House moves to make fixes to unemployment insurance law

If you get suspended indefinitely without pay from your job, the date of your suspension may count as your date of discharge for purposes of unemployment insurance.

That proposed statutory clarification, intended to provide consistent treatment for suspended workers, is one of three policy provisions in HF1419/ SF1549*, sponsored by Rep. Marion O'Neill (R-Maple Lake) and Sen. Rich Draheim (R-Madison Lake).

Passed 125-0 by the House Monday, it now goes to the governor. It was passed 64-0 April 27 by the Senate.

The bill would also:

• close so-called “potential loopholes” in current law, allowing the Department of Employment and Economic Development to determine employee-leasing companies’ unemployment insurance liability without taking into account whether they receive a certain exemption under worker’s compensation law; and
• double the amount of time, from 24 to 48 months, during which the department may recover unemployment insurance benefits from workers who also have workers’ compensation claims.

O’Neill called the bill “small and narrow.” Besides policy provisions, it includes technical and housekeeping changes to statute recommended by the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council. 

WATCH Full video of Monday's House Floor session on YouTube