|
REFERENCE TITLE: unemployment; return-to-work program; suitable work |
|
State of Arizona Senate Fifty-third Legislature Second Regular Session 2018
|
|
SB 1398 |
|
|
|
Introduced by Senator Smith
|
AN ACT
amending title 23, chapter 4, article 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 23-771.02; amending section 23-776, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to employment security.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 23, chapter 4, article 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 23-771.02, to read:
23-771.02. Return-to-work program; program termination
A. The department shall establish a return-to-work program to provide a structured, supervised training opportunity to individuals through employers that volunteer to participate in the program and that meet the requirements that are prescribed in subsection D of this section. An individual in the program shall be at least eighteen years of age and shall register with the department.
B. Individuals may participate in the program on a voluntary basis. An individual who participates in the program shall participate in the program for at least twenty hours but not more than thirty-two hours per week for a period of not to exceed six weeks. Individuals who participate in the program may continue to receive unemployment compensation benefits pursuant to section 23-771.01, subsection A, paragraph 2.
C. The department shall provide workers' compensation coverage to individuals who participate in the program, including coverage for any injury or illness that arises from or in the course of participation in the program with an employer under the program.
D. An employer that participates in the program must:
1. Have employees in this state.
2. Have at least one full-time employment position available in this state.
3. Provide training opportunities that benefit an individual who participates in the program and notify the department when the employer offers an individual a training opportunity under the program.
4. Certify to the department that the employer will not pay any wages to an individual who participates in the program during the individual's participation in the program.
5. Sign a written agreement with each individual who participates in the program that sets forth the terms of the training.
6. Agree that the employer's current employees will not be displaced or lose any promotion rights due to an individual's participation in the program.
7. Provide any additional information that relates to the job training that the department requests.
E. An individual who participates in the program must:
1. Be currently receiving or be eligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits, pursuant to section 23-771.01, subsection A, paragraph 2.
2. Be willing to develop new skills or work experience.
3. Continue to seek work unless otherwise exempt, pursuant to section 23-771.01, subsection A, paragraph 2.
4. Certify to the department that the individual understands that participating in the program does not guarantee the individual any future employment or expectations of being hired by the employer.
5. Attend a mandatory program orientation that the department conducts.
6. Provide any information that the department requests.
F. Employers that offer and individuals who participate in a department‑approved preapprenticeship program may participate in the program established pursuant to this section.
G. The department may not spend monies on the program that is established by this section unless authorized by a legislative appropriation.
H. The program that is established pursuant to this section ends on July 1, 2028 pursuant to section 41-3102.
Sec. 2. Section 23-776, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
23-776. Disqualification from benefits for failure to accept suitable work or actively seek work; exceptions
A. An individual shall be disqualified for benefits if the department finds the individual has failed without cause either to apply for available, suitable work, when so directed by the employment office or the department, to actively engage in seeking work, to accept suitable work when offered, or to return to the individual's customary self‑employment when so directed by the department. The disqualification shall begin with the week in which the failure occurred and shall continue for the duration of the individual's unemployment and until the individual has earned wages in an amount equivalent to eight times the individual's weekly benefit amount otherwise payable.
B. In determining whether or not work is suitable for an individual: ,
1. During the first four weeks of a benefit period, the department shall consider the degree of risk involved to the individual's health, safety and morals, the individual's physical fitness and prior training, the individual's experience and prior earnings, the individual's length of unemployment and prospects for securing local work in the individual's customary occupation and the distance of the available work from the individual's residence.
2. After the first four weeks of a benefit period, the department shall consider any employment offer that pays one hundred twenty percent of the individual's weekly benefit amount to be suitable work.
C. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, work shall not be deemed suitable and benefits shall not be denied under this chapter to an otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work under any of the following conditions:
1. The position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout or other labor dispute.
2. The wages, hours or other conditions of the work offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality.
3. As a condition of being employed the individual would be required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining a bona fide labor organization.
D. An individual is considered to have refused an offer of suitable work under subsection A of this section if an offer of work is withdrawn by an employer after an individual either:
1. Tests positive for drugs after a drug test given pursuant to chapter 2, article 14 of this title by or on behalf of a prospective employer as a condition of an offer of employment.
2. Refuses, without good cause, to submit to a drug test that is required by a prospective employer as a condition of an offer of employment.
Sec. 3. Department of economic security; exemption from rulemaking
For the purposes of implementing section 23‑771.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, the department of economic security is exempt from the rulemaking requirements of title 41, chapter 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, for one year after the effective date of this act.