44-775. Establishment of my reemployment plan; duties of secretary of labor and secretary of commerce related to the provision of reemployment services; annual reports; duties of claimants. (a) (1) The secretary of labor and the secretary of commerce shall jointly establish and implement the my reemployment plan as provided in this section. For purposes of this section, "my reemployment plan" means a program jointly established and implemented by the Kansas department of labor and the Kansas department of commerce that provides enhanced reemployment services, including workforce services provided by the department of commerce, to Kansans receiving unemployment insurance benefits. The program shall be available to all claimants except claimants in the shared work program or trade readjustment assistance program or claimants on temporary layoff with a return-to-work date. The program shall be implemented on or before June 1, 2021.

(2) The secretary of labor shall provide the secretary of commerce with the names and contact information of claimants that have claimed three continuous weeks of benefits. The secretary of commerce shall request a resume or work history, a skills list and a job search plan from the claimants and shall offer and provide, when requested, assistance to the claimants in developing the documents or plan through collaboration by the secretary with the Kansas works workforce system. The claimant shall have seven days to respond to the secretary of commerce. The secretary of commerce shall report any failure to respond by the claimant to the secretary of labor.

(3) The secretary of labor shall share labor market information and current available job positions with the secretary of commerce. The secretary of labor may collaborate with Kansasworks or other state or federal agencies with job availability information in obtaining or sharing such information.

(4) The secretary of commerce shall match open job positions with claimants based on skills, work history and job location that is a reasonable commute from the claimant's residence and communicate the match information to the claimant and to the employer. The secretary of labor and the secretary of commerce shall consider whether the claimant or a Kansas employer would benefit from the claimant's participation in a work skills training or retraining program as provided by subsection (b) and, if so, provide such information to the employer, if applicable, and the claimant. Claimants who fail to respond within two weeks after contact by Kansasworks or the department of commerce shall be reported by the secretary of commerce to the secretary of labor.

(5) The secretary of commerce shall facilitate and oversee the claimant and employer interview process. The secretary of commerce and the secretary of labor shall monitor the result of job matches and share information regarding any claimant who did not attend an interview or did not accept a position that was a reasonable match for the claimant's work history and skills and was within a reasonable commute from the claimant's residence. The secretary of commerce shall contact the claimant and report the contact to the secretary of labor. The secretary of labor shall consider whether the claimant has failed to meet work search requirements and if the claimant should continue to receive benefits.

(b) The secretary of commerce shall develop and implement a work skills training or retraining program for claimants in collaboration with the Kansasworks workforce system, the secretary of labor, employers and other state or federal agencies or organizations. The secretary of commerce shall seek to obtain or utilize any available federal funds for the program, and to the extent feasible, may make current work skills training and retraining programs available to claimants. The secretary of labor may allow claimants to participate in such a program offered by the secretary of commerce or by another state or federal agency in lieu of requiring the claimant to meet job search requirements and the requirements of the my reemployment plan until the number of allowed benefit weeks has expired. A claimant shall participate in such a program for not less than 25 hours per week. The secretary of commerce shall monitor claimants who are participating in the program to ensure attendance and progress.

(c) Claimants who participate in the my reemployment plan or the work skills training or retraining program shall meet attendance or progress requirements established by the secretary of commerce to continue eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits. Non‐compliant claimants shall be reported by the secretary of commerce to the secretary of labor. The secretary of labor shall disqualify such claimants from further benefits within five business days of receiving the report, unless or until the claimant demonstrates compliance to the secretary of commerce, and shall communicate the disqualification and the reason for the disqualification to the claimant. The secretary of commerce shall report to the secretary of labor when the claimant has reestablished compliance. The secretary of labor may continue benefits or reinstate a claimant's eligibility for benefits upon a showing of good cause by the claimant for the failure to meet attendance or progress requirements or my reemployment plan participation requirements.

(d) The secretary of labor and the secretary of commerce shall provide an annual status update and progress report for the my reemployment plan to the standing committee on commerce, labor and economic development of the house of representatives and the standing committee on commerce of the senate during the first month of the 2022 regular legislative session and the first month of each regular legislative session thereafter.

(e) This section shall be a part of and supplemental to the employment security law.

History: L. 2021, ch. 92, § 5; May 13.