SENATE, No. 1118

By Mr. Pacheco, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1118) of Marc R. Pacheco and Steven A. Tolman for legislation to promote fairness in unemployment insurance for workers seeking part-time work. Labor and Workforce Development

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

In the Year Two Thousand and Five.

AN ACT TO PROMOTE FAIRNESS IN UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FOR WORKERS SEEKING PART-TIME WORK

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1.  Section 24 of chapter 151A, as appearing in the 2000 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after line 49 the following:-

(d)  An individual who seeks part-time work shall be considered available for work provided that the individual restricts his or her work search to part-time work for good cause.  No individual who is otherwise eligible for benefits shall be considered ineligible solely because the individual seeks part-time work.

For the purposes of this subsection, the term "part-time work" shall mean work of at least fourteen hours a week and at less than the full-time work schedule customary for the individual's occupation.  The deputy director shall promulgate regulations that define good cause for restricting work search in the benefit year to part-time work and said definition shall include the necessity to reduce hours of work due to child care or the care of sick or elderly family members.