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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 315
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2564
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS FOR ADJUNCT
HIGHER EDUCATION 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repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2022): 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
whether or not successive, or during a period of paid sabbatical leave 15 Raised Bill No. 315
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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)] and (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
subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of this subdivision to any individual 50 Raised Bill No. 315
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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 by an individual in an 57
instructional, research or principal administrative capacity, as set forth 58
in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, for an 59
institution of higher education in the state, as defined in section 3-22a, 60
the administrator, as defined in subsection (c) of section 31-222, shall 61
determine whether such individual has reasonable assurance of 62
performing such services in the second of two succeeding academic 63
years or terms pursuant to the circumstances described in subparagraph 64
(A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection or in the period immediately 65
following a customary vacation period or holiday recess pursuant to the 66
circumstances described in subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of this 67
subsection on a case-by-case basis. Reasonable assurance shall be 68
established when (A) the institution of higher education has made an 69
offer of employment to such individual for the second academic year or 70
term or for the period following a customary vacation period or holiday 71
recess, whether such offer is written, oral or implied, (B) such offer was 72
made by an employee of the institution of higher education with 73
authority to make such offer, (C) such offer is for services in the same 74
capacity as the services the individual provided in the first academic 75
year or term or in the period before a customary vacation period or 76
holiday recess, (D) the wages or salary in the offer of employment are in 77
an amount not less than ninety per cent of the amount paid to such 78
individual during the first academic year or term or during the period 79
before a customary vacation period or holiday recess, (E) such offer is 80
not contingent on factors within the control of the institution of higher 81
education, including, but not limited to, course programming, 82
allocation of available funding, program modifications or facility 83
availability, and (F) it is highly probable that such individual will 84 Raised Bill No. 315
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provide services in the same capacity during the second academic year 85
or term or during the period following a customary vacation period or 86
holiday recess based on the totality of circumstances of the case, 87
including, but not limited to, availability of funding, past enrollment 88
levels, the individual's level of seniority and the nature of the 89
contingencies on the offer. 90
(3) Not later than ten days before the last day of an academic year or 91
term, each institution of higher education in the state shall submit to the 92
Labor Department, in the form and manner prescribed by the 93
administrator, (A) a list of individuals who performed services in an 94
instructional, research or principal administrative capacity, as set forth 95
in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, for such 96
institution and who do not have a reasonable assurance of providing 97
such services in the same capacity during the second academic year or 98
term or during the period following a customary vacation period or 99
holiday recess, including such individual's name and Social Security 100
number, and (B) a list of individuals who performed such services 101
described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, for 102
such institution and who have a reasonable assurance of providing such 103
services in the same capacity during the second academic year or term 104
or during the period following a customary vacation period or holiday 105
recess. The list described in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision shall 106
include with a description of the manner in which reasonable assurance 107
was provided to each individual, including, but not limited to, (i) 108
whether an offer was made in writing, orally or implied, (ii) the nature 109
of any contingencies in the offer, and (iii) the information communicated 110
to the individual about the offer. Such information may be considered 111
by the administrator, but shall not, on its own, demonstrate conclusive 112
evidence regarding reasonable assurance in any case. The administrator 113
shall consider the failure of any institution to submit such information 114
as establishing a rebuttable presumption of the lack of reasonable 115
assurance to an individual of performing the services described in 116
subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this subsection during the second 117
academic year or term or during the period following a customary 118 Raised Bill No. 315
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vacation period or holiday recess. In the event an institution gives an 119
individual reasonable assurance that is not honored in the subsequent 120
academic term, unemployment benefits shall be retroactive to the date 121
of the institution's attestation of reasonable assurance or the date that 122
attestation of assurance is required. 123
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 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.]