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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6582
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4277
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT
Introduced by:
(HED)
AN ACT CONCERNING UN EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR ADJUNCT
FACULTY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 31-227 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2021): 3
(d) (1) Benefits based on service in employment defined in 4
[subdivisions (1) (C) and (D)] subparagraphs (C) and (D) of subdivision 5
(1) of subsection (a) of section 31-222 shall be payable in the same 6
amount, on the same terms and subject to the same conditions as 7
compensation payable on the basis of other service subject to this 8
chapter; except that [(1)] (A) with respect to weeks of unemployment 9
beginning after December 31, 1977, benefits shall not be paid based on 10
service performed in an instructional, research or principal 11
administrative capacity for an educational institution for any week of 12
unemployment commencing during the period between two successive 13
academic years, or during a similar period between two regular terms, 14 Raised Bill No. 6582
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whether or not successive, or during a period of paid sabbatical leave 15
provided for in the individual's contract, to any individual if such 16
individual performs such services in the first of such academic years [(or 17
terms)] or terms and if there is a contract or a reasonable assurance that 18
such individual will perform services in any such capacity for any 19
educational institution in the second of such academic years or terms 20
pursuant to the provisions of subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection; 21
[(2)] (B) with respect to weeks of unemployment beginning after 22
October 29, 1983, for service performed in any other capacity for an 23
educational institution, benefits shall not be paid on the basis of such 24
services to any individual for any week which commences during a 25
period between two successive academic years or terms if such 26
individual performs such services in the first of such academic years or 27
terms and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will 28
perform such services in the second of such academic years or terms, 29
except that if benefits are denied to any individual under this 30
subdivision and such individual is not offered an opportunity to 31
perform such services for the educational institution for the second of 32
such academic years or terms, such individual shall be entitled to a 33
retroactive payment of benefits for each week for which the individual 34
filed a timely claim for benefits and for which benefits were denied 35
solely by reason of this subdivision; [(3)] (C) with respect to weeks of 36
unemployment beginning after March 31, 1984, for services described in 37
[subdivisions (1) and (2)] subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this subdivision, 38
benefits shall not be payable on the basis of such services to any 39
individual for any week which commences during an established and 40
customary vacation period or holiday recess if such individual performs 41
such services in the period immediately before such vacation period or 42
holiday recess and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual 43
will perform such services in the period immediately following such 44
vacation period or holiday recess; [(4)] (D) with respect to weeks of 45
unemployment beginning after March 31, 1984, for services described in 46
[subdivisions (1) and (2)] subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this subdivision, 47
benefits shall not be payable on the basis of such services under the 48
circumstances prescribed in [subdivisions (1), (2) and (3)] 49 Raised Bill No. 6582
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subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of this subdivision to any individual 50
who performed such services in an educational institution while in the 51
employ of an educational service agency. For purposes of this 52
subdivision the term "educational service agency" means a 53
governmental agency or governmental entity which is established and 54
operated exclusively for the purpose of providing such services to one 55
or more educational institutions. 56
(2) With respect to the services performed in an instructional, 57
research or principal administrative capacity, as set forth in 58
subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, by an individual 59
for an institution of higher education in the state, the administrator, as 60
defined in subsection (c) of section 31-222, shall determine whether such 61
individual has reasonable assurance of performing such services in the 62
second of two succeeding academic years or terms pursuant to the 63
circumstances prescribed in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this 64
subsection or in the period immediately following a customary vacation 65
period or holiday recess pursuant to the circumstances prescribed in 66
subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of this subsection on a case-by-case 67
basis. Reasonable assurance shall be established if (A) the institution of 68
higher education has made an offer of employment to such individual 69
for the second academic year or term or for the period following a 70
customary vacation period or holiday recess, whether such offer is 71
written, oral or implied, (B) such offer was made by an employee of the 72
institution of higher education with authority to make such offer, (C) 73
such offer is for services in the same capacity as the services the 74
individual provided in the first academic year or term or in the period 75
before a customary vacation period or holiday recess, (D) the wages or 76
salary in such offer are in an amount not less than ninety per cent of the 77
amount paid to such individual during the first academic year or term 78
or during the period before a customary vacation period or holiday 79
recess, (E) such offer is not contingent on factors within the control of 80
the institution of higher education, including, but not limited to, course 81
programming, allocation of available funding, program modifications 82
or facility availability, and (F) it is highly probable that such individual 83 Raised Bill No. 6582
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will provide services in the same capacity during the second academic 84
year or term or during the period following a customary vacation period 85
or holiday recess based on the totality of circumstances of the case, 86
including, but not limited to, availability of funding, past enrollment 87
levels, the individual's level of seniority and the nature of the 88
contingencies on the offer. 89
(3) Not later than ten days before the last day of an academic year or 90
term, each institution of higher education in the state shall submit to the 91
Labor Department, in the form and manner prescribed by the 92
administrator, (A) a list of individuals who performed services in an 93
instructional, research or principal administrative capacity, as set forth 94
in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, for such 95
institution and who do not have a reasonable assurance of providing 96
such services in the same capacity during the second academic year or 97
term or during the period following a customary vacation period or 98
holiday recess, including such individual's name and Social Security 99
number, and (B) a list of individuals who performed such services 100
described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, for 101
such institution and who have a reasonable assurance of providing such 102
services in the same capacity during the second academic year or term 103
or during the period following a customary vacation period or holiday 104
recess, with a description of the manner in which reasonable assurance 105
was provided to such individual, including, but not limited to, (i) 106
whether an offer was made in writing, orally or implied, (ii) the nature 107
of any contingencies in the offer, and (iii) the information about the offer 108
communicated to the individual. Such information may be considered 109
by the administrator, but shall not, on its own, demonstrate conclusive 110
evidence regarding reasonable assurance in any case. The administrator 111
shall consider the failure of any institution to submit such information 112
as establishing a rebuttable presumption of the lack of reasonable 113
assurance to an individual of performing the services described in 114
subparagraph (A) in subdivision (1) of this subsection during the second 115
academic year or term or during the period following a customary 116
vacation period or holiday recess. 117 Raised Bill No. 6582
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 31-227(d)
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Labor Department to consider specific circumstances
when determining whether an individual who performs instructional,
research or principal administrative duties at an institution of higher
education is eligible to receive unemployment compensation.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]