Amended in Assembly May 31, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 21, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2197

Introduced by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia

February 18, 2016

An act to amend Section 1253.3 begin delete of, and to amend and repeal Sections 1451, 1452, and 1453 of, end delete begin insert of end insert the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to unemployment insurance, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2197, as amended, Cristina Garcia. Unemployment insurance: classified employees.

Existing law provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits and extended duration benefits to eligible persons who meet specified requirements. Existing law prohibits the payment of unemployment benefits to educational institution employees of a public entity, as defined, including teachers, researchers, and administrators for the period between 2 academic years when there is a reasonable assurance that the employee will perform his or her regular services in the subsequent academic year, except as specified. Existing law similarly prohibits the payment of unemployment benefits to specified educational institution employees of a public entity other than teachers, researchers, or begin delete administrators, end delete begin insert administrators end insert between 2 academic years, except as specified, but provides a procedure for this 2nd category of educational employees, under certain conditions, to seek payment of retroactive unemployment benefits for the period between 2 academic years. Existing law requires specified notice regarding reasonable assurance of employment in the following academic term be sent to employees before the end of the current academic term. begin delete Existing law also authorizes payment of unemployment insurance benefits, using funds from the State Department of Education, to the 2nd category of educational employees at specified schools between academic terms in circumstances where benefits would otherwise be denied. end delete

This bill would delete the prohibition on the payment of unemployment benefits to education employees of a public school, other than teachers, researchers, and administrators, as specified, between 2 academic years. The bill would phase in up to 8 weeks of benefits available to those specified employees over a 4-year timeframe begin delete and end delete begin delete would make conforming changes, including eliminating the provisions for payment of unemployment benefits to these employees at specified schools. end delete begin insert contingent on funds being appropriated for that end insert begin insert purpose in the annual Budget Act. end insert

Because this bill would expand the categories of people who could receive benefits from the Unemployment Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 1253.3 of the Unemployment Insurance
Code is amended to read:

1253.3.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
division, unemployment compensation benefits, extended duration
benefits, and federal-state extended benefits are payable on the
basis of service to which Section 3309(a)(1) of the Internal
Revenue Code applies, in the same amount, on the same terms,
and subject to the same conditions as benefits payable on the basis
of other service subject to this division, except as provided by this
section.

(b) Benefits specified by subdivision (a) based on service
performed in the employ of a nonprofit organization, or of a public
entity, as defined by Section 605, with respect to service in an
instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity for an
educational institution are not payable to any individual with
respect to any week which begins during the period between two
successive academic years or terms or, when an agreement provides
instead for a similar period between two regular but not successive
terms, during that period, or during a period of paid sabbatical
leave provided for in the individual’s contract, if the individual
performs services in the first of the academic years or terms and
if there is a contract or a reasonable assurance that the individual
will perform services for any educational institution in the second
of the academic years or terms.

(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), benefits specified
by subdivision (a) based on service performed in the employ of a
nonprofit organization, or of a public entity, as defined by Section
605, with respect to service in any other capacity than specified
in subdivision (b) for an educational institution shall not be payable
to any individual with respect to any week which commences
during a period between two successive academic years or terms
if the individual performs the service in the first of the academic
years or terms and there is a reasonable assurance that the
individual will perform the service in the second of the academic
years or terms. However, if the individual was not offered an
opportunity to perform the services for an educational institution
for the second of the academic years or terms, the individual shall
be entitled to a retroactive payment of benefits for each week for
which the individual filed a timely claim for benefits and for which
benefits were denied solely by reason of this subdivision.
Retroactive benefits shall be claimed in accordance with the
department’s procedures which shall specify that except where the
individual was entitled to benefits based on services performed
for other than an educational institution, an individual who has a
reasonable assurance of reemployment may satisfy the search for
work requirement of subdivision (e) of Section 1253, by registering
for work pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1253 during the
period between the first and second academic terms or years. A
claim for retroactive benefits may be made no later than 30 days
following the commencement of the second academic year or term.

(2) Benefits specified by subdivision (a) are authorized for an
employee of a public school, as defined in Section 22161 of the
Education Code, for the period between two successive academic
years or terms, as described in paragraph (1), as follows:

(A) Two weeks of benefits during 2017, beginning July begin delete 1. end delete begin insert 1,
provided that funds are appropriated for that purpose in the annual
Budget Act. end insert

(B) Four weeks of benefits during 2018, beginning July begin delete 1. end delete begin insert 1,
provided that funds are appropriated for that purpose in the annual
Budget Act end insert begin insert . end insert

(C) Six weeks of benefits during 2019, beginning July begin delete 1. end delete begin insert 1,
provided that funds are appropriated for that purpose in the annual
Budget Act end insert begin insert . end insert

(D) Eight weeks of benefits during 2020, and each year
thereafter, beginning July begin delete 1. end delete begin insert 1, provided that funds are
appropriated for that purpose in the annual Budget Act. end insert

(d) Benefits specified by subdivision (a) based on service
performed in the employ of a nonprofit organization, or of any
entity as defined by Section 605, with respect to services specified
by subdivision (b) or (c), are not payable to any individual with
respect to any week that commences during an established and
customary vacation period or holiday recess if the individual
performs the specified services in the period immediately before
the vacation period or holiday recess, and there is a reasonable
assurance that the individual will perform the services in the period
immediately following the vacation period or holiday recess.

(e) With respect to any services specified by subdivision (b) or
(c), compensation payable on the basis of services in that capacity
may be denied as specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (d) to any
individual who performed the services in an educational institution
while in the employ of an educational service agency, and for this
purpose the term “educational service agency” is defined as a
governmental agency or governmental entity that is established
and operated exclusively for the purpose of providing the services
to one or more educational institutions.

(f) Benefits specified by subdivision (a) based on service
performed in the employ of a nonprofit organization, or of any
entity as defined by Section 605, are not payable during the periods
of time, and subject to the same conditions, contained in
subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (h), if the services are provided to,
or on behalf of, an educational institution.

(g) For purposes of this section, “reasonable assurance” includes,
but is not limited to, an offer of employment or assignment made
by the educational institution, provided that the offer or assignment
is not contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes. An
individual who has been notified that he or she will be replaced
and does not have an offer of employment or assignment to perform
services for an educational institution is not considered to have
reasonable assurance.

(h) For purposes of this section, if the time for service performed
during the period of and pursuant to any contract for any academic
year or term by an individual for any employing unit as specified
in subdivision (b) or (c) constitutes one-half or more of the time
in total service performed for the employing unit by the individual
during that same period for remuneration, all the services of the
individual for the employing unit for that period shall be deemed
subject to the benefit payment restriction provisions of this section.

(i) Any entity as defined by Section 605, with respect to any
individual performing a service in any other capacity other than
specified in subdivision (b) for an educational institution, shall
provide a written statement indicating the following to the
individual no later than 30 days before the end of the first of the
academic years or terms:

(1) Whether or not there is a reasonable assurance of
reemployment.

(2) Whether or not it is stated that the individual has no
reasonable assurance of reemployment, that the individual should
file a claim for benefits at the close of the academic year or term.

(3) If it is stated that the individual has reasonable assurance of
reemployment, the written statement shall also inform the employee
that he or she may file a claim for benefits and that the
determination for eligibility for benefits is made by the
Employment Development Department and not by the employer.

(4) If it is stated that the individual has reasonable assurance of
reemployment, that the individual shall be entitled to a retroactive
payment of benefits if the individual is not offered an opportunity
to perform the services for the educational institution for the second
of the academic years or terms, if the individual is otherwise
eligible and he or she filed a claim for each week benefits are
claimed, and if a claim for retroactive benefits is made no later
than 30 days following the commencement of the second academic
year or term.

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 1451 of the Unemployment Insurance Code
is amended to read:

1451.  

(a) Nonprofessional employees of the Fremont and
Riverside campuses of the California School for the Deaf, the
Fremont campus of the California School for the Blind, and the
diagnostic schools for individuals with neurological disabilities
located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Fresno, shall be eligible
for benefits provided by this chapter, on the same terms and
conditions as are specified by this part, Part 3 (commencing with
Section 3501), and Part 4 (commencing with Section 4001), for
all other individuals, except where inconsistent with this chapter.
Except where inconsistent with this chapter, this division and
authorized regulations shall apply to any matter arising pursuant
to this chapter.

(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and,
as of January 1, 2018, is repealed.

SEC. 3.  

Section 1452 of the Unemployment Insurance Code
is amended to read:

1452.  

(a) Notwithstanding Section 1253.3, between terms
unemployment compensation benefits are payable by the
Controller, from funds appropriated for support of the State
Department of Education and allocated to the state special schools,
upon authorization by the Employment Development Department
to individuals who are eligible to receive these benefits under this
chapter. These benefits shall only be paid for weeks of
unemployment occurring between school terms and during an
established and customary vacation period or holiday recess when
other benefits are denied solely by reason of Section 1253.3.

(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and,
as of January 1, 2018, is repealed.

SEC. 4.  

Section 1453 of the Unemployment Insurance Code
is amended to read:

1453.  

(a) There shall be transferred to the Employment
Development Department from funds appropriated for support of
the State Department of Education and allocated to the state special
schools, at the times and in the manner provided in subdivision
(b), an amount equal to the additional cost to the Employment
Development Department for added administrative work arising
out of this chapter.

(b) The director shall determine the sums he or she estimates
the department will be entitled to receive from the State Department
of Education under this section for each fiscal year, reduced or
increased by any sum by which he or she finds that his or her
estimates for any prior fiscal year were greater or less than the
amounts which were actually required. The sum of the amounts
transferred or expended pursuant to Section 1452, subdivision (a),
and this subdivision in any one fiscal year shall not exceed the
amount appropriated in the then current fiscal year to the State
Department of Education for the purposes of this chapter.

(c) The director may require from the State Department of
Education the employment, wage, financial, statistical, or other
information and reports, properly verified, as may be deemed
necessary by the director to carry out his or her duties under this
division, which shall be filed with the director at the time and in
the manner prescribed by him or her.

(d) The director may tabulate and publish information obtained
pursuant to this chapter in statistical form and may divulge the
name of the employing unit.

(e) The State Department of Education shall provide each
employee subject to this chapter, at the end of each school term,
with written information advising the employee of benefit rights
pursuant to this chapter.

(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2017, and,
as of January 1, 2018, is repealed.

end delete