Labor & Employment

HB 579 eliminates Kentucky's one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits, meaning eligible workers can receive payments starting immediately after filing a claim. The bill amends Kentucky Revised Statute 341.350 to remove the requirement that claimants serve a waiting week before benefits begin, directly affecting unemployed Kentuckians filing for benefits. All other eligibility requirements - including work search activities, job registration, and base-period wage standards - remain unchanged. This change simplifies access to benefits without altering existing policy conditions.

Amend KRS 341.350, relating to unemployment insurance, to lengthen the verified definite return-to-work or recall-to-work period from 16 weeks to 12 months and add protections for employees whose place of employment can reasonably be expected to resume operations within 12 months following a natural disaster.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to establish an income tax credit for employers that maintain an apprenticeship program and hire apprentices; amend KRS 141.0205 to order the credit; amend KRS 131.190 to allow the Department of Revenue to report to the Legislative Research Commission on the credit.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 335B to allow universal recognition of occupational licenses and government certifications; include work experience as a basis for licensure or certification; explicity include military personnel and their spouses; provide that the Act may be cited as the Universal Recognition of Occupational Licenses Act.

Propose to amend Section 25 of the Constitution of Kentucky to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude in all circumstances, including as punishment for a crime; provide ballot language; submit to voters for ratification or rejection.

Amend KRS 342.0011, relating to workers' compensation, to expand the definition of "injury" to include psychological injuries for police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, front-line staff members, or members of the National Guard; create a new section of KRS Chapter 342 to establish when psychological injuries are valid workers' compensation claims when not a direct result of a physical injury.

Amend KRS 342.610 to remove the presumption that the use of an illegal substance prior to an accident caused the injury; provide that the use of an illegal substance shall be the proximate cause of the injury.

HB 437 eliminates the one-week waiting period for new unemployment benefit claims in Kentucky. It directly affects unemployed workers filing initial claims by allowing them to receive benefits immediately upon eligibility, rather than waiting a week. The bill amends Kentucky Revised Statute 341.350 to remove the requirement for a waiting week, while keeping all other eligibility rules - like work search activities and base-period wage requirements - unchanged. This change applies to all new claims filed after the law takes effect.

Amend KRS 341.370 to prohibit disqualification from benefits for workers unemployed as a result of domestic violence and abuse, dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, or stalking; create a new section of KRS Chapter 341 to direct the secretary of the Education and Labor Cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations; amend KRS 341.125 to require the secretary to provide training to personnel who process claims related to domestic or dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, or stalking and to report to the Legislative Research Commission annually the number of claims paid involving domestic or dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, or stalking; amend KRS 341.360 to conform; amend KRS 341.530 to charge benefits to pooled account for workers displaced from employment through domestic or dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, or stalking; amend KRS 341.550 to prevent benefit payments from pooled account from impacting an employer's experience rating.

Amend KRS 304.17A-258 to require health benefit plans to provide coverage for certain formulas; suspend the coverage requirement's application to qualified health plans if the state would be required to make cost defrayal payments; amend KRS 304.17A-145 to require coverage for breastfeeding and lactation services in conjunction with the birth and without a prescription; amend KRS 304.17A-099 to conform; amend KRS 205.522 to require Medicaid to comply with the coverage requirements for formulas; amend KRS 205.560 to conform; amend KRS 205.6485, 164.2871, and 18A.225 to require KCHIP, self-insured employer group health plans provided by the governing board of a state postsecondary education institution, and the state employee health plan to comply with the coverage requirements for formulas; provide that certain provisions apply to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval, if necessary, and to comply with notice requirements; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes in the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1); EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2027.