288.500. Shared work program created--definitions--plan, requirements--plan denied, submission of new plan, when--contribution by employer, how computed--benefits.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

288.500. Shared work program created--definitions--plan, requirements--plan denied, submission of new plan, when--contribution by employer, how computed--benefits.

Shared work program created--definitions--plan, requirements--plandenied, submission of new plan, when--contribution by employer,how computed--benefits.

288.500. 1. There is created under this section a voluntary "SharedWork Unemployment Compensation Program". In connection therewith, thedivision may adopt rules and establish procedures, not inconsistent with thissection, which are necessary to administer this program.

2. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

(1) "Affected unit", a specified department, shift, or other unit ofthree or more employees which is designated by an employer to participate in ashared work plan;

(2) "Division", the division of employment security;

(3) "Fringe benefit", health insurance, a retirement benefit receivedunder a pension plan, a paid vacation day, a paid holiday, sick leave, and anyother analogous employee benefit that is provided by an employer;

(4) "Normal weekly hours of work", as to any individual, the lesser offorty hours or the average obtained by dividing the total number of hoursworked per week in the preceding twelve-week period by the number twelve;

(5) "Participating employee", an employee who works a reduced number ofhours under a shared work plan;

(6) "Participating employer", an employer who has a shared work plan ineffect;

(7) "Shared work benefit", an unemployment compensation benefit that ispayable to an individual in an affected unit because the individual worksreduced hours under an approved shared work plan;

(8) "Shared work plan", a program for reducing unemployment under whichemployees who are members of an affected unit share the work remaining after areduction in their normal weekly hours of work;

(9) "Shared work unemployment compensation program", a program designedto reduce unemployment and stabilize the work force by allowing certainemployees to collect unemployment compensation benefits if the employees sharethe work remaining after a reduction in the total number of hours of work anda corresponding reduction in wages.

3. An employer who wishes to participate in the shared work unemploymentcompensation program established under this section shall submit a writtenshared work plan in a form acceptable to the division for approval. As acondition for approval by the division, a participating employer shall agreeto furnish the division with reports relating to the operation of the sharedwork plan as requested by the division. The employer shall monitor andevaluate the operation of the established shared work plan as requested by thedivision and shall report the findings to the division.

4. The division may approve a shared work plan if:

(1) The employer has filed all reports required to be filed under thischapter for all past and current periods and has paid all contributions duefor all past and current periods;

(2) The shared work plan applies to and identifies a specified affectedunit;

(3) The employees in the affected unit are identified by name and SocialSecurity number;

(4) The shared work plan reduces the normal weekly hours of work for anemployee in the affected unit by not less than twenty percent and not morethan forty percent;

(5) The shared work plan applies to at least ten percent of theemployees in the affected unit;

(6) The shared work plan describes the manner in which the participatingemployer treats the fringe benefits of each employee in the affected unit; and

(7) The employer certifies that the implementation of a shared work planand the resulting reduction in work hours is in lieu of temporary layoffs thatwould affect at least ten percent of the employees in the affected unit andthat would result in an equivalent reduction in work hours.

5. If any of the employees who participate in a shared work plan underthis section are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the shared workplan shall be approved in writing by the collective bargaining agent.

6. No shared work plan which will subsidize seasonal employers duringthe off-season or subsidize employers, at least fifty percent of the employeesof which have normal weekly hours of work equaling thirty-two hours or less,shall be approved by the division. No shared work plan benefits will beinitiated when the reduced hours coincide with holiday earnings alreadycommitted to be paid by the employer. Shared work plan benefits may not bedenied in any week containing a holiday for which holiday earnings arecommitted to be paid by the employer unless the shared work benefits to bepaid are for the same hours in the same day as the holiday earnings.

7. The division shall approve or deny a shared work plan not later thanthe thirtieth day after the day on which the shared work plan is received bythe division. The division shall approve or deny a plan in writing. If thedivision denies a plan, the division shall notify the employer of the reasonsfor the denial. Approval or denial of a plan by the division shall be finaland such determination shall be subject to review in the manner otherwiseprovided by law. If approval of a plan is denied by the division, theemployer may submit a new plan to the division for consideration no soonerthan forty-five calendar days following the date on which the divisiondisapproved the employer's previously submitted plan.

8. The division may revoke approval of a shared work plan and terminatethe plan if it determines that the shared work plan is not being executedaccording to the terms and intent of the shared work unemployment compensationprogram, or if it is determined by the division that the approval of theshared work plan was based, in whole or in part, upon information contained inthe plan which was either false or substantially misleading.

9. Each shared work plan approved by the division shall become effectiveon the first day of the week in which it is approved by the division or on alater date as specified in the shared work plan. Each shared work planapproved by the division shall expire on the last day of the twelfth fullcalendar month after the effective date of such shared work plan.

10. An employer may modify a shared work plan created under this sectionto meet changed conditions if the modification conforms to the basicprovisions of the shared work plan as originally approved by the division.The employer shall report the changes made to the plan in writing to thedivision at least seven days before implementing such changes. The divisionshall reevaluate the shared work plan and may approve the modified shared workplan if it meets the requirements for approval under subsection 4 of thissection. The approval of a modified shared work plan shall not, under anycircumstances, affect the expiration date originally set for the shared workplan. If modifications cause the shared work plan to fail to meet therequirements for approval, the division shall deny approval of themodifications as provided in subsection 7 of this section.

11. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, an individualis unemployed for the purposes of this section in any week in which theindividual, as an employee in an affected unit, works less than his normalweekly hours of work in accordance with an approved shared work plan in effectfor that week.

12. An individual who is otherwise entitled to receive regularunemployment insurance benefits under this chapter shall be eligible toreceive shared work benefits with respect to any week in which the divisionfinds that:

(1) The individual is employed as a member of an affected unit subjectto a shared work plan that was approved before the week in question and is ineffect for that week;

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection 1 ofsection 288.040, the individual is able to work, available for work and worksall available hours with the participating employer;

(3) The individual's normal weekly hours of work have been reduced by atleast twenty percent but not more than forty percent, with a correspondingreduction in wages; and

(4) The individual has served a waiting week as defined in section288.030.

13. A waiting week served under the provisions of subdivision (3) ofsubsection 1 of section 288.040 shall serve to meet the requirements ofsubdivision (4) of subsection 12 of this section and a waiting week servedunder the provisions of subdivision (4) of subsection 12 of this section shallserve to meet the requirements of section 288.040. Notwithstanding any otherprovisions of this chapter, an individual who files a new initial claim duringthe pendency of the twelve-month period in which a shared work plan is ineffect shall serve a waiting week whether or not the individual has served awaiting week under this subsection.

14. The division shall not deny shared work benefits for any week to anotherwise eligible individual by reason of the application of any provision ofthis chapter that relates to availability for work, active search for work, orrefusal to apply for or accept work with an employer other than theparticipating employer under the plan.

15. The division shall pay an individual who is eligible for shared workbenefits under this section a weekly shared work benefit amount equal to theindividual's regular weekly benefit amount for a period of total unemploymentless any deductible amounts under this chapter except wages received from anyemployer, multiplied by the full percentage of reduction in the individual'shours as set forth in the employer's shared work plan. If the shared workbenefit amount calculated under this subsection is not a multiple of onedollar, the division shall round the amount so calculated to the next lowestmultiple of one dollar. An individual shall be ineligible for shared workbenefits for any week in which the individual performs paid work for theparticipating employer in excess of the reduced hours established under theshared work plan.

16. An individual shall not be entitled to receive shared work benefitsand regular unemployment compensation benefits in an aggregate amount whichexceeds the maximum total amount of benefits payable to that individual in abenefit year as provided under section 288.038. Notwithstanding any otherprovisions of this chapter, an individual shall not be eligible to receiveshared work benefits for more than twenty-six calendar weeks during thetwelve-month period of the shared work plan. No week shall be counted as aweek of unemployment for the purposes of this subsection unless it occurswithin the twelve-month period of the shared work plan.

17. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, all benefitspaid under a shared work plan which are chargeable to the participatingemployer or any other base period employer of a participating employee shallbe charged to the account of the participating employer under the plan.

18. An individual who has received all of the shared work benefits andregular unemployment compensation benefits available in a benefit year is anexhaustee under section 288.062 and is entitled to receive extended benefitsunder section 288.062 if the individual is otherwise eligible under thatsection.