BILL NUMBER: AB 274 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Garrick
FEBRUARY 7, 2011
An act to amend Sections 1030, 1327, and 1328 of
add Section 1028.5 to the Unemployment Insurance
Code, relating to unemployment insurance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 274, as amended, Garrick. Unemployment insurance benefits:
claims: right to respond.
Existing law requires the Employment Development Department to
provide notice of the filing of an unemployment claim to the claimant'
s last employing unit, and requires the employing unit to submit,
within 10 days after the mailing of the notice, any facts that may
affect the claimant's eligibility for benefits, as specified ,
and permits this 10-day period to be extended for good cause .
This bill would extend the time in which the employing
unit is required to submit those facts to 30 days and would make
conforming changes to other related provisions
additionally require the department, when notifying an employing unit
that an unemployment claim has been filed, to provide a
direct link to its Internet Web site to the page that describes what
circumstances establish good cause .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1028.5 is added to the
Unemployment Insurance Code , to read:
1028.5. When notifying an employing unit that an unemployment
claim has been filed, the department shall provide a direct Internet
Web site link to the page that describes what circumstances establish
good cause, which link is available at
http://www.edd.ca.gov/UIBDG/Miscellaneous_MI_40.htm or its successor
Web site address, as it may be updated.
SECTION 1. Section 1030 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
1030. (a) Any employer who is entitled under Section 1327 to
receive notice of the filing of a new or additional claim may, within
30 days after mailing of the notice, submit to the department any
facts within its possession disclosing whether the claimant left the
employer's employ voluntarily and without good cause or left under
one of the following circumstances:
(1) The claimant was discharged from the employment for misconduct
connected with his or her work.
(2) The claimant's discharge or quitting from his or her most
recent employer was the result of an irresistible compulsion to use
or consume intoxicants including alcoholic beverages.
(3) The claimant was a student employed on a temporary basis and
whose employment began within, and ended with his or her leaving to
return to school at the close of, his or her vacation period.
(4) The claimant left the employer's employ to accompany his or
her spouse or domestic partner to a place or to join him or her at a
place from which it is impractical to commute to the employment, and
to which a transfer of the claimant by the employer is not available.
(5) The claimant left the employer's employ to protect his or her
family or himself or herself from domestic violence abuse.
The period during which the employer may submit these facts may be
extended by the director for good cause.
(b) Any base period employer that is not entitled under Section
1327 to receive notice of the filing of a new or additional claim and
is entitled under Section 1329 to receive notice of computation may,
within 15 days after mailing of the notice of computation, submit to
the department any facts within its possession disclosing whether
the claimant left the employer's employ voluntarily and without good
cause or left under one of the following circumstances:
(1) The claimant was discharged from the employment for misconduct
connected with his or her work.
(2) The claimant was a student employed on a temporary basis and
whose employment began within, and ended with his or her leaving to
return to school at the close of, his or her vacation period.
(3) The claimant left the employer's employ to accompany his or
her spouse or domestic partner to a place or join him or her at a
place from which it is impractical to commute to the employment, and
to which a transfer of the claimant by the employer is not available.
(4) The claimant left the employer's employ to protect his or her
family or himself or herself from domestic violence abuse.
The period during which the employer may submit these facts may be
extended by the director for good cause.
(c) The department shall consider these facts together with any
information in its possession. If the employer is entitled to a
ruling under subdivision (b) or to a determination under Section
1328, the department shall promptly notify the employer of its ruling
as to the cause of the termination of the claimant's employment. The
employer may appeal from a ruling or reconsidered ruling to an
administrative law judge within 20 days after mailing or personal
service of notice of the ruling or reconsidered ruling. The 20-day
period may be extended for good cause, which includes, but is not
limited to, mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.
The director is an interested party to any appeal. The department may
for good cause reconsider any ruling or reconsidered ruling within
either five days after the date an appeal to an administrative law
judge is filed or, if no appeal is filed, within 20 days after
mailing or personal service of notice of the ruling or reconsidered
ruling. However, a ruling or reconsidered ruling that relates to a
determination that is reconsidered pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 1332 may also be reconsidered by the department within the
time provided for reconsideration of that determination.
(d) For purposes of this section only, if the claimant voluntarily
leaves the employer's employ without notification to the employer of
the reasons for the leaving, and if the employer submits all of the
facts within its possession concerning the leaving within the
applicable time period referred to in this section, the leaving is
presumed to be without good cause.
(e) An individual whose employment is terminated under the
compulsory retirement provisions of a collective bargaining agreement
to which the employer is a party shall not be deemed to have
voluntarily left his or her employment without good cause.
(f) For purposes of this section "spouse" includes a person to
whom marriage is imminent, and "domestic partner" includes a person
to whom a domestic partnership, as described in Section 297 of the
Family Code, is imminent.
SEC. 2. Section 1327 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
1327. The department shall give a notice of the filing of a new
or additional claim to the employing unit by which the claimant was
last employed immediately preceding the filing of the claim unless
the additional claim is the result of the filing of a partial claim
as defined by the department, there has not been a subsequent
employing unit which is designated as the last employer, and there is
no separation issue. The employing unit so notified shall submit
within 30 days after the mailing of the notice any facts then known
that may affect the claimant's eligibility for benefits, including,
but not limited to, facts pertaining to eligibility under Section
1256. The 30-day period may be extended for good cause. If after the
30-day period the employing unit acquires knowledge of facts that may
affect the eligibility of the claimant and facts could not
reasonably have been known within the period, the employing unit
shall, within 30 days of acquiring the knowledge, submit the facts to
the department, and the 30-day period may also be extended for good
cause.
SEC. 3. Section 1328 of the Unemployment
Insurance Code is amended to read:
1328. The department shall consider the facts submitted by an
employer pursuant to Section 1327 and make a determination as to the
claimant's eligibility for benefits. The department shall promptly
notify the claimant and any employer who prior to the determination
has submitted any facts or given any notice pursuant to Section 1327
or this section and authorized regulations of the determination or
reconsidered determination and the reasons therefor. If after notice
of a determination or reconsidered determination the employing unit
acquires knowledge of facts which may affect the eligibility of the
claimant and those facts could not reasonably have been known within
the 30-day period provided by Section 1327, the employing unit shall
within 10 days of acquiring that knowledge submit those facts to the
department, and the 10-day period may be extended for good cause. The
claimant and any such employer may appeal from a determination or
reconsidered determination to an administrative law judge within 20
days from mailing or personal service of notice of the determination
or reconsidered determination. The 20-day period may be extended for
good cause, which shall include, but not be limited to, mistake,
inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. The director shall be
an interested party to any appeal.