AB 123

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing unemployment compensation disability law requires workers to pay contribution rates based on, among other things, wages received in employment and benefit disbursement, for payment into the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, a special fund in the State Treasury. That fund is continuously appropriated for the purpose of providing disability benefits and making payment of expenses in administering those provisions. Existing unemployment compensation disability law provides a formula for determining benefits available to qualifying disabled individuals. Under existing law, for periods of disability commencing on and after January 1, 2023, if the amount of wages paid an individual during the quarter of their disability base period in which those wages were highest exceeds $1,749.20, the weekly benefit amount is 55% of those wages divided by 13. Under existing law, a benefit that is not a multiple of $1 shall be computed to the next higher multiple of $1, and the amount of the benefit is prohibited from exceeding the maximum workers' compensation temporary disability indemnity weekly benefit amount. Under existing law, the maximum amount of benefits payable to an individual during any one disability benefit period is 52 times their weekly benefit amount, as specified. Existing law establishes, within the above state disability insurance program, a family temporary disability insurance program, also known as the paid family leave program, for the provision of wage replacement benefits for up to 8 weeks to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a minor child within one year of birth or placement, as specified. Existing law defines "weekly benefit amount" for purposes of both employee contributions and benefits under this program to mean the amount of weekly benefits available to qualifying disabled individuals pursuant to unemployment compensation disability law, calculated pursuant to specified formulas partly based on the applicable percentage of the wages paid to an individual for employment by employers during the quarter of the individual's disability base period in which these wages were highest, but not to exceed the maximum workers' compensation temporary disability indemnity weekly benefit amount established by the Department of Industrial Relations. This bill would revise the formulas described above for periods of disability commencing after January 1, 2023, but before January 1, 2025, by redefining the weekly benefit amount to be equal to 65% or 75% of the wages paid to an individual for employment by employers during the quarter of the individual's disability base period in which these wages were highest, divided by 13, but not exceeding the maximum workers' compensation temporary disability indemnity weekly benefit amount established by the Department of Industrial Relations, depending on the amount of wages paid to the individual for employment by employers during the quarter of the individual's disability base period in which these wages were highest. The bill would, for periods of disability commencing after January 1, 2025, increase the wage replacement percentages to be equal to 70% or 90% depending on the amount of wages paid to the individual for employment by employers during the quarter of the individual's disability base period in which these wages were highest. The bill, however, would only make these revisions to the formula applicable to only the first 12 weeks of benefits for disability benefits that are not the paid family leave program. By providing for the deposit of additional contributions in, and by authorizing an increase in disbursements from, the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, this bill would make an appropriation.