PRINTER'S NO. 1630
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1446
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY R. MACKENZIE, CONKLIN, FREEMAN AND M. MACKENZIE,
JUNE 20, 2023
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, JUNE 20, 2023
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 compensation,
further providing for ineligibility for compensation.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 402(b) of the act of December 5, 1936
(2nd Sp.Sess., 1937 P.L.2897, No.1), known as the Unemployment
Compensation Law, amended November 3, 2022 (P.L.2153, No.156),
is 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 section for voluntarily
leaving work if the individual reasonably believes that due to a
domestic violence situation the individual's continued
employment would jeopardize the safety of the individual, and in
that case, the domestic violence situation shall be verified by
reasonable and confidential documentation as determined by the
department in consultation with the Office of Victim Advocate,
to include a statement supporting the existence of recent
domestic violence from a qualified professional from whom the
individual has sought assistance, such as a counselor, shelter
worker, member of the clergy, attorney or health care worker or
any type of evidence that reasonably proves domestic violence,
but the department may not require an active or recently issued
protective or other order documenting domestic violence, or a
police record documenting recent domestic violence, although a
claimant may present that documentation as evidence: 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,
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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
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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 2. The Department of Labor and Industry shall
consult with the Office of Victim Advocate when implementing the
amendment of section 402(b) of this act, including updates to
the application for unemployment compensation and the
development of any forms related to documentation of a domestic
violence situation.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in six months.
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