SB 320

Current law allows an employer to create a work-share program within a work

unit of the employer. Under a work-share program, the working hours of all of the

full-time employees in the program are reduced in an equitable manner in lieu of a

layoff of some of the employees and a continuation of full-time employment by the

other employees. A claimant for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits who is

included in a work-share program may receive UI benefits during his or her

continued employment with the work-share employer in an amount equal to the

claimant's benefit for total unemployment multiplied by the same percentage

reduction in normal working hours that the claimant incurs under the program.

Current law also provides for the temporary modification of certain requirements

that apply to work-share plans with respect to work-share plans submitted on or

after April 17, 2020, and before the conclusion of a national emergency declared by

the U.S. president in response to the 2019 novel coronavirus or July 4, 2021,

whichever is earlier.

Also, under a provision in federal law, first enacted in the federal CARES Act,

a state with a work-share law may receive payment equal to 100 percent of the

amount of work-share benefits paid under a work-share program under the

provisions of the state law. The CARES Act provided the payments for weeks of

unemployment ending on or before December 31, 2020, but the date has been

extended further, most recently in the federal American Rescue Plan Act. Under the

American Rescue Plan Act, the payments are extended for weeks of unemployment

ending on or before September 6, 2021.

The bill does the following under state law with respect to work-share

programs:

1. Extends the applicability of these modifications to correspond with the date

described above provided in federal law (currently September 6, 2021) so that if

federal law is amended to further extend the end date for the federal payments, the

modifications are extended as well.

2. Adds an additional temporary modification to allow work-share plans to

remain in effect for 12 months in a five-year period, instead of six months.