2022 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes
Act 156 - UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION LAW - OMNIBUS AMENDMENTS

Session of 2022

No. 2022-156

SB 1083

AN ACT

Amending the act of December 5, 1936 (2nd Sp.Sess., 1937 P.L.2897, No.1), entitled "An act establishing a system of unemployment compensation to be administered by the Department of Labor and Industry and its existing and newly created agencies with personnel (with certain exceptions) selected on a civil service basis; requiring employers to keep records and make reports, and certain employers to pay contributions based on payrolls to provide moneys for the payment of compensation to certain unemployed persons; providing procedure and administrative details for the determination, payment and collection of such contributions and the payment of such compensation; providing for cooperation with the Federal Government and its agencies; creating certain special funds in the custody of the State Treasurer; and prescribing penalties," in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions; in contributions by employers and employees, further providing for contributions by employers and employees, successors-in-interest and appeals; in compensation, further providing for ineligibility for compensation; and, in shared-work program, further providing for shared-work plan requirements, for effective period of shared-work plan and for participating employer responsibilities.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 4(l)(4)(10)(A) of the act of December 5, 1936 (2nd Sp.Sess., 1937 P.L.2897, No.1), known as the Unemployment Compensation Law, is amended to read:

Section 4.  Definitions.--The following words and phrases, as used in this act, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

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(l)  * * *

(4)  The word "employment" shall not include--

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(10)  (A)  Service performed in any calendar quarter in the employ of an organization exempt from income tax under section 501(a) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, (other than an organization described in section 401(a) of said code) or under section 521 of said code, if the remuneration for such service is less than fifty dollars; or

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Section 2.  Section 301 of the act is amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 301.  Contributions by Employers and Employes; Successors-In-Interest; Appeals.--

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(i.1)  For purposes of determining whether or not an employer has paid contributions in order to be eligible for consideration for an adjusted rate, an employer who has ceased paying wages due to temporary cessation of operations as a result of the declaration by the Governor of disaster emergency under 35 Pa.C.S. § 7301(c) (relating to general authority of Governor) regarding COVID-19, at any time after the sixth day of March, two thousand and twenty, and prior to the first day of July, two thousand and twenty-one, shall be deemed to have paid contributions under this act during fiscal year two thousand and twenty-one: Provided, That the employer has actually paid contributions under this act for one or more quarters in either the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth day of June, two thousand and twenty-one, or in the immediately preceding fiscal year ending on the thirtieth day of June, two thousand and twenty.

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Section 3.  Sections 402(b), 1303(b), 1305(b) and 1307(b) of the act are amended to read:

Section 402.  Ineligibility for Compensation.--An employe shall be ineligible for compensation for any week--

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(b)  In which his unemployment is due to voluntarily leaving work without cause of a necessitous and compelling nature, irrespective of whether or not such work is in "employment" as defined in this act: Provided, That a voluntary leaving work because of a disability if the employer is able to provide other suitable work, shall be deemed not a cause of a necessitous and compelling nature: And provided further, That no employe shall be deemed to be ineligible under this subsection where as a condition of continuing in employment such employe would be required to join or remain a member of a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization, or to accept wages, hours or conditions of employment not desired by a majority of the employes in the establishment or the occupation, or would be denied the right of collective bargaining under generally prevailing conditions, and that in determining whether or not an employe has left his work voluntarily without cause of a necessitous and compelling nature, the department shall give consideration to the same factors, insofar as they are applicable, provided, with respect to the determination of suitable work under section four (t): And provided further, That the provisions of this subsection shall not apply in the event of a stoppage of work which exists because of a labor dispute within the meaning of subsection (d). Provided further, That no otherwise eligible claimant shall be denied benefits for any week in which his unemployment is due to exercising the option of accepting a layoff, from an available position pursuant to a labor-management contract agreement, or pursuant to an established employer plan, program or policy: Provided further, That a claimant shall not be disqualified for voluntarily leaving work, which is not suitable employment to enter training approved under section 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974[.]: Provided further, That a claimant shall not be disqualified for voluntarily leaving work if the claimant left such work to accompany a spouse who is on active duty with the United States Armed Forces and is required to relocate due to permanent change of station orders, activation orders or unit deployment orders and such relocation would make it impractical or unreasonably difficult, as determined by the department, for the claimant to continue employment with the claimant's employer. For purposes of this subsection the term "suitable employment" means with respect to a claimant, work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the claimant's past "adversely affected employment" (as defined in section 247 of the Trade Act of 1974), and wages for such work at not less than eighty per centum of the worker's "average weekly wage" (as defined in section 247 of the Trade Act of 1974).

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Section 1303.  Shared-work plan requirements.

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(b)  Reduction percentage.--The reduction percentage under an approved shared-work plan shall meet all of the following requirements:

(1)  The reduction percentage shall be no less than 20% and no more than 40%.

(2)  The reduction percentage shall be the same for all participating employees.

[(3)  The reduction percentage shall not change during the period of the shared-work plan unless the plan is modified in accordance with section 1308.]

Section 1305.  Effective period of shared-work plan.

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(b)  Start date.--The effective period of [the] an approved shared-work plan shall begin with the first calendar week following the date on which the [department approves the plan.] employer submits the plan to the department or on the first calendar week following the date the employer provided in the plan, whichever is later.

Section 1307.  Participating employer responsibilities.

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[(b)  Benefit charges.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, compensation paid to participating employees for weeks within the effective period of an approved shared-work plan will be charged to the participating employer.]

Section 4.  This act shall take effect immediately.

APPROVED--The 3rd day of November, A.D. 2022.

TOM WOLF