Bill Text: IL HB4659 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides for the creation of a program of shared work benefits, under which an individual is deemed unemployed in any week if the individual works less than his or her normal hours or number of days in a week for the individual's regular employer and the Director of Employment Security finds that the regular employer has reduced or restricted the individual's hours or days of work or has rehired an individual previously laid off and reduced that individual's hours or days of work from those previously worked as the result of a plan by the regular employer to reduce unemployment and stabilize the work force through a program of sharing the work remaining after a reduction in total hours of work and a corresponding reduction in wages, among not less than 10% of the employer's regular permanent work force involved in the affected work unit or units. Provides for: computation of benefits; limits on benefits; determinations; reduction of benefits; payments; submission of forms and certifications; requirements; administration; creation of a Shared Work Benefits Fund; and other matters. Effective July 1, 2010.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-25 - Motion to Sustain the Chair - Prevailed 068-048-000 [HB4659 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB4659-Introduced.html

---

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2009 and 2010 HB4659 Introduced , by Rep. Bill Mitchell 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 individual is deemed unemployed in any week if the individual works less than his or her normal hours or number of days in a week for the individual's regular employer and the Director of Employment Security finds that the regular employer has reduced or restricted the individual's hours or days of work or has rehired an individual previously laid off and reduced that individual's hours or days of work from those previously worked as the result of a plan by the regular employer to reduce unemployment and stabilize the work force through a program of sharing the work remaining after a reduction in total hours of work and a corresponding reduction in wages, among not less than 10% of the employer's regular permanent work force involved in the affected work unit or units. Provides for: computation of benefits; limits on benefits; determinations; reduction of benefits; payments; submission of forms and certifications; requirements; administration; creation of a Shared Work Benefits Fund; and other matters. Effective July 1, 2010.
LRB096 14837 WGH 29701 b
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
HB4659 LRB096 14837 WGH 29701 b
AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 10. 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. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, for the
purposes of this Section an individual is "unemployed" in any
week if the individual works less than his or her normal hours
or number of days in a week for the individual's regular
employer, and the Director finds that the regular employer has
reduced or restricted the individual's hours or days of work,
or has rehired an individual previously laid off and reduced
that individual's hours or days of work from those previously
worked, as the result of a plan by the regular employer to
reduce unemployment and stabilize the work force through a
program of sharing the work remaining after a reduction in
total hours of work and a corresponding reduction in wages,
among not less than 10% of the employer's regular permanent
work force involved in the affected work unit or units.
B. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, each
individual eligible under this Act who is "unemployed" in any

HB4659 - 2 - LRB096 14837 WGH 29701 b
week shall be paid with respect to that week a weekly shared
work benefit amount equal to the percentage of reduction of the
individual's wages resulting from reduced hours or days of
work, rounded to the nearest 10%, multiplied by 50% of the
lesser of the individual's current full time weekly wage
rounded to the next higher dollar or the Statewide average
weekly wage as defined in paragraph 2 of subsection B of
Section 401 of this Act, except that this provision shall apply
only if the percentage of reduction is 10% or more. The shared
work benefit amount shall be rounded (if not already a multiple
of one dollar) to the next higher dollar.
C. No individual shall be paid any benefits under this
Section in excess of 20 weeks of benefits during a period of 52
consecutive weeks, beginning with the first week of benefits
paid under this Section. An individual shall be ineligible for
benefits under this Section for any week with respect to which
the individual has made a claim for unemployment insurance
benefits pursuant to any other Section of this Act or under an
unemployment insurance law of any other State or Canada or
under an unemployment insurance system established by an Act of
Congress; provided, however, that if the appropriate agency
finally determines that the individual is not entitled to
unemployment insurance benefits for the week or weeks involved
and that determination has become final and unappealable, the
ineligibility arising from the making of a claim under this
subsection shall not apply.

HB4659 - 3 - LRB096 14837 WGH 29701 b
D. Any amount payable under this Section shall be reduced
by the amount of any and all compensation payable for personal
services whether performed as an employee or an independent
contractor or as a juror or as a witness, except compensation
payable by the regular employer not in excess of compensation
payable for reduced hours of work assigned an individual by the
regular employer under a shared work plan.
E. All benefits payable under this Section shall be paid
from the Shared Work Benefits Fund which is hereby created.
Following any biweekly period or periods, participating
employers shall submit to the Department, on forms provided by
the Director, a list of those employees who, during any prior
biweekly period or periods, are entitled to shared work
benefits, the week or weeks for which they are entitled, and
the amount of such benefits to be paid to each employee.
Additional information shall be submitted as may be required by
the Director. The completed form shall be accompanied by the
employer's payment in an amount equal to all benefits to be
paid for the biweekly period or periods pursuant to this
Section. The employer's form shall also be accompanied by the
certifications, on forms provided by the Director, of each
employee entitled to receive shared work benefits for the
biweekly period or periods. The employee certification form
shall include such information as may be required by the
Director. All amounts collected pursuant to this Section shall
be deposited into the Shared Work Benefits Fund. No benefits

HB4659 - 4 - LRB096 14837 WGH 29701 b
may be paid under this Section to an employee of an employer
for any period for which the employer has not submitted the
necessary forms or payments.
F. Except as otherwise provided by or inconsistent with
this Section, all provisions of this Act and authorized
regulations apply to benefits under this Section. Authorized
regulations may, to the extent permitted by federal law, make
such distinctions and requirements as may be necessary in the
procedures and provisions applicable to unemployed individuals
to carry out the purposes of this Section. No employee shall be
required to register for work or actively seek work as a
condition of receiving benefits under this Section.
G. The Department, in the administration of the program
created by this Section, shall establish guidelines which
ensure the equitable and consistent administration of the
program.
H. The program created by this Section shall not affect any
pension or insurance benefit of employees participating in the
program.
I. Employees shall not be eligible to receive any benefits
under this Section unless their employer agrees, in writing,
and their bargaining agent pursuant to any applicable
collective bargaining agreement agrees, in writing, to
voluntarily participate in the shared work program approved by
the Director.
J. The Director shall receive and hold, as custodian, all

HB4659 - 5 - LRB096 14837 WGH 29701 b
moneys paid to the Shared Work Benefits Fund in a
nonappropriated local account. The moneys in such account
(which shall be kept separate and apart from all other public
moneys) shall be expended solely for the payment of benefits
under the provisions of this Act and in accordance with any
guidelines the Director may subsequently develop. The General
Assembly shall appropriate funds for the administration of the
Shared Work Program. In the event that the funds appropriated
for the administration of the Shared Work Program are
insufficient for the proper administration of this Program, as
determined by the Director, the Program and any benefits
payable pursuant to this Section shall terminate until such
time as the Director determines that a sufficient appropriation
is available.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2010.