HR1051 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1051 LRB099 19847 NHT 44246 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Unemployment insurance is a benefit that is supposed to cover workers during times of unemployment when a worker has no income; under current law, however, many part-time faculty working in colleges and universities in this State are unable to receive unemployment insurance when they have become unemployed between semesters because the college or university holds that they have a "reasonable assurance" of continuous employment under labor law; and

WHEREAS, These employees, who generally work 30 weeks a year, are seasonal workers, like actors, construction workers, diamond cutters, and furriers, all of whom are eligible for benefits during periods they are not employed; these part-time faculty employees have no reasonable assurance that they will have a job when the next semester starts as that decision rests entirely with the employer and is often based on contingent factors such as enrollment, funding, and programmatic changes; and

WHEREAS, In many cases, these employees are not notified by the college or university that there is no position for them until they are very close to the start of the next semester; in fact, current law provides an incentive for colleges and universities to wait as long as possible to officially disclose to part-time faculty that they will not be employed for the upcoming semester to avoid paying unemployment insurance costs for those employed between semesters; part-time faculty are treated unfairly under the current law as they are only eligible for unemployment insurance benefits from the time they are officially notified they are not renewed by the college or university for the next semester; it is only at this time that they can file a claim to be eligible for benefits even though they may have been out of work for months before this notification and have absolutely no control over their employment; and

WHEREAS, Both the California and Washington state legislatures have passed legislation that ensures the ability of part-time professional employees to collect benefits during periods when they are not working; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we should create a task force to make a recommendation for a proposal that would help to ensure that part-time faculty members at colleges and universities are treated equitably under the law as other workers who have no reasonable assurance of future employment as it is certainly reasonable and just to afford these benefits to part-time faculty who have no control over their contract employment and, therefore, have no reasonable assurance of employment.