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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 3, 2013 03:37 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Christine M. Tartaglione and Sen. Michael J. Stack |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Co-Sponsorship Memo: Unemployment Compensation “Fix” – Eligibility Based on High Quarter Earnings (the 49.5% change) |
| In the near future, we plan to introduce legislation which would provide a solution to an unintended consequence of Act 60 of 2012, the Unemployment Compensation (UC) solvency bill. Specifically, our bill would ensure that workers – and particularly seasonal construction workers – would not be determined ineligible for benefits because they worked overtime or earned too much during their “high quarter.” Please know that Governor Corbett’s office and Department of Labor and Industry are supportive of this proposal. Like many of you, our offices have been working closely with construction workers that have been affected by Act 60. Unfortunately, while many of these workers have earned the required number of credit weeks and wages, they have found that they have placed themselves out of qualification for UC because of overtime earnings received during their busy season. As you may know, Act 60 requires workers to earn at least 49.5% of their total base year wages outside of their high quarter. While this change was intended to reduce eligibility for workers who are not attached to the workforce, it has had the opposite effect—penalizing employees who work too much. Accordingly, our legislation would correct this problem for workers who would have otherwise qualified for UC benefits (without excessive earnings in their high quarter) by eliminating the 49.5% requirement for individuals who earned the maximum base year and high quarter wages required to secure benefits. We hope you will join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |