Bill Amendment: FL S1906 | 2021 | Regular Session

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: Reemployment Assistance

Status: 2021-04-30 - Died in Messages; companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 1463 (Ch. 2021-25) [S1906 Detail]

Download: Florida-2021-S1906-Senate_Committee_Amendment_321614.html

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       Florida Senate - 2021                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1906
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì321614{Î321614                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       The Committee on Commerce and Tourism (Powell) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 15 - 17
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section
    6  443.091, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         443.091 Benefit eligibility conditions.—
    8         (1) An unemployed individual is eligible to receive
    9  benefits for any week only if the Department of Economic
   10  Opportunity finds that:
   11         (d) She or he is able to work and is available for work. In
   12  order to assess eligibility for a claimed week of unemployment,
   13  the department shall develop criteria to determine a claimant’s
   14  ability to work and availability for work. A claimant must be
   15  actively seeking work in order to be considered available for
   16  work. This means engaging in systematic and sustained efforts to
   17  find work, including contacting at least three five prospective
   18  employers for each week of unemployment claimed. For the
   19  purposes of meeting the requirements of this paragraph, a
   20  claimant may contact prospective employers by submitting a
   21  resume to an employer through an online job search service or a
   22  claimant may contact prospective employers through traditional
   23  work searches. A claimant who submits a resume to at least three
   24  employers through an online job search service satisfies the
   25  work search requirements of this paragraph. The department may
   26  require the claimant to provide proof of such efforts to the
   27  one-stop career center as part of reemployment services. A
   28  claimant’s proof of work search efforts may not include the same
   29  prospective employer at the same location in 3 consecutive
   30  weeks, unless the employer has indicated since the time of the
   31  initial contact that the employer is hiring. The department
   32  shall conduct random reviews of work search information provided
   33  by claimants. As an alternative to contacting at least three
   34  five prospective employers for any week of unemployment claimed,
   35  a claimant may, for that same week, report in person to a one
   36  stop career center to meet with a representative of the center
   37  and access reemployment services of the center. The center shall
   38  keep a record of the services or information provided to the
   39  claimant and shall provide the records to the department upon
   40  request by the department. However:
   41         1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph or
   42  paragraphs (b) and (e), an otherwise eligible individual may not
   43  be denied benefits for any week because she or he is in training
   44  with the approval of the department, or by reason of s.
   45  443.101(2) relating to failure to apply for, or refusal to
   46  accept, suitable work. Training may be approved by the
   47  department in accordance with criteria prescribed by rule. A
   48  claimant’s eligibility during approved training is contingent
   49  upon satisfying eligibility conditions prescribed by rule.
   50         2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an
   51  otherwise eligible individual who is in training approved under
   52  s. 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, may not be
   53  determined ineligible or disqualified for benefits due to
   54  enrollment in such training or because of leaving work that is
   55  not suitable employment to enter such training. As used in this
   56  subparagraph, the term “suitable employment” means work of a
   57  substantially equal or higher skill level than the worker’s past
   58  adversely affected employment, as defined for purposes of the
   59  Trade Act of 1974, as amended, the wages for which are at least
   60  80 percent of the worker’s average weekly wage as determined for
   61  purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.
   62         3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an
   63  otherwise eligible individual may not be denied benefits for any
   64  week because she or he is before any state or federal court
   65  pursuant to a lawfully issued summons to appear for jury duty.
   66         4. Union members who customarily obtain employment through
   67  a union hiring hall may satisfy the work search requirements of
   68  this paragraph by reporting daily to their union hall.
   69         5. The work search requirements of this paragraph do not
   70  apply to persons who are unemployed as a result of a temporary
   71  layoff or who are claiming benefits under an approved short-time
   72  compensation plan as provided in s. 443.1116.
   73         6. In small counties as defined in s. 120.52(19), a
   74  claimant engaging in systematic and sustained efforts to find
   75  work must contact at least three prospective employers for each
   76  week of unemployment claimed.
   77         7. The work search requirements of this paragraph do not
   78  apply to persons required to participate in reemployment
   79  services under paragraph (e).
   80         Section 2. Subsection (3) and paragraph (b) of subsection
   81  (5) of section 443.111, Florida Statutes, are amended, and
   82  paragraph (b) of subsection (1) is republished, to read:
   83         443.111 Payment of benefits.—
   84         (1) MANNER OF PAYMENT.—Benefits are payable from the fund
   85  in accordance with rules adopted by the Department of Economic
   86  Opportunity, subject to the following requirements:
   87         (b) As required under s. 443.091(1), each claimant must
   88  report at least biweekly to receive reemployment assistance
   89  benefits and to attest to the fact that she or he is able and
   90  available for work, has not refused suitable work, is seeking
   91  work and has met the requirements of s. 443.091(1)(d), and, if
   92  she or he has worked, to report earnings from that work. Each
   93  claimant must continue to report regardless of any appeal or
   94  pending appeal relating to her or his eligibility or
   95  disqualification for benefits.
   96  
   97  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   98  And the title is amended as follows:
   99         Between lines 2 and 3
  100  insert:
  101         s. 443.091, F.S.; revising requirements for
  102         reemployment assistance benefits eligibility; amending