Chapter 032
2012 -- H 7563
Enacted 04/13/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT SECURITY--
BENEFITS
Introduced
By: Representatives Cimini,
Date Introduced: February 15, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 28-44-70 of the General Laws in Chapter
28-44 entitled
"Employment Security -
Benefits" is hereby amended to read as follows:
28-44-70.
Entrepreneurial training assistance program. -- (a) Definitions. - As used in
this section, unless the context clearly requires
otherwise:
(1)
"Entrepreneurial training assistance program" means a program
administered by the
director under which an eligible individual may receive
employment assistance allowances
pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(2) "Employment
assistance activities" means activities, including entrepreneurial
training, business counseling, and technical assistance,
approved by the director in which an
individual identified through a worker profiling system as
likely to exhaust regular benefits
participates for the purpose of establishing a business and become
self-employed.
(3) "Employment
assistance allowance" means an allowance payable in lieu of regular
benefits from the fund or an allowance payable in lieu of
emergency unemployment
compensation benefits to
an individual participating in employment assistance activities who
meets the requirements of this section.
(4) "Full-time
basis" means that the individual is devoting such amount of time as is
customary to establish a business which will serve as a
full-time occupation for that individual,
but in no case less than thirty-five (35) hours per week.
(5) "Regular
benefits" means benefits, including dependents' allowances, payable to an
individual under chapters 42 -- 44 of this title, or under any
other state law, including benefits
payable to federal civilian employees and to ex-service persons
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. section 8501
et seq., other than additional and extended benefits.
(6) “Emergency
unemployment compensation” means benefits, including dependents’
allowances, payable to an individual as authorized by the
unemployment compensation extension
act of 2008 and in accordance with regulations
established by the secretary of labor.
(b) Eligibility
requirements for employment assistance allowances. - Employment
assistance allowances shall be payable to an individual at the
same interval, on the same terms,
and subject to the same conditions as regular benefits
under chapters 42 -- 44 of this title, except
that:
(1) The requirements of
sections 28-44-12 and 28-44-20 relating to availability for work,
active search for work, and refusal to accept suitable work
are not applicable to the individual;
(2) The requirements of
sections 28-42-3(25), 28-42-3(27) and 28-44-7 relating to
income are not applicable to income earned from
self-employment by the individual;
(3) An individual who
meets the requirements of this section shall be considered to be
totally unemployed pursuant to section 28-42-3(27); and
(4) An individual who
fails to participate in employment assistance activities or who
fails to actively engage on a full-time basis in
activities, which may include training, relating to
the establishment of a business and becoming
self-employed or who fails to provide information
that the director requires shall be disqualified for the
week the failure occurs and for each
subsequent week until the individual shows to the satisfaction
of the director that the individual
meets the requirements of this section.
(c) Amount of
employment assistance allowance. - The weekly allowance payable under
this section to an individual shall be an amount equal to
the weekly benefit amount, including
dependents' allowances, payable to the individual for a week of
total unemployment during the
benefit year pursuant to section 28-44-6. The
(1) For those
individuals participating in the entrepreneurial training assistance program
while collecting regular benefits under chapter 42-44 of
this title, the sum of the allowance
paid
under this section and regular benefits paid under chapters
42 -- 44 of this title to an individual
with respect to any benefit year shall not exceed the
maximum potential regular benefits,
including dependents' allowances, payable to that individual
under chapters 42 -- 44 of this title
with respect to the benefit year.
(2) For those
individuals participating in the entrepreneurial training assistance program
while collecting emergency unemployment compensation
benefits under the unemployment
compensation extension act of 2008, the allowance paid under this
section to an individual, with
respect to any benefit year, shall not exceed an amount equal
to twenty-six (26) times the
individual’s regular weekly benefit amount, including dependents’
allowances, payable to that
individual under chapter 42-44 of this title, with respect to
the benefit year. Any individual who
chooses to terminate his or her participation in the
entrepreneurial training assistance program, or
who has completed participation in the program, and who
continues to meet the emergency
unemployment compensation eligibility requirements, shall be
permitted to receive his or her
emergency unemployment compensation benefits with respect to
subsequent weeks of
unemployment.
(d) Termination from
the entrepreneurial training assistance program. - The director may
terminate any individual from the entrepreneurial training
assistance program who fails to meet
requirements of the program for three (3) or more weeks.
Individuals who are terminated from or
voluntarily leave the entrepreneurial training assistance program
may receive, if otherwise
eligible, regular benefits with respect to the benefit year;
provided, that the total amount of
regular benefits and employment assistance allowances paid to
the individual shall not exceed the
maximum potential regular benefits, including dependents'
allowances, payable to that individual
under chapters 42 -- 44 of this title with respect to the
benefit year.
(e) Limitation on
receipt of employment assistance allowances. – (1) The
aggregate
number of individuals receiving employment assistance
allowances under this section and under
the regular benefits program under chapter 42-44 of this
title for any week shall not exceed
five
percent (5.0%) of the total number of individuals receiving
regular benefits under chapters 42 --
44 of this title for that week. The director shall, through regulations, prescribe
any actions that are
necessary to assure the requirements of this subsection are
met.
(2) The aggregate
number of individuals receiving employment assistance allowances
under this section and under the emergency unemployment
compensation program for any week
shall not exceed one percent (1.0%) of the total number of
individuals receiving emergency
unemployment compensation benefits.
(3) The director
shall, through regulations, prescribe any actions that are necessary to
assure the requirements of this subdivision are met.
(f) Financing costs of
employment assistance allowances. - Notwithstanding any
inconsistent provisions of chapters 42 -- 44 of this title,
employment assistance allowances paid
pursuant to this section shall be paid with money drawn from
the fund and the allowances shall be
charged in the same manner as provided for regular benefits
paid under chapters 42 -- 44 of this
title. Allowances attributable to federal military or
federal civilian service or paid under the
unemployment compensation extension act of 2008 shall be charged to the appropriate federal
account.
(g) Effective date and termination
date. - The provisions of this section shall apply to
weeks beginning after June 22, 1994, or to weeks beginning
after any plan required by the United
States Department of Labor is approved by the
department, whichever date is later; provided, that
nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
require the director to operate an
entrepreneurial training assistance program as allowed under this
section. The authority provided
by this section shall terminate:
(1) As of the effective
date of the withdrawal of approval of any plan required by the
United States Department of Labor; or
(2) As of the week
containing the date when federal law no longer authorizes the
provisions of this section.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
=======
LC01421
=======