SENATE BILL 545
50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011
INTRODUCED BY
Sue Wilson Beffort
AN ACT
RELATING TO UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION; PROVIDING FOR SALARY- SHARING AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE STATE AND PRIVATE EMPLOYERS FOR THE TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS; PROVIDING A DELAYED REPEAL.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Unemployment Compensation Law is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SALARY-SHARING AGREEMENTS.--
A. An employer may enter into a salary-sharing agreement with the division pursuant to the provisions of this section under which the employer may employ one or more individuals who are currently receiving unemployment compensation benefits.
B. A salary-sharing agreement shall:
(1) provide that the salary to be paid by the employer during the contractual employment period shall be negotiated between the employer and the employee but shall not be less than one-half of the average of the salaries reported by the employer to the division in the previous calendar year for employees with similar duties; provided that, if the employer did not have employees with similar duties during the previous calendar year, the division and the employer shall jointly agree on an amount that represents the average salary paid to employees with similar duties;
(2) provide that, during the contractual employment period, the employee shall continue to receive weekly benefits but in an amount equal to one-half of the benefits that the employee would have otherwise received;
(3) specify the contractual employment period; provided that the period shall not extend beyond twenty-six weeks after the employee initially became eligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits;
(4) provide that, at the end of the contractual employment period, the employer may terminate the employment or offer the employee continued employment at a salary agreed to between the employer and the employee;
(5) provide that either the employer or the employee may terminate the employment at any time during the contractual employment period; and
(6) contain such other provisions as are required by rule of the division or negotiated by the parties.
C. An employer who, either during the contractual employment period, at the end of the contractual employment period or within one year after the end of the contractual employment period, terminates the employment of an employee hired pursuant to a salary-sharing agreement shall, for one year after the termination, be ineligible to again enter into a salary-sharing agreement for a position with similar duties.
D. The hiring of an employee pursuant to a salary- sharing agreement shall not result in the displacement of any currently employed worker or position, including partial displacement such as a reduction in the hours of non-overtime work, wages or employment benefits, or in any infringement of the promotional opportunities of any currently employed individual.
E. The hiring of an employee pursuant to a salary- sharing agreement shall not impair existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements and shall not be inconsistent with the terms of a collective bargaining agreement or involve the performance of duties covered under a collective bargaining agreement unless the employer and the labor organization concur in writing.
F. An employee hired pursuant to a salary-sharing agreement may fill or perform the duties of an employment position only in a manner that is consistent with existing laws, personnel procedures and collective bargaining contracts. G. No employee hired pursuant to a salary-sharing agreement shall be employed or assigned:
(1) when any other individual is on layoff from the same or any substantially equivalent job;
(2) if the employer has terminated the employment of any regular employee or otherwise caused an involuntary reduction of its work force with the effect of filling the vacancy so created with an employee hired pursuant to a salary-sharing agreement; or
(3) to any position at a particular work site when there is an ongoing strike or lockout at that particular work site.
H. Upon the violation by an employer of a provision of this section or a substantive provision in a salary-sharing agreement, the division shall have a cause of action against the employer for the unemployment compensation benefits paid to an employee during the contractual employment period.
I. For purposes of determining compliance with a federal, state or local minimum wage law or a federal or state law mandating prevailing wages, the wages paid to an employee hired pursuant to a salary-sharing agreement shall be the sum of the salary paid by the employer plus the unemployment compensation benefit received.
J. Eligibility requirements and other inconsistent provisions of the Unemployment Compensation Law shall not apply to an employee during the contractual employment period of a salary-sharing agreement.
K. Nothing in this section:
(1) requires an employer or an applicant for, or a recipient of, unemployment compensation benefits to participate in a salary-sharing agreement; or
(2) relieves an employer from the requirement to make contributions based on the salary paid to an employee hired pursuant to a salary-sharing agreement.
L. The division shall make an effort to ensure that employers and applicants for benefits are familiar with the provisions of this section and shall maintain a database of employers and applicants that have expressed an interest in participating in salary-sharing agreements.
M. The division shall promulgate such rules as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this section."
SECTION 2. DELAYED REPEAL.--Section 1 of this act is repealed effective July 1, 2013.
SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2011.
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