Bill Text: HI HCR80 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Unemployment Insurance; Domestic Violence

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-04-05 - (S) Referred to PGM/JDL, WAM. [HCR80 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-HCR80-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	80
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the u.s. department of labor to examine federal laws and regulations to allow states to more readily enact unemployment compensation-related laws THAT ALLOW FEAR OF DOMESTIC OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE TO BE a valid reason for not accepting suitable work.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, domestic violence and sex assault is an international issue that permeates all levels of society, affecting people regardless of age, income, education, religion, or culture; and

 

     WHEREAS, a February 2008 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that 23.6 percent of women and 11.5 percent of men reported at least one lifetime episode of intimate-partner violence; and

 

     WHEREAS, the cost of domestic violence to the U.S. economy is more than $8.3 billion annually, including medical care, mental health services, and lost productivity; and

 

     WHEREAS, in addition to the physical and psychological effects of domestic violence on the victim and the victim's family, there are job-related consequences; and

 

     WHEREAS, such violence results in nearly 8,000,000 lost days of paid work per year, or the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs; and

 

     WHEREAS, October 2006 U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics data indicates that domestic violence coming to the workplace accounts for 24 percent of workplace violence incidents; and

     WHEREAS, a study of three large companies in 39 states indicated that ten percent of its workers that responded to the survey were currently going through some form of domestic abuse, and an additional 19 percent of men and 30 percent of women said they had been victims at some point in their lives; and

 

     WHEREAS, in some cases, victims of domestic abuse are victimized in the workplace, thereby creating a dangerous situation not only for the victim, but also for persons at the workplace; and

 

     WHEREAS, safety all persons in the workplace should be a top priority; and

 

     WHEREAS, domestic violence can impede job search efforts for victims of domestic violence who must look for a safe place to live and care for their children, or are healing from injuries; and

 

     WHEREAS, however, unemployment insurance laws usually require claimants be "ready and available" for work, as well as actively seeking work, which can be challenging for victims who are searching for work or leave work because of domestic violence; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, the Senate concurring, that the U.S. Department of Labor is requested to examine federal laws and regulations to allow states to more readily enact unemployment compensation-related laws that will allow fear of domestic or sexual violence to be a valid reason for not accepting suitable work; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, each member of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Governor, and the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Unemployment Insurance; Domestic Violence