Back To Work Act

To direct the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Government Accountability Office, and Small Business Administration to conduct a joint study on pandemic unemployment programs, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Back To Work Act 2. Study of pandemic unemployment programs (a) In general The covered agency heads shall conduct a joint study on pandemic unemployment programs, including an analysis of the following: (1) The impact of such programs on— (A) individuals, including recipients’ engagement in work, participation in work search, receipt of and amount of earnings, receipt of and amount of other government benefits, duration of unemployment, and whether the recipient’s total income counting all benefits exceeds his or her prior earnings from work; (B) businesses, with a focus on small businesses, including effects on sales, profits, tax payments, hours of operation, employment, and closures attributable to staffing shortages related to the availability of benefits; and (C) the economy, including key labor market metrics such as the number of employed and unemployed individuals, job openings, total earnings from work, the labor force participation rate, State and national unemployment rates, engagement of individuals in full or part time employment, average durations of unemployment, and the number of long-term unemployed. (2) The demographics of the recipients of benefits under such programs, including with respect to key characteristics of recipients, including age, gender, race and ethnicity, prior work experience, educational attainment, whether the individual resides in an urban or rural community, whether that community is considered disadvantaged, whether the individual was engaged in employment immediately prior to first receiving benefits, the nature of such prior employment (such as whether employed, self employed, or independent contractor), whether the individual engaged in partial work while collecting benefits, whether such partial work was while a participant in a short-time compensation or another program, and the reason for leaving benefits such as due to benefit exhaustion, return to work, or another reason. (3) With respect to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance— (A) the number of individuals who applied for such Assistance after applying for regular unemployment compensation; (B) the number of individuals applying for and ultimately receiving benefits, as compared with similar data under the State Unemployment Compensation program, and whether the program’s allowance of self-certification of eligibility was a significant factor contributing to any such differences; and (C) the degree to which the backdating of claims resulted in the overstatement of the apparent number of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance recipients, especially during the program’s early months. (b) Early termination of pandemic unemployment program participation In carrying out the study required under subsection (a), the covered agency heads shall compare States that terminated agreements to participate in pandemic unemployment programs prior to September 6, 2021, with States that maintained such agreements until September 6, 2021. (c) Report to Congress Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the covered agency heads shall provide to Congress a report on the results of the study required under subsection (a). (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Covered agency heads The term covered agency heads (2) Pandemic Unemployment Assistance The term Pandemic Unemployment Assistance 15 U.S.C. 9021 (3) Pandemic unemployment programs The term pandemic unemployment programs (A) Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation under section 2104 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ( 15 U.S.C. 9023 (B) Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation under section 2107 of such Act ( 15 U.S.C. 9025 (C) Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

Summary: Back To Work Act This bill requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Government Accountability Office, and the Small Business Administration to prepare a joint report on the impact of pandemic unemployment programs.