Senate Bill No. 423–Committee on Commerce and Labor

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to unemployment compensation; increasing the period during which the Administrator of the Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation may recover an overpayment of unemployment compensation benefits; authorizing the Administrator to establish or provide support for job training programs in the public and private sectors for training, retraining or improving the skills of persons employed in this state; authorizing the filing of an action for judicial review of a final decision of the Board of Review concerning a claim for unemployment benefits in the district court of the county where the employment which is the basis of the claim was performed; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

    Section 1. NRS 612.365 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    612.365  1.  Any person who is overpaid any amount as

benefits under this chapter is liable for the amount overpaid unless:

    (a) The overpayment was not due to fraud, misrepresentation or

willful nondisclosure on the part of the recipient; and

    (b) The overpayment was received without fault on the part of

the recipient, and its recovery would be against equity and good

conscience, as determined by the Administrator.

    2.  The amount of the overpayment must be assessed to the

liable person , and he must be notified of the basis of

the assessment. The notice must specify the amount for which the

person is liable. In the absence of fraud, misrepresentation or willful

nondisclosure, notice of the assessment must be mailed or

personally served not later than 1 year after the close of the benefit

year in which the overpayment was made.

    3.  At any time within [3] 5 years after the notice of

overpayment, the Administrator may recover the amount of the

overpayment [either] by using the same methods of collection

provided in NRS 612.625 to 612.645, inclusive, 612.685 and

612.686 for the collection of past due contributions or by deducting

the amount of the overpayment from any benefits payable to the

liable person under this chapter.

    4.  The Administrator may waive recovery or adjustment of all

or part of the amount of any such overpayment which he finds to be

uncollectible or the recovery or adjustment of which he finds to be

administratively impracticable.

    5.  Any person against whom liability is determined under this

section may appeal therefrom within 10 days after the date the

notice provided for in this section was mailed to, or served upon, the

person. An appeal must be made and conducted in the manner

provided in this chapter for the appeals from determinations of

benefit status. The 10-day period provided for in this subsection

may be extended for good cause shown.

    Sec. 2.  NRS 612.475 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    612.475  1.  The last employing unit of any unemployed

claimant and the next to last employing unit of an unemployed

claimant who has not earned remuneration with his last covered

employer equal to or exceeding his weekly benefit amount in each

of 16 weeks[,] must be notified of [the] any new claim or

additional claim filed by the unemployed claimant following his

separation.

    2.  The notice of the filing of a claim must contain the

claimant’s name and social security [account] number and may

contain the reason for separation from the employing unit affected

as given by the claimant, the date of separation[,] and such other

information as is deemed proper.

    3.  Upon receipt of a notice of the filing of a claim, the

employing unit shall , within 10 days [of] after the date of the

mailing of the notice , submit to the Division any facts which may

affect the claimant’s rights to benefits.

    4.  Any employing unit that receives a notice of the filing of a

claim may protest payment of benefits to the unemployed claimant

[,] if the protest is filed within 10 days after the notice is filed.

    5.  Any employing unit which has filed a protest in accordance

with the provisions of this section must be notified in writing of the

determination arrived at by the Administrator or his deputy , and the

notice must contain a statement setting forth the right of appeal.

    6.  As used in this section:

    (a) “Additional claim” means a claim filed during the benefit

year when a break of 1 week or more has occurred in the series of

claims with intervening employment.

    (b) “New claim” means an application for a determination of

eligibility and benefits, benefit amount and duration of benefits

which certifies to the beginning date of a first period of

unemployment in a benefit year or the continuance of a period of

unemployment into a new benefit year.

    Sec. 3.  NRS 612.530 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    612.530  1.  Within 10 days after the decision of the Board of

Review has become final, any party aggrieved thereby or the

Administrator may secure judicial review thereof by commencing

an action in thedistrict court of the county [wherein the appealed

claim or claims were filed against the Administrator] where the

employment which is the basis of the claim was performed for the

review of the decision, in which action any other party to the

proceedings before the Board of Review must be made a defendant.

    2.  In such action, a petition which need not be verified, but

which must state the grounds upon which a review is sought, must

be served upon the Administrator, unless he is the appellant, or upon

such person as he may designate, and such service shall be deemed

completed service on all parties, but there must be left with the party

so served as many copies of the petition as there are defendants, and

the Administrator shall forthwith mail one such copy to each [such]

defendant.

    3.  With his answer or petition, the Administrator shall certify

and file with the court originals or true copies of all documents and

papers and a transcript of all testimony taken in the matter, together

with the Board of Review’s findings of fact and decision therein.

The Administrator may [also, in his discretion,] certify to the court

questions of law involved in any decision.

    4.  In any judicial proceedings under this section, the finding of

the Board of Review as to the facts, if supported by evidence and in

the absence of fraud, is conclusive, and the jurisdiction of the court

is confined to questions of law.

    5.  Such actions, and the questions so certified, must be heard in

a summary manner and must be given precedence over all other

civil cases except cases arising under chapters 616A to 616D,

inclusive, or chapter 617 of NRS.

    6.  An appeal may be taken from the decision of the district

court to the Supreme Court of Nevada[,] in the same manner, but

not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, as is provided in

civil cases.

    7.  It is not necessary, in any judicial proceeding under this

section, to enter exceptions to the rulings of the Board of Review,

and no bond may be required for entering [such] the appeal.

    8.  Upon the final determination of [such] the judicial

proceeding, the Board of Review shall enter an order in accordance

with the determination.

    9.  A petition for judicial review does not act as a supersedeas

or stay unless the Board of Review so orders.

    Sec. 4.  NRS 612.606 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    612.606  1.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, in

addition to any other contribution required by this chapter, each

employer shall make payments into the Unemployment

Compensation Administration Fund for the program for the

employment and training of [claimants and other] unemployed

persons and persons employed in this state at the rate of .05 percent

of the wages he pays.

    2.  The interest and forfeit provisions of NRS 612.620 and

612.740, respectively, are inapplicable to the payments required by

this section.

    3.  In determining unemployment compensation contribution

rates assigned to employers pursuant to this chapter, payments paid

into the Unemployment Compensation Administration Fund for the

program for the employment and training of [claimants and other]

unemployed persons and persons employed in this state pursuant to

this section must remain separate from any other contribution paid

pursuant to this chapter and must not be included in any manner in

computing the contribution rates to be assigned to employers under

NRS 612.550.

    4.  The provisions of this section do not apply to an employer:

    (a) Who has been assigned a contribution rate of 5.4 percent

pursuant to subsection 6 of NRS 612.550; or

    (b) Who has elected to make reimbursement in lieu of

contributions pursuant to NRS 612.553.

    Sec. 5.  NRS 612.607 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    612.607  1.  All payments collected pursuant to NRS 612.606

must be deposited in the Unemployment Compensation

Administration Fund. At the end of each fiscal year, the State

Controller shall transfer to the Clearing Account in the

Unemployment Compensation Fund the amount by which

the unencumbered balance of the money deposited in the

Unemployment Compensation Administration Fund pursuant to this

subsection exceeds the amount of that money which the Legislature

has authorized for expenditure during the first 90 days of the

succeeding fiscal year.

    2.  Except for money transferred from the Unemployment

Compensation Administration Fund pursuant to subsection 1, the

Administrator may only expend the money collected for the

employment and training of [claimants and other] unemployed

persons and persons employed in this state to:

    (a) Establish and administer an employment training program

which must foster job creation, minimize unemployment costs of

employers and meet the needs of employers for skilled workers by

providing training to [unemployment compensation claimants and

other] unemployed persons; [and]

    (b) Establish or provide support for job training programs in

the public and private sectors for training, retraining or improving

the skills of persons employed in this state; and

    (c) Pay the costs of the collection of payments required pursuant

to NRS 612.606.

    3.  The money used for the program for the employment and

training of [claimants and other] unemployed persons and persons

employed in this state must supplement and not displace money

available through existing employment training programs conducted

by any employer or public agency and must not replace, parallel,

supplant, compete with or duplicate in any way existing

apprenticeship programs approved by the State Apprenticeship

Council.

    Sec. 6.  This act becomes effective on July 1, 2003.

 

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