Bill Text: IL HB1289 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides for the creation of a program of shared work benefits, under which an employee retained at reduced hours instead of being laid off may receive payment of unemployment insurance benefits reduced proportionately by the employee's weekly hours worked. An employer wishing to participate in this program must submit to the Director of Employment Security a shared work compensation plan in writing identifying specific employees for participation. This application must be done once for each 12-month period of participation in the program. The Director shall approve or reject a plan in writing within 15 days of its receipt. The Director may also revoke the approval of a shared work compensation plan for good cause. Effective July 1, 2011.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB1289 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB1289-Introduced.html

---

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB1289 Introduced , by Rep. Lisa M. Dugan SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
820 ILCS 405/407.5 new
Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides for the creation of a program of shared work benefits, under which an employee retained at reduced hours instead of being laid off may receive payment of unemployment insurance benefits reduced proportionately by the employee's weekly hours worked. An employer wishing to participate in this program must submit to the Director of Employment Security a shared work compensation plan in writing identifying specific employees for participation. This application must be done once for each 12-month period of participation in the program. The Director shall approve or reject a plan in writing within 15 days of its receipt. The Director may also revoke the approval of a shared work compensation plan for good cause. Effective July 1, 2011.
LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
A BILL FOR
HB1289 LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
adding Section 407.5 as follows:
(820 ILCS 405/407.5 new)
Sec. 407.5. Shared Work Benefits.
A. In order to provide an economic climate conducive to the
retention of skilled workers in industries adversely affected
by general economic downturns and to supplement depressed
buying power of employees affected by such downturns, the
General Assembly finds that the public interest would be served
by the enactment of laws providing greater flexibility in the
payment of unemployment insurance benefits in situations where
qualified employers elect to retain employees at reduced hours
rather than instituting layoffs.
B. Definitions. As used in this Section:
(1) "Affected employee" means a specified employee, to
which an approved shared work compensation plan applies.
(2) "Employers' association" means an association
which is a party to a collective bargaining agreement under
which there is a shared work compensation plan.
(3) "Fringe benefits" include health insurance,

HB1289 - 2 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
retirement benefits, paid vacation and holidays, and sick
leave which are incidents of employment in addition to cash
remuneration.
(4) "Shared work benefits" means the benefits payable
to an affected employee under an approved shared work
compensation plan as distinguished from the benefits
otherwise payable under this Act.
(5) "Shared work compensation plan" means a plan of an
employer, or of an employers' association, under which
there is a reduction in the number of hours worked by
employees rather than temporary layoffs.
(6) "Shared work employer" means an employer, one or
more of whose employees are covered by a shared work
compensation plan.
(7) "Unemployment insurance" means the benefits
payable under this Act other than shared work benefits and
includes any amounts payable pursuant to an agreement under
federal law providing for compensation, assistance, or
allowances with respect to unemployment.
(8) "Usual weekly hours of work" means the normal
number of hours of work for the affected employee when he
or she is working on a full-time basis, not to exceed 40
hours and not including overtime.
C. An employer or employers' association wishing to
participate in a shared work compensation program shall submit
a written and signed shared work compensation plan to the

HB1289 - 3 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
Director of Employment Security for approval. The Director
shall approve a shared work compensation plan only if the
following criteria are met:
(1) the plan identifies the affected employees to which
it applies;
(2) each affected employee is identified by name,
social security number, and any other information required
by the Director;
(3) the usual weekly hours of work for each affected
employee are reduced by not less than 10% and not more than
50%;
(4) fringe benefits will continue to be provided on the
same basis as before the reduction in work hours; in no
event shall the level of health benefits be reduced due to
a reduction in hours;
(5) the plan certifies that the aggregate reduction in
work hours for each affected employee is in lieu of
temporary layoffs which would have resulted in an
equivalent reduction in work hours;
(6) the plan is approved in writing by the collective
bargaining agent for each collective bargaining agreement
covering any affected employee;
(7) the plan will not subsidize seasonal employers
during the off season nor subsidize employers who have
traditionally used part-time employees; and
(8) the employer agrees to furnish reports necessary

HB1289 - 4 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
for the proper administration of the plan and to permit
access by the Director to all records necessary to verify
the plan before approval and after approval to evaluate the
application of the plan.
In addition to subdivisions (1) through (8) of this
subsection C, the Director shall take into account any other
factors which may be pertinent.
D. The Director shall approve or reject a shared work
compensation plan in writing within 15 days of its receipt. The
reasons for the rejection shall be final and nonappealable, but
the rejection shall not prevent an employer from submitting
another plan for approval not earlier than 15 days after the
date of a previous written rejection.
E. If an approved plan or any representation for
implementation of the plan is intentionally and substantially
misleading or false, any individual who participated in any
such misrepresentation has committed a Class B misdemeanor and
is personally liable for any amount of benefits deemed by the
Director to have been improperly paid from the fund as a result
thereof. This provision for personal liability is in addition
to any remedy against individual claimants for collection of
overpayment of benefits if such claimants participated in or
were otherwise at fault in the overpayment.
F. A shared work compensation plan shall be effective on
the date agreed upon by the Director and the employer but no
later than the first day of the second calendar week after the

HB1289 - 5 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
date of the Director's approval, unless a later date is
requested by the employer. The plan shall expire at the end of
the twelfth full calendar month after its effective date, or on
the date specified in the plan if that date is earlier, unless
the plan is revoked before that date by the Director. If a plan
is revoked by the Director, it shall terminate on the date
specified in the Director's order of revocation.
G. The Director may revoke approval of a shared work
compensation plan for good cause. The revocation order shall be
in writing and shall specify the date the revocation is
effective and the reasons for the revocation. Good cause for
revocation shall include but is not limited to failure to
comply with the assurances given in the plan, unreasonable
revision of productivity standards, conduct or occurrences
tending to defeat the intent and effective operation of the
plan, and violation of the criteria on which approval of the
plan was based.
An action to revoke approval of a shared work compensation
plan may be initiated at any time by the Director on his or her
own motion, on the motion of any of the affected employees, or
on the motion of the appropriate collective bargaining agents.
The Director shall review each plan at least once within the
12-month period the plan is in effect to assure that it
continues to meet the requirements of this Section.
H. An approved shared work compensation plan in effect may
be modified with the approval of the Director. If the hours of

HB1289 - 6 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
work are increased or decreased beyond the level in the
original plan, or any other condition is changed, the employer
shall promptly notify the Director. If the changes meet the
requirements for approval of a plan, the Director shall approve
the modifications. This approval shall not change the
expiration date of the original plan. If the modifications do
not meet the requirements for approval, the Director shall
revoke the plan as specified in subsection G.
I. An individual is eligible to receive shared work
benefits with respect to any week only if, in addition to
meeting the conditions of eligibility for other benefits under
this Act, the Director finds that:
(1) the individual was employed during that week as an
affected employee under an approved shared work
compensation plan which was in effect for that week; and
(2) the individual was able to work and was available
for additional hours of work and for full-time work with
the shared work employer.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an
individual is deemed to have been unemployed in any week for
which remuneration is payable to him or her as an affected
employee for less than his or her normal weekly hours of work
as specified under the approved shared work compensation plan
in effect for that week.
J. Benefits.
(1) The shared work weekly benefit amount shall be the

HB1289 - 7 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
product of the weekly benefit amount, as determined in
accordance with Section 401, multiplied by the percentage
of reduction in the individual's usual weekly hours of
work.
(2) No individual is eligible in any benefit year for
more than the maximum entitlement established for benefits
under this Act, including benefits under this Section.
(3) The shared work benefits paid an individual shall
be deducted from the maximum benefit amount established
pursuant to Section 403 for that individual's benefit year.
(4) Claims for shared work benefits shall be filed in
the same manner as claims for other benefits under this Act
or as prescribed by the Director by rule.
(5) Provisions otherwise applicable to unemployment
insurance claimants under this Act apply to shared work
claimants to the extent that they are not inconsistent with
this Section.
(6)(a) If an individual works in the same week for an
employer other than the shared work employer and his or her
combined hours of work for both employers are equal to or
greater than the usual weekly hours of work with the shared
work employer, the individual shall not be entitled to
benefits under this Section.
(b) If an individual works in the same week for both
the shared work employer and another employer and his or
her combined hours of work for both employers are less than

HB1289 - 8 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
his or her usual weekly hours of work, the benefit amount
payable for that week shall be the weekly benefit amount,
as determined in accordance with Section 401, reduced by
the same percentage that the combined hours are of the
usual weekly hours of work.
(7) An individual who does not work during a week for
the shared work employer, and is otherwise eligible, shall
be paid his or her full weekly benefit amount.
(8) An individual who does not work for the shared work
employer during a week but works for another employer, and
is otherwise eligible, shall be paid benefits for that week
under the provisions of Section 402.
K. Shared work benefits shall be charged to employers'
experience rating records in the same manner as other benefits
under this Act are charged. Employers liable for payments in
lieu of contributions shall have shared work benefits
attributed to their records in the same manner as other
benefits under this Act are attributed.
L. An individual who has received all of the shared work
benefits, or all of the combined unemployment insurance and
shared work benefits, available in a benefit year shall be
considered an exhaustee for purposes of the extended benefits
program under Section 409, and, if otherwise eligible under
that Section, shall be eligible to receive extended benefits.
M. Unless inconsistent with or otherwise provided by this
Section, this Act and rules adopted under this Act apply to

HB1289 - 9 - LRB097 08400 AEK 48527 b
shared work benefits. To the extent permitted by federal law,
those rules may make such distinctions and requirements as may
be necessary with respect to unemployed individuals to carry
out the purposes of this Section, including rules defining
usual hours, days, work week, wages, and the duration of plans
adopted under this Section. To the extent that any portion of
this Section may be inconsistent with the requirements of
federal law relating to the payment of unemployment insurance
benefits, the conflicting provisions or interpretations of
this Section shall be deemed inoperative, but only to the
extent of the conflict. If the Director determines that such a
conflict exists, a statement to that effect shall be filed with
the Governor's office for transmission to both houses of the
General Assembly.
N. The Director shall adopt such rules as are necessary to
carry out the purposes of this Section.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2011.