2015 -- H 5316

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LC000036

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS

     Introduced By: Representatives McLaughlin, Messier, and Azzinaro

     Date Introduced: February 05, 2015

     Referred To: House Labor

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 28-44-12 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-44 entitled

"Employment Security - Benefits" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     28-44-12. Availability and registration for work. -- (a) An individual shall not be

eligible for benefits for any week of his or her partial or total unemployment unless during that

week he or she is physically able to work and available for work. To prove availability for work,

every individual partially or totally unemployed shall register for work and shall:

      (1) File a claim for benefits within any time limits, with any frequency, and in any

manner, in person or in writing, as the director may prescribe;

      (2) Respond whenever duly called for work through the employment office; and

      (3) Make an active, independent search for suitable work.

      (b) If an unemployed individual has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular

benefits and to need reemployment services pursuant to a profiling system established by the

director, the individual shall be eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week only if the

individual participates in reemployment services, such as job search assistance services, unless

the director determines that:

      (1) The individual has completed those services; or

      (2) There is justifiable cause for the individual's failure to participate in those services.

     (c) Provided, however, that an individual employed as a school bus driver, under and

employment agreement which stipulates a call-back date for resumption of their seasonal

employment, shall not be subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section upon proof of

the existence of that call-back provision.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS

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     This act would exempt school bus drivers laid off at the end of the school year, who have

an agreement for or with a call-back date at the start of the next term, from the usual eligibility

requirements for receipt of unemployment benefits.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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