SECTIONS 301-336 - California Statutes

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CODE

SECTION 301-336

301. There is in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency the
Employment Development Department, which is vested with the duties,
purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction heretofore exercised by
the State Department of Benefit Payments or the California Health and
Human Services Agency with respect to job creation activities. The
Employment Development Department shall be administered by an
executive officer known as the Director of Employment Development who
is vested with the duties, purposes, responsibilities, and
jurisdiction heretofore exercised by the Director of Benefit Payments
with respect to the following functions:
(a) Job creation activities.
(b) Making manual computations and making or denying
recomputations of the amount and duration of benefits.
(c) Determination of contribution rates and the administration and
collection of contributions, penalties and interest, including but
not limited to filing and releasing liens.
(d) Establishment, administration, and transfer of reserve
accounts.
(e) Making assessments and the administration of credits and
refunds.
(f) Approving elections for coverage or for financing unemployment
and disability insurance coverage.

301.6. The Employment Development Department shall have the
possession and control of all records, papers, offices, equipment,
supplies, moneys, appropriations, land, and other property real or
personal held for the benefit or use of the State Department of
Benefit Payments in the performance of the duties, powers, purposes,
responsibilities, and jurisdiction that are vested in the Employment
Development Department by Section 301.

301.7. All officers and employees of the State Department of
Benefit Payments who, on the operative date of the statute amending
this section at the 1977 portion of the 1977-78 Regular Session of
the Legislature, are serving in the state civil service, other than
as temporary employees, and engaged in the performance of a function
vested in the Employment Development Department by Section 301 shall
be transferred to the Employment Development Department. The status,
positions, and rights of such persons shall not be affected by the
transfer and shall be retained by them as officers and employees of
the Employment Development Department pursuant to the State Civil
Service Act, except as to positions exempt from civil service.

302. The Director of Employment Development shall be appointed by
the Governor, subject to the approval of the Senate, and shall serve
as director at the pleasure of the Governor. The annual salary of the
Director of Employment Development shall be as provided for by
Chapter 6 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

303. There shall be five deputy directors in the Employment
Development Department who shall be appointed by the Governor subject
to the approval of the Senate and shall hold office at the pleasure
of the Governor. The salary of the deputy directors shall be fixed in
accordance with law.

304. Whenever a reference to this division is made in this article
it shall also include all other divisions of this code.

305. Regulations for the administration of the functions of the
Employment Development Department under this code shall be adopted,
amended, or repealed by the Director of Employment Development as
provided in Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

305.5. All regulations heretofore adopted by the Director of the
Department of Human Resources Development shall remain in effect and
shall be fully enforceable unless and until readopted, amended or
repealed by the Director of Employment Development.

305.6. All regulations heretofore adopted by the Director of
Benefit Payments pursuant to this code and in effect immediately
preceding the operative date of the amendment of this section enacted
by the Legislature during the 1977-78 Regular Session, shall remain
in effect and shall be fully enforceable unless and until readopted,
amended or repealed by the Director of Employment Development.

306. The Director of Employment Development may adopt, amend, or
repeal such regulations as are reasonably necessary to enforce his
functions under this code.

307. The department shall provide, upon the request of any person
or entity, any or all of the department's rules, regulations,
guidelines, bulletins, manuals, standards of general application, or
the departmental responsibilities under any state or federal law,
along with any subscription service necessary to assure prompt
receipt of additional amendments to any of the above materials. The
department shall charge a fee to cover (1) the costs of reproducing
the materials and (2) postage associated with a subscription service;
however, one free copy of the materials shall be provided to each
state legislator, upon request.
Any documents properly classified as confidential shall be exempt
from the requirements of this section.

310. The Director of Employment Development or the Department of
Employment Development may prescribe the extent, if any, to which any
rule, regulation or interpretation issued or promulgated in
accordance with the provisions of this code shall be applied without
retroactive effect.

311. The Director of Employment Development shall appoint such
assistants except personnel of the appeals division as he finds
necessary for the administration of this division, subject to the
provisions of the Government Code, and may delegate to any of the
officers or employees of the department such powers and duties as he
considers necessary for the proper administration of this division.
The Director of Employment Development and his authorized
representatives in the enforcement of the division shall have all the
powers of a head of a department as set forth in Article 2
(commencing with Section 11180) of Chapter 2, Part 1, Division 3,
Title 2 of the Government Code. For the purpose of any investigation,
hearing, or proceeding under this division, the Director of
Employment Development may delegate his power in relation thereto to
any deputy, or other person properly authorized in writing by him.

315. The appeals division within the department includes the
appeals board and its clerical staff and assistants and the
administrative law judges and their supervisors and clerical staff
and assistants.

316. There shall be maintained within an appropriate division of
the department, a bureau, section or unit relating to education and
public instruction for the purpose of informing employers and workers
of their rights and responsibilities under this code, and of
instructing the public generally concerning its basic purposes,
provisions and operations. All standard information employee
pamphlets concerning unemployment and disability insurance programs
shall be printed in English and separately in Spanish, or at the
discretion of the director, in English and Spanish, in such number as
he may determine.

317. The Director of Employment Development shall maintain a field
investigating staff, whose function shall embrace investigation
throughout the state of violations of this code, to the end that its
provisions are more adequately and strictly enforced.

318. The Director of Employment Development shall comply with all
applicable provisions of the Government Code relating to contracts,
budgets and other fiscal matters, including Sections 13320 to 13324,
inclusive, of that code, in the same manner and to the same extent as
other state agencies, insofar as such provisions are not
inconsistent with the provisions of the Social Security Act and the
rules and regulations of the Secretary of Labor.

320. The Director of Employment Development shall make such reports
in such form and containing such information as the Secretary of
Labor may from time to time require, and shall comply with such
provisions as the secretary may from time to time find necessary to
assure the correctness and verification of such reports.

320.5. The director may by authorized regulations prescribe the
information required to be reported to the department by employing
units under this division and employers subject to withholding tax
under Division 6 (commencing with Section 13000) in order to make
reports required by the Secretary of Labor, to provide information
necessary to administer this code, to estimate unemployment rates or
to make other estimates required for the purpose of dispensing or
withholding money payments under the Welfare Reform Act of 1971, the
Employment Security Amendments of 1970, the Emergency Unemployment
Compensation Act of 1971, or the Workforce Investment Act of 1998,
and to make any other reports or estimates that may be required by
any other state or federal law. The authorized regulations of the
director may include requirements for the reporting of employment,
unemployment, hours, wages, earnings, the location and nature of the
industrial, business, or other activity of each establishment for the
conduct of business, performance of services, or industrial
operations, and such other requirements as are necessary to comply
with this section.

321. The Director of Employment Development shall make available,
upon request, to any agency of the United States government charged
with the administration of public works or assistance through public
employment, the following information relating to recipients of
unemployment compensation:
(a) The recipient's name.
(b) The recipient's address.
(c) The ordinary occupation and employment status of each such
recipient of unemployment benefits.
(d) A statement of such recipient's rights to further compensation
under this division.

322. The department may exchange information with other
governmental departments and agencies, both federal and state, which
are concerned with the administration of unemployment insurance, or
the collection of taxes which may be used to finance the
administration of unemployment insurance, or the relief of unemployed
or destitute individuals, or legislation concerning, regulating, or
in any manner affecting the obligations arising out of an
employer-employee relation, and with other departments or agencies of
government as the department deems necessary or desirable for the
proper administration of this division in accordance with authorized
regulations.

323. The Director of Employment Development may apply for an
advance to the Unemployment Fund and accept the responsibility for
the repayment of such advance in accordance with the conditions
specified in Title XII of the Social Security Act, as amended, to
secure to this state and its citizens the advantages available under
the provisions of that title.

324. The expense of the administration of this division shall be
paid out of the Unemployment Administration Fund, unless otherwise
provided for in this division.

325. (a) The department may study and make recommendations as to
action which might tend to:
(1) Promote the prevention of unemployment and the stabilization
of employment.
(2) Encourage and assist in the adoption of practical methods of
vocational training, retraining and guidance.
(3) Promote the establishment and operation by governmental units
and agencies of reserves for public work to be prosecuted in time of
business depression and unemployment.
(4) Promote the reemployment of unemployed workers throughout the
state in any way that may seem feasible.
(5) Reduce and prevent unemployment.
(6) Establish the most effective methods of providing economic
security through all forms of social insurance.
(b) To accomplish the ends set forth in subdivision (a) of this
section, the department may carry on and publish the results of
investigations and research studies.

325.5. The department, in consultation and coordination with
veterans' organizations and veteran service providers, shall do all
of the following:
(a) Research the needs of veterans throughout the state and
develop a profile of veterans' employment and training needs.
(b) Develop a statewide plan for the equitable distribution of
employment funds for veterans' employment services.
(c) Seek federal funding for purposes of subdivision (a).

325.6. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that state supported
Veterans Employment Training services meet the same performance
standards as those required by the federal Workforce Investment Act
for services provided to veterans.
(b) Following any fiscal year in which state funds support the
Veterans Employment Training services program, the Employment
Development Department shall provide an annual report to the
Legislature, on or before November 1, regarding the following
performance measures:
(1) The number of veterans receiving individualized, case managed
services.
(2) The number of veterans who receive individualized, case
managed services entering employment.
(3) The retention rate for veterans who enter employment.
(4) The average earnings for veterans entering employment.

326. The department shall investigate and report upon the degree of
unemployment hazard in various industries and occupations and their
cost to the Unemployment Fund. It shall recommend to employers in
industries or occupations showing an excessive cost to that fund,
means for stabilizing employment. It shall also, if necessary,
recommend to the Legislature a higher rate of contribution for any
classification of industries or occupations in which unemployment is
excessive or chronic.

327. The department is authorized to enter into negotiations with
the United States Bureau of the Census to expand the current
population survey for a sample of up to 35,000 households in
California. The department shall report its findings and the result
of the negotiations to the Legislature. At such time as the Bureau of
the Census is prepared to undertake the workload involved in
expanding California's portion of the population survey, the
department shall submit to the Legislature a budget request for funds
not available from other sources to finance a contract with the
Bureau of the Census. When sufficient funds are made available
through the budget process or from other sources, the department is
authorized to contract with the Bureau of the Census for the purpose
of expanding the current population survey to a sample of up to
35,000 households in California. Based on the results of the expanded
survey, the department shall compile and publish monthly information
pertaining to employment and unemployment and shall provide such
information to state governmental entities, including the
Legislature, which are responsible for preparing state economic
projections and revenue estimates.

329. (a) The director, or his or her designee, shall serve as
Chairperson of the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground
Economy provided for in Executive Order W-66-93. The strike force
shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of the
Employment Development Department, the Department of Consumer
Affairs, the Department of Industrial Relations, the Department of
Insurance, and the Office of Criminal Justice Planning. Other
agencies that are not part of the administration, such as the
Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, and the
Department of Justice, are encouraged to participate in the strike
force.
(b) The strike force shall have the following duties:
(1) To facilitate and encourage the development and sharing of
information by the participating agencies necessary to combat the
underground economy.
(2) To improve the coordination of activities among the
participating agencies.
(3) To develop methods to pool, focus, and target the enforcement
resources of the participating agencies in order to deter tax evasion
and maximize recoveries from blatant tax evaders and violators of
cash-pay reporting laws.
(4) To reduce enforcement costs wherever possible by eliminating
duplicative audits and investigations.
(c) In addition, the strike force shall be empowered to:
(1) Form joint enforcement teams when appropriate to utilize the
collective investigative and enforcement capabilities of the
participating members.
(2) Establish committees and rules of procedure to carry out the
activities of the strike force.
(3) To solicit the cooperation and participation of district
attorneys and other state and local agencies in carrying out the
objectives of the strike force.
(4) Establish procedures for soliciting referrals from the public,
including, but not limited to, an advertised telephone hotline.
(5) Develop procedures for improved information sharing among the
participating agencies, such as shared automated information database
systems, the use of a common business identification number, and a
centralized debt collection system.
(6) Develop procedures to permit the participating agencies to use
more efficient and effective civil sanctions in lieu of criminal
actions wherever possible.
(7) Evaluate, based on its activities, the need for any statutory
change to do any of the following:
(A) Eliminate barriers to interagency information sharing.
(B) Improve the ability of the participating agencies to audit,
investigate, and prosecute tax and cash-pay violations.
(C) Deter violations and improve voluntary compliance.
(D) Eliminate duplication and improve cooperation among the
participating agencies.
(E) Establish shareable information databases.
(F) Establish a common business identification number for use by
participating agencies.
(G) Establish centralized, automated debt collection services for
the participating agencies.
(H) Strengthen civil penalty procedures to allow the strike force
to emphasize civil rather than criminal penalties wherever possible.
(d) The strike force shall report to the Governor and the
Legislature annually during the period of its existence, by June 30,
of each year, regarding its activities.
The report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) The number of cases of blatant violations and noncompliance
with tax and cash-pay laws identified, audited, investigated, or
prosecuted through civil action or referred for criminal prosecution.
(2) Actions taken by the strike force to publicize its activities.
(3) Efforts made by the strike force to establish an advertised
telephone hotline for receiving referrals from the public.
(4) Procedures for improving information sharing among the
agencies represented on the strike force.
(5) Steps taken by the strike force to improve cooperation among
participating agencies, reduce duplication of effort, and improve
voluntary compliance.
(6) Recommendations for any statutory changes needed to accomplish
the goals described in paragraph (7) of subdivision (c).

333. (a) The department shall place a high priority on the
automation of the Benefit Payment Control Program, specifically
including, but not limited to, automating the ledger and collection
functions.
(b) An automated system for the Benefit Payment Control Program
shall include a function which provides for the automatic issuance of
monthly collection letters to unemployment insurance claimants who
have received benefit overpayments.
(c) Personnel savings from automation of the Benefit Payment
Control Program, notwithstanding any other provision of law, shall be
redirected to the processing of additional willful overpayment
cases.

334. The director shall pursue the following methods to increase
the collection of unemployment insurance benefit overpayments:
(a) Developing administrative or automated procedures to insure
that field offices appropriately refer cases to the central office
for the timely interception of a claimant's state tax refund.
(b) Modifying the automated overpayment detection system so that
it will identify more overpayments.
(c) Increasing the number of potential overpayments which are
reviewed by the department.
(d) Working with the Legislature and the Governor to adequately
staff the Benefit Payment Control Program.

335. The department, in consultation and coordination with the film
and movie industry, the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency,
and the California Film Commission shall do all of the following,
contingent upon the appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act
for these specified purposes:
(a) Research and maintain data on the employment and output of the
film industry, including full-time, part-time, contract, and short
duration or single event employees.
(b) Examine the ethnic diversity and representation of minorities
in the entertainment industry.
(c) Determine the overall direct and indirect economic impact of
the film industry.
(d) Monitor film industry employment and activity in other states
and countries that compete with California for film production.
(e) Review the effect that federal and state laws and local
ordinances have on the filmed entertainment industry.
(f) Prepare and release biannually a report to the chairpersons of
the appropriate Senate and Assembly policy committees that details
the information required by this section.

336. The director shall establish procedures to identify the
transfer or acquisition of a business that is undertaken for purposes
of obtaining a lower unemployment insurance contribution rate.