HB 2441: To make those who fail drug test ineligible for unemployment - West Virginia

Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute → hb2441 sfat roberts _1 3-19 adopted.htm · 3 edits

MINOR

The document shows a procedural amendment where Senator Roberts moved to change the bill's title to better reflect its content. The substantive text of the bill regarding unemployment compensation disqualification for failed drug/alcohol testing appears unchanged in the provided diff. The changes are primarily formatting and title modifications rather than policy changes.

TECHNICAL

Bill title was amended to more clearly describe the disqualification provisions for employees who fail random testing for alcohol or illegal controlled substances in safety-sensitive positions.

Header information was updated from 'CS for CS for HB 2441' to 'HB2441 SFAT Roberts #1 3-19' indicating a Senate amendment version.

Original committee substitute header text was removed and replaced with Senate amendment tracking information.

Committee Substitute → Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill revision updates the legislative history and committee reporting information, removing the Subcommittee on Courts attribution and adding the Committee on the Judiciary as the reporting body. The bill's substantive content regarding unemployment compensation disqualification for failed drug testing in safety-sensitive positions remains unchanged.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; only administrative and procedural information was modified.

TECHNICAL

Removed reference to the Subcommittee on Courts and its February 26, 2025 reporting date.

Added reference to the Committee on the Judiciary and updated reporting date to February 28, 2025.

Removed §21-1D-2 (safety-sensitive duty definition) from the bill's purpose statement, leaving only §21A-6-3 (unemployment compensation) as the subject matter.

Added 'Committee Substitute (1)' and 'Introduced Version' links to the navigation section.

Enrolled Version → Committee Substitute · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reorganized and expanded to clarify that employees in safety-sensitive positions are disqualified from unemployment benefits if they fail random drug or alcohol testing. The text was cleaned up to remove website navigation elements and consolidate the legislative content into a proper bill format.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded by adding a new subsection (5) regarding wage offsets and new subsections (10)-(13) covering vacation periods, early retirement, and false statements, while also adding detailed definitions for lockouts and permanent replacements.

ELIGIBILITY

Added explicit disqualification for employees in safety-sensitive positions who fail random testing for alcohol or illegal controlled substances.

Added new disqualification categories for individuals receiving wages in lieu of notice, workers' compensation, other state unemployment benefits, or Social Security retirement benefits.

Added disqualification for individuals who voluntarily quit to attend school, request a vacation, or accept early retirement incentives without valid fear of layoff.

DEFINITION

Added new subsections defining when an employee is considered to have left employment due to a lockout and when they are permanently replaced during a strike.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirements for individuals to certify whether they are receiving retirement benefits that would reduce their unemployment compensation.

TECHNICAL

Removed website navigation links, headers, and formatting artifacts that were mixed into the original enrolled version text.

Engrossed Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute → Enrolled Version · 3 edits · Apr 14, 2025

MINOR

The bill was finalized and enrolled for passage, incorporating substantive changes to unemployment compensation disqualification rules. The most significant change is the addition of new disqualification grounds for employees who fail random drug or alcohol testing in safety-sensitive positions, where substance use creates inherent risks to health and safety. The text was cleaned up to remove website navigation elements and formatting artifacts from the previous version.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include specific disqualification criteria for employees in safety-sensitive positions who fail random testing for alcohol or illegal controlled substances.

ELIGIBILITY

Added new disqualification provision for employees who fail random testing for alcohol or illegal controlled substances when their job involves safety-sensitive positions where substance use creates inherent risks to health and safety.

TECHNICAL

Removed website navigation menus, header formatting, and extraneous text from the previous committee substitute version to produce the final enrolled legislative text.

REQUIREMENT

Consolidated and clarified the language regarding lockout procedures and permanent replacement of striking employees in subsection (4) of the disqualification rules.

Introduced Version → Engrossed Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute · 6 edits · Apr 3, 2025

MODERATE

This bill significantly expands West Virginia's unemployment compensation disqualification rules by adding new grounds for denying benefits related to drug and alcohol testing failures. The changes clarify that employees in safety-sensitive positions or roles where substance use creates inherent risks to health and safety must pass random testing, and failure to do so results in benefit disqualification. The bill also adds detailed provisions regarding lockouts and permanent replacement workers in labor disputes.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of disqualification to include specific testing scenarios for safety-sensitive positions and clarifies labor dispute provisions.

ELIGIBILITY

New disqualification provision added for employees who fail random testing for alcohol or illegal controlled substances when such use creates inherent risk to health and safety, or for employees in safety-sensitive positions as defined in §21-1D-2.

Updated the list of gross misconduct reasons to include refusal to submit to or failure of random testing for safety-sensitive positions, replacing the previous reference to §21-1D-2 with more specific language about inherent risks.

New subsection (5) added disqualifications for weeks where individuals receive wages in lieu of notice, workers' compensation disability payments, or unemployment benefits from other states or federal programs.

New subsection (6) added disqualification for voluntarily quitting to marry or perform family duties, with an exception for accompanying a spouse in military service.

New subsection (7) through (13) added various new disqualification grounds including sports participation, alien status verification, educational attendance, vacation requests, early retirement incentives, Social Security benefits offset, and false statement penalties.

REQUIREMENT

New subsection (4)(c) and (d) added detailed requirements for determining when an employee left employment due to lockout and when an employee was permanently replaced during a strike.

To make those who fail drug test ineligible for unemployment

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