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Senate Engrossed House Bill |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-first Legislature First Regular Session 2013
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HOUSE BILL 2147 |
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AN ACT
Amending section 23‑772, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 23, chapter 4, article 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 23‑774; amending section 23‑787, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to unemployment benefits.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 23-772, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
23-772. Claims for benefits; notice to employer of initial claim; posting printed statements dealing with claims
A. Claims for benefits shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the department prescribes. The department shall require an individual claiming benefits to provide information and documents on which the claim is based at the time of filing the claim.
B. All base-period employers of a claimant for benefits shall be promptly notified when a claimant files an initial claim for benefits during a period of unemployment.
C. Each employer shall post and maintain printed statements dealing with claims for benefits in places readily accessible to individuals in his the employer's service, and shall make available to each individual at the time he the individual becomes unemployed, a printed statement dealing with claims for benefits. Printed statements shall be supplied by the department to each employer without cost.
Sec. 2. Title 23, chapter 4, article 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 23-774, to read:
23-774. Burden of proof
A. The department shall require an individual who files a claim for benefits to provide documentation or information sufficient for the department to determine the individual's eligibility for benefits. If an individual who files a claim for benefits has the ability to produce documents or information and fails to produce the documents or information, the department may find the individual's claim for unemployment benefits invalid until the documents or information are produced.
B. On request by the department, an employer shall provide relevant documentation to the department to allow the department to determine the individual's eligibility for benefits.
C. If an employer provides documentation that an individual either voluntarily resigned from employment or abandoned the individual's employment, the burden of providing documentation to determine an individual's eligibility for benefits shifts to the individual.
D. Documentation from an employer to show the individual's voluntary resignation or abandonment of employment may include written or verbal statements from the employer detailing the individual's circumstances for leaving employment. Supporting documentation of:
1. A voluntary resignation may include an employer's attestation of the individual's verbal resignation and that work was available for the individual, if the individual did not provide a written resignation.
2. Job abandonment may include an attestation from the employer that the individual failed to report for assigned work and that work was available for the individual.
E. Notwithstanding this section, the department shall make reasonable efforts to obtain the information necessary to determine the eligibility of the individual.
Sec. 3. Section 23-787, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
23-787. Repayment of and deductions for benefits obtained by claimants not entitled to benefits; collection
A. A person who receives any amount as benefits under this chapter to which the person is not entitled is liable to repay the overpaid amount to the department. The department may deduct all or a portion of the overpayment from future benefits payable to the person under this chapter.
B. If benefits to which a person is not entitled are received by reason of fraud as determined by the department, the person is not eligible to receive any benefits under this chapter until the total amount of the overpayment has and all penalties and interest have been recovered or otherwise satisfied in compliance with a civil judgment.
C. If benefits to which a person is not entitled are received without any fault on the person's part and if repayment or deduction from future benefits would be against equity and good conscience, the department may waive all or a portion of the amount overpaid.
D. If benefits to which a person is not entitled are received without any fault on the person's part, deductions made by the department pursuant to subsection A from benefits payable to an individual for any week shall not exceed twenty‑five per cent of the individual's weekly benefit amount unless required by federal law, except that the amount recouped from benefits payable may be fifty per cent of the weekly benefit amount if the individual has previously received benefits but has not received benefits for at least twelve consecutive months prior to before the most recent receipt of benefits and there has been no reasonable attempt to repay the indebtedness during that period. The fifty per cent recoupment rate may not be put in effect prior to before one year after the establishment of the overpayment.
E. The department shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of subsection D of this section.
F. The attorney general or the appropriate county attorney may institute appropriate court proceedings to recover in the name of the department any amount for which a person is liable to the department.