SCS/SBs 777 & 808 - This act creates two new provisions of law relating to employment security. GETTING MISSOURIANS BACK TO WORK ACT OF 2022
(Section 288.056)
The act creates the Getting Missourians Back to Work Act of 2022. Under this provision, the Division of Employment Security (DES) is required to establish a process by which open positions submitted by employers to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations will be directly shared with claimants of unemployment compensation. DES is require to establish a process by which claimants will be referred to such open positions. If a claimant fails to comply with a job referral, the person will be deemed to have failed to participate in reemployment services, as required by current law.
EMPLOYMENT SECURITY PROGRAM INTEGRITY ACT OF 2022
(Section 288.104)
This act also creates the Employment Security Program Integrity Act of 2022.
Specifically, DES is required to:
· Utilize the Integrity Data Hub in order to ensure that only eligible individuals receive employment security benefits;
· Check its records of individuals receiving employment security benefits against the list of incarcerated individuals provided by the Department of Corrections to verify the eligibility of such individuals for employment security benefits;
· Check, on a weekly basis, its employment security rolls against the state death records;
· Check its new-hire records against the National Directory of New Hires to verify eligibility of individuals named in DES's new-hire records;
· Verify the identity of all unemployment compensation claimants;
· Perform a full eligibility review of any suspicious or potentially improper claims for unemployment compensation;
· Adopt and implement policies to prioritize and pursue the recovery of overpaid unemployment benefits;
· Attempt to recover all overpaid employment security benefits;
· Maintain records of all attempts to recover overpaid benefits.
DES must issue an annual report by December 31st to the General Assembly detailing its efforts to detect overpayments of employment security benefits due to nondisclosure or misrepresentation of material fact. A separate annual report shall be submitted by December 31st detailing the efficacy of its efforts at recovery and the types of measures that have been taken to prevent overpayment.
The act additionally requires any welfare agency, as defined in the act, to, upon receipt of information that an enrolled individual has become employed, notify DES for a determination as to whether the individual is still eligible for unemployment compensation.
These provisions are substantially similar to provisions in SCS/HB 1860 (2022) and similar to provisions in HB 1909 (2022), SCS/SB 539 (2021), SCS/SB 622 (2021), HB 769 (2021) and a provision in SCS/HCS/HB 649 (2021).
This act has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023.
SCOTT SVAGERA