Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns eligibility for extended unemployment benefits.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning extended unemployment benefits and amending P.L.1970, c.324.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 7 of P.L.1970, c.324 (C.43:21-24.13) is amended to read as follows:
7. An individual shall be eligible to receive extended benefits with respect to any week of unemployment in [his] the individual’s eligibility period only if the division finds, that with respect to that week, the individual:
a. [he] is an "exhaustee" as defined in paragraph j. of section 5 of P.L.1970, c.324 (C.43:21-24.11); and
b. [he] has satisfied the requirements of this act for the receipt of regular benefits that are applicable to individuals claiming extended benefits, including not being subject to a disqualification for the receipt of benefits; and
c. [he,] for any initial claim for extended benefits effective after September 25, 1982 and before November 8, 2020, has established entitlement for [his] the individual’s applicable benefit year based on the alternative earnings requirement specified in subsection (e) of R.S. 43:21-4, and was paid wages during the base year of his applicable benefit year which equaled or exceeded forty times his weekly benefit rate; and
d. for any initial claim for extended benefits effective after November 7, 2020, has established entitlement for the individual’s applicable benefit year based on the alternative earnings requirement specified in subsection (e) of R.S. 43:21-4, and:
(1) was paid wages during the base year of the individual’s applicable benefit year which equaled or exceeded forty times the individual’s weekly benefit rate; or
(2) was paid wages during that base year which equaled or exceeded 1 1/2 times the individual’s wages paid during the calendar quarter of the base year in which the individual’s wages were highest; or
(3) had 20 full-time weeks of employment during that base year.
(cf: P.L.1982, c.144, s.2)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides additional options for eligibility for extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
Under the current UI law, an
individual who qualifies for regular
benefits but exhausts those benefits, may then qualify for extended UI benefits, funded on a 50-50, State/federal basis, only if the individual was paid wages during the base year of his applicable benefit year 40 times his weekly benefit rate.
This bill permits the individual to be eligible for the UI benefits if, during the base year, the individual attained the current requirement of being paid wages 40 times his weekly benefit rate, or the individual either was paid wages 1½ times the individual’s wages paid during the calendar quarter of the base year in which the individual’s wages were highest; or had twenty full-time weeks of employment during that base year.