A bipartisan measure seeking to protect domestic violence survivors by providing Unemployment Benefits passed the House, last week and now moves on to the Senate for consideration.
House Bill 274 , Sponsored by state Rep Jason Dawkins (D -Philadelphia), now moves on to the Senate after the House passed the measure 198 to four last week.
The legislation seeks to amend the Unemployment Compensation (UC) Law to make it easier for domestic violence survivors to receive benefits if they are forced to quit working in situations where continued employment would jeopardize their safety. This is former HB 1446 from the 2023-2024 Legislative Session.
Under the current UC Law, an individual who quits employment has the burden to prove eligibility under a two-point test: 1) the reasons for quitting must be “necessitous and compelling,” and 2) the claimant must have made reasonable efforts to maintain the employment relationship, the measure says.
Under case law and current UC practice, an individual who must leave work as the result of a domestic violence situation can be eligible for benefits but must wait until the separation from employment is adjudicated. This adjudication process can take weeks or months during a critical and sensitive time in someone’s life.
This bill will create an ‘express lane’ for claimants impacted by domestic violence and allow a domestic violence survivor to confidentially submit reasonable evidence of recent domestic violence. A survivor would not be required to submit a copy of a protective order or police report, although they could choose to do so. When the documentation is received, the UC claim determination will be expedited to significantly reduce the burden on survivors of domestic violence who may be in danger if they continue their employment.
Since claimants in this unfortunate situation are generally eligible currently, House and Senate fiscal notes on HB 1446 from the prior session both indicated no fiscal impact to the UC Trust Fund – so this is not an expansion of eligibility, according to state officials.
Finally, it is important to note that the bill includes automatic relief from charges for employers – so that an employer’s tax rate will not be impacted by a UC claim resulting from a domestic violence situation, according to the measure.
Bucks County state Rep. Kristin Marcell (R) and Rep. Perry Warren (D) co-sponsored the bill
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