House File 2355 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2355 BY COMMITTEE ON LABOR (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 596) A BILL FOR An Act relating to employment security benefits. 1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 2 TLSB 5336HV (1) 89 dg/rn

H.F. 2355 Section 1. Section 96.3, subsection 7, paragraph b, 1 subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (a), Code 2022, is 2 amended to read as follows: 3 (a) If the department determines that an overpayment 4 has been made, the charge for the overpayment against the 5 employer’s account shall be removed and the account shall 6 be credited with an amount equal to the overpayment from 7 the unemployment compensation trust fund and this credit 8 shall include both contributory and reimbursable employers, 9 notwithstanding section 96.8, subsection 5 . The employer shall 10 not be relieved of charges if benefits are paid because the 11 employer or an agent of the employer failed to respond timely 12 or adequately to the department’s request for information 13 relating to the payment of benefits. This prohibition 14 against relief of charges shall apply to both contributory and 15 reimbursable employers. If the department determines that an 16 employer’s failure to respond timely or adequately was through 17 no fault of the employer, the employer’s account shall not be 18 charged for the overpayment. 19 Sec. 2. Section 96.40, subsection 2, Code 2022, is amended 20 by adding the following new paragraph: 21 NEW PARAGRAPH . l. The reduction in work hours for employees 22 was not based on a work week exceeding forty hours. 23 Sec. 3. Section 96.40, Code 2022, is amended by adding the 24 following new subsections: 25 NEW SUBSECTION . 4A. Approval of a shared work plan shall 26 be revoked if the employer lays off any employee, whether the 27 employee is employed within an affected unit or not, while 28 participating in the shared work unemployment compensation 29 program. 30 NEW SUBSECTION . 12. A part-time employee shall be eligible 31 for shared work unemployment compensation program benefits, 32 provided that the employee meets all other requirements in this 33 section. 34 EXPLANATION 35 -1- LSB 5336HV (1) 89 dg/rn 1/ 2

H.F. 2355 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 1 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 2 This bill relates to employment security benefits. 3 The bill allows an employer to obtain relief for an 4 overpayment of unemployment benefits even though the employer 5 or an agent of the employer failed to respond timely or 6 adequately to a request by the department of workforce 7 development for information relating to the payment of benefits 8 provided that the department determines that the failure was 9 through no fault of the employer. Under current law, a failure 10 to respond timely or adequately is a bar to an employer’s 11 relief for an overpayment regardless of whether the failure was 12 the employer’s fault. 13 The shared work unemployment compensation program, or 14 voluntary shared work program (VSW), is a program intended 15 for use as an alternative to employee layoffs for businesses 16 experiencing a decline in regular business activities. Under 17 the VSW program, an employer creates a shared work plan to 18 reduce the work hours of employees and unemployment insurance 19 replaces lost earnings due to the reduced hours. The bill 20 prevents a shared work plan from claiming a reduction of an 21 employee’s work hours based on a work week exceeding 40 hours. 22 The bill automatically revokes approval of a shared work 23 plan if the employer who entered into the plan lays off an 24 employee, whether the employee is covered by the shared work 25 plan or not, while participating in the VSW program. 26 The bill makes part-time employees eligible for VSW 27 program benefits, provided that the employees meet all other 28 requirements for the VSW program. 29 -2- LSB 5336HV (1) 89 dg/rn 2/ 2