S 4526

SENATE, No. 4526
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 26, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
���� Eliminates certain requirements for employers
following separations from employment.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act concerning unemployment compensation and amending
R.S.43:21-6.
���� Be It
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� R.S.43:21-6 is amended
to read as follows:
���� 43:21-6. (a) Filing. (1)
Claims for benefits shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the
Director of the Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability Insurance of
the Department of Labor and Workforce Development of the State of New Jersey
may approve.� Each employer shall post and maintain on his premises printed
notices of his subject status, of such design, in such numbers and at such
places as the director of the division may determine to be necessary to give
notice thereof to persons in the employer's service.� Each employer shall give
to each individual at the time he becomes unemployed, for any reason, whether
the unemployment is permanent or temporary, a printed copy of benefit
instructions.� The benefit instructions given to the individual shall include,
but not be limited to, [the
following information: (A) the date upon which the individual becomes
unemployed, and, in the case that the unemployment is temporary, to the extent
possible, the date upon which the individual is expected to be recalled to
work; and (B)]
an explanation that the individual may lose some or all of the benefits
to which he is entitled if he fails to file a claim in a timely manner.� [Both the
aforesaid notices and instructions, including information detailing the time
sensitivity of filing a claim, and directions provided in advance to all
employers regarding what information the division requires employers to provide
to the division by electronic means immediately upon a separation from
employment sufficient to enable the division to make a benefit determination,
including any information relevant to whether the individual may be
disqualified pursuant to subsections (a),(b),(d), or (e) of R.S.43:21-5,] The
benefit instructions shall be supplied by the division to employers without
cost to them.� [The
directions provided to all employers in advance shall include that each
employer provide the division with an email address for communications to and
from the division.� When an employer provides benefit instructions to the
individual which disclose the date on which unemployment will commence, the
employer shall immediately and simultaneously provide by electronic means that
disclosure to the division together with the information required by the
division pursuant to the directions provided in advance by the division.� An
employer who fails to make the immediate and simultaneous disclosure to the
department as required by this paragraph shall be liable for the penalties
imposed by subsection (b) of R.S.43:21-16 on employers for willful failure to
furnish reports.� The division shall notify the employer by electronic means
not more than seven calendar days after the department receives the disclosure
of any failure of the employer to provide all of the information needed by the
division to make a benefit determination.]�
Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to require an employer to
re-hire an individual formerly in the employer's service.� Nothing in this
section shall be construed as requiring the division to issue a benefit
determination solely based on the information supplied by the employer.� [Notwithstanding
the provisions of this section which require employers to provide information
to the division by electronic means, and the division to provide notifications
to an employer by electronic means, the commissioner shall have the discretion
to establish by rule an alternate method or methods for employers to provide
the required information to the division and for the division to provide the
required notifications to an employer in circumstances where it is established,
to the satisfaction of the commissioner, that the employer is unable to provide
the information to the division or is unable to receive notifications from the
division by electronic means.
���� (2)] Any claimant may choose to
certify, cancel or close his claim for unemployment insurance benefits at any
time, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, via the Internet on a website
developed by the division; however, any claim that is certified, cancelled or
closed after 7:00 PM will not be processed by the division until the next
scheduled posting date.
���� [(3)] (2) The division may
request that claimants obtain digital identity credentials, but only if the
division provides opportunities for claimants to verify their identities even
if they do not have the knowledge or access to the equipment needed to obtain
the digital identity credentials.� Any request by the division for a claimant
to obtain digital identity credentials shall include a statement that the
claimant may use alternative procedures to verify identification, and fully
describe the alternative procedures, which shall include personal assistance in
person or by phone which shall be made available by representatives of the
division as needed to prevent any delay in processing claims.� If the division
requests that a claimant obtain digital identity credentials, and the claimant
chooses to request a digital identity credential rather than utilize an
alternative procedure, but is denied the digital identity credential, the
division shall issue the claimant a written appealable determination.
���� [(4)] (3) Any system that the
division establishes for claimants or recipients of benefits to verify
identity, to apply for, or to make appeals regarding, benefits either by phone
or on-line, shall provide a clearly and prominently expressed option for the
claimant or recipient, if not immediately provided personal assistance, to
select from available appointment times an appointment time to speak with a
representative to obtain assistance in verifying identity, filing a claim or
appeal, or obtaining information regarding the status of a claim or appeal.
���� (b) (1) Procedure for making
initial determinations with respect to benefit years commencing on or after
January 1, 1953.
���� A representative or
representatives designated by the director of the division and hereafter
referred to as a "deputy" shall promptly examine any disclosure of
information to the division by an employer [required
by paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this section upon a separation from work
and any claim for benefits],
and shall, by electronic means, notify the most recent employing unit and,
successively as necessary, each employer in inverse chronological order during
the base year.� The notification shall be made not later than seven calendar
days [after
the employer provides to the department the disclosure required by paragraph
(1) of subsection (a) of this section, or seven calendar days] after the
filing of the claim[,
whichever occurs first],
and require said employing unit and employer to furnish, by electronic means,
not more than seven calendar days after the notification is made, any
information to the deputy which [the
employer failed to provide as required by paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of
this section as]
may be necessary to determine the claimant's eligibility and his benefit rights
with respect to the employer in question.� The claimant shall, at the time the
claim is filed, be provided any information the division has received from the
employer [upon
the separation from work]
and an opportunity to respond to that information.� If a claim is filed [and the
employer has provided the information required upon separation from work], the employer
shall immediately be notified by electronic means of the opportunity to
provide, by electronic means and in not more than seven calendar days,
additional information in response to the claim for benefits.� [If a claim is
filed and the employer has failed to provide the information required upon the
separation from work, the division shall immediately, by electronic means,
request the required information and the employer shall provide the
information, by electronic means and in not more than seven calendar days.� The
division shall provide the claimant any additional information it receives and
an opportunity to respond.]
���� If any employer or employing
unit fails to respond to the notification or request within seven calendar days
after a communication by electronic means of the notification or request, the
deputy shall rely entirely on information from other sources, including an
affidavit to the best of the knowledge and belief of the claimant with respect
to his wages and time worked.� Except in the event of a knowing, fraudulent
nondisclosure or misrepresentation by the claimant or his agent, if it is
determined that any information in such affidavit is erroneous, no penalty
shall be imposed on the claimant.
���� The deputy shall make an
initial determination contingent upon the receipt of all necessary information
and notify the claimant no later than three weeks from the date on which the
division received the claim for benefits.� The initial determination shall show
the weekly benefit amount payable, the maximum duration of benefits with
respect to the employer to whom the determination relates, and the ratio of
benefits chargeable to the employer's account for benefit years commencing on
or after July 1, 1986, and also shall show whether the claimant is ineligible
or disqualified for benefits under the initial determination.� The employer
whose account may be charged for benefits payable pursuant to said
determination shall be promptly notified thereof.
���� Whenever an initial
determination is based upon information other than that supplied by an employer
[because
such employer failed to provide information as required at the time of
separation from employment, and failed to respond to the deputy's request for
additional information],
benefit payments based on the determination shall commence immediately[, and such
initial determination and any subsequent determination thereunder shall be
incontestable by the noncomplying employer, as to any charges to his employer's
account because of benefits paid prior to the close of the calendar week
following the receipt of his reply].�
Such initial determination shall be altered if necessary upon receipt of
information from the employer, and any benefits paid or payable with respect to
weeks occurring subsequent to the close of the calendar week following the
receipt of the employer's reply and the determination of the division to alter
the initial determination after providing the claimant the information and an
opportunity to respond shall be paid in accordance with such altered initial
determination.
���� The deputy shall issue a
separate initial benefit determination with respect to each of the claimant's
base year employers, starting with the most recent employer and continuing as
necessary in the inverse chronological order of the claimant's last date of
employment with each such employer.� If an appeal is taken from an initial
determination, as hereinafter provided, by any employer other than the first
chargeable base year employer or for benefit years commencing on or after July
1, 1986, that employer from whom the individual was most recently separated,
then such appeal shall be limited in scope to include only one or more of the
following matters:
���� (A) The correctness of the
benefit payments authorized to be made under the determination;
���� (B) Fraud in connection with
the claim pursuant to which the initial determination is issued;
���� (C) The refusal of suitable
work offered by the chargeable employer filing the appeal;
���� (D) Gross misconduct as
provided in subsection (b) of R.S.43:21-5.
���� In his discretion, the
director may appoint special deputies to make initial or subsequent
determinations under subsection (f) of R.S.43:21-4 and subsection (d) of
R.S.43:21-5.
���� The amount of benefits payable
under an initial determination may be reduced or canceled if necessary to avoid
payment of benefits for a number of weeks in excess of the maximum specified in
subsection (d) of R.S.43:21-3.
���� Unless the employer, within [seven] 21
calendar days after a confirmed receipt of notification of an initial
determination, including by electronic means, or the claimant, within 21
calendar days after the notification was mailed to the claimant's last-known
address and addresses, or after the notification was delivered to the claimant
by electronic means, provided the departmental functionality exists to deliver
the notifications by electronic means and provided, further, that the claimant
has communicated to the division the choice to receive the notifications by
electronic means, files an appeal of the decision, the decision shall be final
and benefits shall immediately be paid or denied in accordance therewith,
except for such determinations as may be altered in benefit amounts or duration
as provided in this paragraph.� An appeal concerning an initial determination
shall not be filed after [whichever
is applicable of]
the [seven-day
or]
21-day period.� Benefits payable for periods pending an appeal of the initial
determination to the appeal tribunal shall be paid according to the initial
determination, and benefits payable for periods pending appeal of the
determination of the appeal tribunal to the board of review shall be paid
according to the appeal tribunal determination, but shall be, to the extent
that the amount paid exceeds the amount determined in the appeal, regarded as
an overpayment subject to the provisions of R.S.43:21-16 regarding
overpayments, including the requirement of that section that a claimant who
makes knowing, fraudulent nondisclosure or misrepresentation is liable to repay
the full amount of the overpayment; provided that if the appeal is an appeal of
a determination that the claimant is disqualified under the provisions of
R.S.43:21-5, benefits pending determination of the appeal shall be withheld
only for the period of disqualification as provided for in that section, and
while the appeal is pending, the benefits otherwise provided by this act shall
be paid for the period subsequent to such period of disqualification; provided
further that if it is determined in the appeal that the claimant was not
disqualified, the claimant shall be paid the benefits due for the period of the
disqualification, except that no such benefits shall be paid to the claimant
for any week during which the claimant has failed to provide to the division a
weekly certification evidencing the claimant's eligibility for benefits; and
provided, also, that if there are two determinations of entitlement, benefits
for the period covered by such determinations shall be paid regardless of any
appeal which may thereafter be taken, but no employer's account shall be
charged with benefits so paid, if the decision is finally reversed.� If an
employer appeals the charging of benefits to the employer's account after the [seven-day] period to
appeal the initial benefit determination, and, as a result of the appeal on the
charging to the employer's account, the division, after the claimant is
notified and given the opportunity to respond, reduces the amount charged to
the employer's account, any resulting reduction in the amount of benefits shall
take effect only after the resolution of the appeal of the charging, and any
amount of benefits paid before the resolution of the appeal of the charging
which exceeds the amount determined in that appeal shall be regarded as an
overpayment caused by employer error, the repayment of which shall be governed
by subparagraph (C) of paragraph (4) of subsection (d) of R.S.43:21-16.
���� (2) (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2022, c.120)
���� (3) Procedure for making
subsequent determinations with respect to benefit years commencing on or after
January 1, 1953.� The deputy shall make determinations with respect to claims
for benefits thereafter in the course of the benefit year, in accordance with
any initial determination allowing benefits, and under which benefits have not
been exhausted, and each notification of a benefit payment shall be a
notification of an affirmative subsequent determination.� Any change in the
allowance, amount, or other characteristic of benefits by the deputy in any
such determination, or the denial of benefits by the deputy in any such
determination, shall be appealable in the same manner and under the same
limitations as is provided in the case of initial determinations, except that,
after an initial determination, the resolution of any appeal of the initial
determination, and the payment of one or more weeks of benefits pursuant to the
initial determination, if a subsequent determination will result in any termination
or reduction of those benefits from the amount or duration of benefits
specified in the initial determination, the claimant shall be provided
notification with a full written explanation of why the reduction or
termination of benefits will occur, and provided, during the seven calendar
days following the notification, an opportunity to file an appeal.� If the
claimant files an appeal during the seven-day period, benefits shall continue
to be paid at the rate, and for the duration, stipulated in the initial
determination until the appeal is resolved.� If the claimant does not file an
appeal, or the claimant files an appeal and it is found in the resolution of
the appeal that the amount in benefits paid during the processing of the appeal
exceeded the amount determined in the appeal to be correct, or the claimant is
found in the appeal to be ineligible for benefits, any resulting excess payment
of benefits shall be regarded as an overpayment subject to the provisions of
R.S.43:21-16 regarding overpayments, including the requirement of that section
that a claimant who makes knowing, fraudulent nondisclosure or
misrepresentation is liable to repay the full amount of the overpayment.
���� (c) Appeals.� Unless such
appeal is withdrawn, an appeal tribunal, after affording the parties reasonable
opportunity for fair hearing, shall affirm or modify the findings of fact and
the determination.� The parties shall be duly notified of such tribunal's
decision, together with its reasons therefor, which shall be deemed to be the
final decision of the board of review, unless further appeal is initiated
pursuant to subsection (e) of this section within 20 days after the date of
notification or mailing of such decision for any decision made after December
1, 2010.
���� (d) Appeal tribunals.� To hear
and decide disputed benefit claims, including appeals from determinations with
respect to demands for refunds of benefits under subsection (d) of
R.S.43:21-16, the director with the approval of the Commissioner of Labor and
Workforce Development shall establish impartial appeal tribunals consisting of
a salaried body of examiners under the supervision of a Chief Appeals Examiner,
all of whom shall be appointed pursuant to the provisions of Title 11A of the
New Jersey Statutes, Civil Service and other applicable statutes.
���� (e) Board of review.� The
board of review may on its own motion affirm, modify, or set aside any decision
of an appeal tribunal on the basis of the evidence previously submitted in such
case, or direct the taking of additional evidence, or may permit any of the
parties to such decision to initiate further appeals before it.� The board of
review shall permit such further appeal by any of the parties interested in a
decision of an appeal tribunal which is not unanimous and from any
determination which has been overruled or modified by any appeal tribunal.� The
board of review may remove to itself or transfer to another appeal tribunal the
proceedings on any claim pending before an appeal tribunal.� Any proceedings so
removed to the board of review shall be heard by a quorum thereof in accordance
with the requirements of subsection (c) of this section.� The board of review
shall promptly notify the interested parties of its findings and decision.
���� (f) Procedure.� The manner in
which disputed benefit claims, and appeals from determinations with respect to
(1) claims for benefits and (2) demands for refunds of benefits under
subsection (d) of R.S.43:21-16 shall be presented, the reports thereon required
from the claimant and from employers, and the conduct of hearings and appeals
shall be in accordance with rules prescribed by the board of review for
determining the rights of the parties, whether or not such rules conform to
common law or statutory rules of evidence and other technical rules of
procedure.� A full and complete record shall be kept of all proceedings in
connection with a disputed claim.� All testimony at any hearing upon a disputed
claim shall be recorded, but need not be transcribed unless the disputed claim
is further appealed.
���� (g) Witness fees.� Witnesses
subpoenaed pursuant to this section shall be allowed fees at a rate fixed by
the director.� Such fees and all expenses of proceedings involving disputed
claims shall be deemed a part of the expense of administering this chapter
(R.S.43:21-1 et seq.).
���� (h) Court review.� Any
decision of the board of review shall become final as to any party upon the
mailing of a copy thereof to such party and to the party's attorney, or upon
the mailing of a copy thereof to such party at his last-known address and to the
party's attorney.� The Division of Unemployment and Temporary Disability
Insurance and any party to a proceeding before the board of review may secure
judicial review of the final decision of the board of review.� Any party not
joining in the appeal shall be made a defendant; the board of review shall be
deemed to be a party to any judicial action involving the review of, or appeal
from, any of its decisions, and may be represented in any such judicial action
by any qualified attorney, who may be a regular salaried employee of the board
of review or has been designated by it for that purpose, or, at the board of
review's request, by the Attorney General.
���� (i) Failure to give notice.�
The failure of any public officer or employee at any time heretofore or
hereafter to give notice of determination or decision required in subsections
(b), (c) and (e) of this section, as originally passed or amended, shall not
relieve any employer's account of any charge by reason of any benefits paid,
unless and until that employer can show to the satisfaction of the director of
the division that the said benefits, in whole or in part, would not have been
charged or chargeable to his account had such notice been given.� Any
determination hereunder by the director shall be subject to court review.
���� (j) With respect to benefit
payments made on or after October 22, 2013, an employer's account shall not be
relieved of charges related to a benefit payment that was made erroneously from
the division if it is determined that:
���� (1) The erroneous benefit
payment was made because the employer, or an agent of the employer, failed to
respond in a timely or adequate manner to a request from the division for
information related to the claim for benefits, including failing to provide the
information required by subsection (a) of this section upon a separation from
employment; and
���� (2) The employer, or an agent
of the employer, has established a pattern of failing to respond in a timely or
adequate manner to requests from the division for information related to claims
for benefits, including failing to provide the information required by
subsection (a) of this section upon a separation from employment.
���� Determinations of the division
prohibiting the relief of charges pursuant to this subsection shall be subject
to appeal in the same manner as other determinations of the division related to
the charging of employer accounts.
���� For purposes of subsection (j)
of this section:
���� "Erroneous benefit
payment" means a benefit payment that, except for the failure by the
employer, or an agent of the employer, to respond in a timely or adequate
manner to a request from the division for information with respect to the claim
for benefits, would not have been made; and
���� "Pattern of failing"
means repeated documented failure on the part of the employer, or an agent of
the employer, to respond to requests from the division to the employer or
employer's agent for information related to a claim for benefits, including
failing to provide the information required by subsection (a) of this section
upon a separation from employment, except that an employer, or an agent of an
employer, shall not be determined to have engaged in a "pattern of
failing" if the number of failures to provide the required information or
respond to requests from the division for information related to claims for
benefits during the previous 365 calendar days is less than three, or if the
number of failures is less than two percent of the number of requests from the
division, whichever is greater.
���� (k) The Department of Labor
and Workforce Development shall establish and maintain a procedure by which
personnel access rights to the department's primary system for unemployment
claims receipt and processing are comprehensively reviewed every calendar quarter.�
The procedure shall include an evaluation of access needs to the primary
unemployment claims receipt and processing system for all department personnel
and the adjustment, addition, or deletion of access rights for department
personnel based on the quarterly review.
���� (l) The Department of Labor
and Workforce Development shall develop within the department's primary system
for unemployment claims receipt and processing a mechanism for claimants to
electronically access their own benefit payment status and history.
(cf: P.L.2024, c.102, s.4)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the 30th day next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill eliminates certain
requirements for employers following a separation from employment with an
employee.
���� Current law requires employers
to give to each individual at the time the individual becomes unemployed, for
any reason, whether the unemployment is permanent or temporary, a printed copy
of benefit instructions.� The bill preserves this requirement, but eliminates
certain other employer requirements linked to the benefit instructions,
including a requirement that an employer provide the division with an email
address for communications to and from the division.� The bill also eliminates
a requirement that an employer is to provide notice of a separation from work to
the Division of Unemployment Compensation when the employer provides those
instructions to an individual.
���� The bill eliminates a
requirement that the division immediately request information from an employer
regarding an unemployment claim when there is a separation from work and the
employer has failed to provide the required information.�
���� The bill eliminates a
requirement that an initial or subsequent determination based upon information
other than that supplied by an employer, because the employer failed to provide
information and failed to respond to a request for additional information,
becomes incontestable by the noncomplying employer.
���� The bill provides employers
with a 21-day period in which to appeal an initial determination of
unemployment benefits, similar to the 21-day appeal period provided to
claimants.� The current statutory language limits the appeal period for
employers to seven calendar days after receipt of the notice of determination.