by an employer who has failed to provide
the advance notice of facility closure required by the federal Worker
Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act (29 U.S.C. Sec.
2101 et seq.) or Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1400) of Part 4
of Division 2 of the Labor Code may not be construed to be wages or
compensation for personal services under this division.
   (b) Benefits payable under this division may not be denied or
reduced because of the receipt of payments related in any way to an
employer's violation of the WARN Act or Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 1400) of Part 4 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.