An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Unemployment Compensation
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1530
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: LANGLEY, VOLK, AUSTIN, MASTRACCIO, STETKIS, VACHON
Amends: 26 MRSA §1043, 26 MRSA §1192, 26 MRSA §1193, 26 MRSA §1198, 26 MRSA §1221

Legislative Document
No. 1530
S.P. 536
In Senate, April 25, 2017
An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Unemployment 
Compensation
Submitted by the Department of Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
suggested and ordered printed.
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator LANGLEY of Hancock.
Cosponsored by Senator: VOLK of Cumberland, Representatives: AUSTIN of Gray, 
MASTRACCIO of Sanford, STETKIS of Canaan, VACHON of Scarborough.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §1043, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1999, c. 555, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
2.  Annual payroll. "Annual payroll" means the total amount of wages paid by an 
employer during a calendar year, not meaning, however, to include that part of individual 
wages or salaries in excess of $3,000 in any calendar year through 1971, $4,200 in any 
calendar year through 1977, $6,000 in any calendar year through 1982, $7,000 in any 
calendar year through 1999 and $12,000 in any subsequent calendar year. 
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §1043, sub-§11, ¶F, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 
691, Pt. A, §27, is amended to read: 
F.  The term "employment" does not include: 
(1)  Service performed in the employ of this State, or of any political subdivision 
thereof, or of any instrumentality of this State or its political subdivisions, except 
as provided by this subsection; 
(2)  Service performed in the employ of the United States Government or an 
instrumentality of the United States immune under the Constitution of the United 
States from the contributions imposed by this chapter, except that on and after 
January 1, 1940 to the extent that the Congress of the United States has permitted 
states to require any instrumentalities of the United States to make payments into 
an unemployment compensation fund under a state unemployment compensation 
or employment security law, all of the provisions of this chapter are applicable to 
such instrumentalities and to services performed for such instrumentalities in the 
same manner, to the same extent and on the same terms as to all other employers, 
employing units, individuals and services. If this State is not certified for any 
year by the Secretary of Labor under the federal Internal Revenue Code, Section 
3304, the payments required of such instrumentalities with respect to that year 
must be refunded by the commissioner from the fund in the same manner and 
within the same period as is provided in section 1225, subsection 5, with respect 
to contributions erroneously collected; 
(3)  Service with respect to which unemployment compensation is payable under 
an unemployment compensation system or employment security system 
established by an Act of Congress. The commissioner is authorized and directed 
to enter into agreements with the proper agencies under such an Act of Congress, 
which agreements become effective 10 days after publication thereof in the 
manner provided in section 1082, subsection 2, for regulations, to provide 
reciprocal treatment to individuals who have, after acquiring potential rights to 
benefits under this chapter, acquired rights to unemployment compensation under 
such an Act of Congress, or who have, after acquiring potential rights to 
unemployment compensation under such an Act of Congress, acquired rights to 
benefits under this chapter; 
(4)  Agricultural labor as defined in subsection 1, except as provided in paragraph 
A-2; 
(5)  Service performed by an individual who is an alien admitted to the United 
States to perform agricultural labor pursuant to the United States Immigration 
and Nationality Act, Sections 214(c) and 101(a) (15) (H); 
(6)  Domestic service in a private home, except as provided in paragraph A-3; 
(7)  Service performed by an individual in the employ of that individual's son, 
daughter or spouse and service performed by a child under 18 years of age in the 
employ of that child's father or mother, except for periods of such service for 
which unemployment insurance contributions are paid; 
(8)  Service performed by a student attending an elementary, secondary or 
postsecondary school while participating in a cooperative program of education 
and occupational training or on-the-job training that is part of the school 
curriculum; 
(9)  Service performed with respect to which unemployment compensation is 
payable under the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, 52 Stat. 1094 
(1938); 
(10)  Service performed in the employ of any other state or any political 
subdivision thereof or any instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing 
that is wholly owned by one or more states or political subdivisions and any 
services performed in the employ of any instrumentality of one or more other 
states or their political subdivisions to the extent that the instrumentality is, with 
respect to such a service, immune under the Constitution of the United States 
from the tax imposed by Section 3301 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, 
except as provided in paragraph A-1, subparagraph (1); 
(11)  Service performed in any calendar quarter in the employ of any 
organization exempt from income tax under the federal Internal Revenue Code, 
Section 501(a) other than an organization described in the federal Internal 
Revenue Code, Section 401(a), or under Section 521, if the remuneration for such 
service is less than $150; 
(12)  Service performed in the employ of a foreign government, including service 
as a consular or other officer or employee or a nondiplomatic representative; 
(13)  Service performed in the employ of an instrumentality wholly owned by a 
foreign government: 
(a)  If the service is of a character similar to that performed in foreign 
countries by employees of the United States Government or an 
instrumentality thereof; and 
(b)  If the commissioner finds that the United States Secretary of State has 
certified to the United States Secretary of the Treasury that the foreign 
government, with respect to whose instrumentality exemption is claimed, 
grants an equivalent exemption with respect to similar service performed in 
the foreign country by employees of the United States Government and of 
instrumentalities thereof; 
(14)  Service performed as a student nurse in the employ of a hospital or a nurses' 
training school by an individual who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes 
in a nurses' training school chartered or approved pursuant to state law and 
service performed as an intern in the employ of a hospital by an individual who 
has completed a 4-year course in a medical school chartered or approved 
pursuant to state law; 
(15)  Service performed by an individual for a person as a real estate broker, a 
real estate sales representative, an insurance agent or an insurance solicitor, if all 
such service performed by that individual for that person is performed for 
remuneration solely by way of commission; 
(16)  Service performed by an individual under 18 years of age in the delivery or 
distribution of newspapers or shopping news, except delivery or distribution to 
any point for subsequent delivery or distribution; 
(17)  Service performed in the employ of any organization that is excluded from 
the term "employment" as defined in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act solely 
by reason of 26 United States Code, Section 3306(c)(7) or (8) if: 
(a)  Service is performed in the employ of a church or convention or 
association of churches or an organization that is operated primarily for 
religious purposes and that is operated, supervised, controlled or principally 
supported by a church or convention or association of churches; 
(b)  Service is performed by a duly ordained, commissioned or licensed 
minister of a church in the exercise of that minister's ministry or by a member 
of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by that order; 
(c)  Prior to January 1, 1978, service is performed in the employ of a school 
primarily operated as an elementary, secondary or preparatory school for 
higher education that is not an institution of higher education; 
(d)  Service is performed in a facility conducted for the purpose of carrying 
out a program of rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is 
impaired by age or physical or mental disability or injury or providing 
remunerative work for individuals who, because of their impaired physical or 
mental capacity, cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market 
by an individual receiving such rehabilitation or remunerative work with 
intellectual or developmental disabilities who are employed in capacities 
meeting the conditions set forth in section 666; 
(e)  Service is performed as part of an unemployment work-relief or 
work-training program assisted or financed in whole or in part by any federal 
agency or an agency of a state or political subdivision thereof by an 
individual receiving that work relief or work training; 
(f)  Service is performed in the employ of a hospital, as defined in subsection 
26, by a patient of that hospital; 
(g)  Service is performed prior to January 1, 1978 for a hospital in a state 
prison or other state correctional institution by an inmate of that prison or 
correctional institution and after December 31, 1977 by an inmate of a 
custodial or penal institution; 
(h)  Service is performed in the employ of a school, college or university if 
that service is performed by a student who is enrolled and is regularly 
attending classes at such a school, college or university; or 
(i)  Prior to January 1, 1978, service is performed in the employ of a school 
that is not an institution of higher education and after December 31, 1977, 
service Service is performed in the employ of a governmental entity referred 
to in paragraph A-1, subparagraph (1) if that service is performed by an 
individual in the exercise of duties: 
(i)  As an elected official; 
(ii)  As a member of a legislative body or a member of the judiciary of a 
state or political subdivision of a state; 
(iii)  As a member of the State National Guard or Air National Guard; 
(iv)  As an employee serving on a temporary basis in case of fire, storm, 
snow, earthquake, flood or similar emergency; 
(v)  In a position that, under or pursuant to the laws of this State, is 
designated as a major nontenured policy-making or advisory position or a 
policy-making or advisory position the performance of the duties of 
which ordinarily does not require more than 8 hours per week; or 
(vi)  As an election official or election worker if the amount of 
remuneration received by the individual during the calendar year for 
services as an election official or election worker is less than $1,000; 
(18)  Service performed under a booth rental agreement or other rental agreement 
by: 
(a)  A hairdresser who holds a booth license and operates within another 
hairdressing establishment; or 
(b)  A tattoo artist if the service performed by the tattoo artist is not subject to 
federal unemployment tax; 
(19)  Service performed by a barber who holds a booth license and operates 
within another barbering establishment if operated under a booth rental 
agreement or other rental agreement; 
(20)  Service performed by a contract interviewer engaged in marketing research 
or public opinion interviewing when such interviewing is conducted in the field 
or over the telephone on premises not used or controlled by the person for whom 
such contract services are being provided; 
(21)  After December 31, 1981, service performed by an individual on a boat 
engaged in catching fish or other forms of aquatic animal life, unless those 
services would be included in the definition of "employment" for federal 
unemployment tax purposes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, 26 
United States Code, Section 3306(c), as amended.  Also included in this 
exemption are services performed in harvesting shellfish for depuration from 
designated areas as authorized by Title 12, section 6856; 
(22)  Service performed by a member or leader of a musical group, band or 
orchestra or an entertainer when the services are performed under terms of a 
contract entered into by the leader or an agent of the musical group, band, 
orchestra or entertainer with an employing unit for whom the services are being 
performed, if the leader or agent is not an employer by reason of subsection 9 or 
of section 1222, subsection 3; 
(23)  Service performed in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or 
magazines to the ultimate consumer by an individual who is compensated by 
receiving or retaining a commission or profit on the sale of the newspaper or 
magazine; 
(24)  Service performed by a homeworker in the knitted outerwear industry as 
those terms are defined, on September 19, 1985, in 29 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 530, Section 530.1; 
(25)  Service performed by a full-time student, as defined in subsection 30, in the 
employ of a youth camp licensed under Title 22, section 2495 if the full-time 
student performed services in the employ of the camp for less than 13 calendar 
weeks in the calendar year and the camp: 
(a)  Did not operate for more than 7 months in the calendar year and did not 
operate for more than 7 months in the preceding calendar year; or 
(b)  Had average gross receipts for any 6 months in the preceding calendar 
year that were not more than 33 1/3% of its average gross receipts for the 
other 6 months in the preceding calendar year; 
(26)  Service performed by an individual as a home stitcher as long as that 
employment is not subject to federal unemployment tax; 
(27)  Service performed by a person licensed as a guide as required by Title 12, 
section 12853, as long as that employment is not subject to federal 
unemployment tax; 
(28)  Service performed by a direct seller as defined in 26 United States Code, 
Section 3508(b)(2).  This subparagraph does not include a person selling major 
improvements or renovations to the structure of a home, business or property; 
(29)  Service performed by lessees of taxicabs, as long as that employment is not 
subject to federal unemployment tax.  This subparagraph may not be construed to 
affect a determination regarding a lessee's status as an independent contractor for 
workers' compensation purposes; 
(30)  Service provided by a dance instructor to students of a dance studio when 
there is a contract between the instructor and the studio under which the 
instructor's services are not offered exclusively to the studio, the studio does not 
control the scheduling of the days and times of classes other than beginning and 
end dates, the instructor is paid by the class and not on an hourly or salary basis, 
the compensation rate is the result of negotiation between the instructor and the 
studio and the instructor is given the freedom to develop the curriculum; 
(31) Service performed by participants enrolled in programs or projects under the 
national service laws including the federal National and Community Service Act 
of 1990, as amended, 42 United States Code, Section 12501 et seq. and the 
federal Domestic Volunteer Service Act, as amended, 42 United States Code, 
Section 4950 et seq.; 
(32)  Service of an author in furnishing text or other material to a publisher who: 
(a)  Does not control the author's work except to propose topics or to edit 
material submitted; 
(b)  Does not restrict the author from publishing elsewhere; 
(c)  Furnishes neither a place of employment nor equipment for the author's 
use; 
(d)  Does not direct or control the time devoted to the work; and 
(e)  Pays only for material that is accepted for publication. 
This exception does not apply if the employment is subject to federal 
unemployment tax; 
(33)  Service provided by an owner-operator of a truck or truck tractor while it is 
leased to a motor carrier, as defined in 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 
390.5 (2000), as long as that employment is not subject to federal unemployment 
tax; and 
(34)  Service performed by a professional investigator, as defined in Title 32, 
section 8103, subsection 5, as long as that employment is not subject to federal 
unemployment tax and the following requirements are met: 
(a)  There is a written contract between the professional investigator and the 
party requesting services; 
(b)  The professional investigator offering the services operates 
independently of the party requesting services, except for the time frame and 
quality of finished work as specified in the contract; 
(c)  Compensation for services is negotiated between the 2 parties and is paid 
for each service performed; and 
(d)  The party requesting services furnishes neither equipment nor the place 
of employment to the professional investigator.; and 
(35) Service performed by an individual who volunteers for an employer or 
governmental entity if the volunteer: 
(a)  Performs hours of service for the employer or governmental entity for 
civic, charitable or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation or 
receipt of compensation for services rendered.  Although a volunteer may 
receive no compensation, a volunteer may be paid expenses, reasonable 
benefits or a nominal fee to perform such services; 
(b)  Offers services freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, 
from an employer; and 
(c)  Is not otherwise employed by the same employer or governmental entity 
to perform the same type of services as those for which the individual 
proposes to volunteer. 
For purposes of this subparagraph, "governmental entity" has the same meaning 
as in section 1221, subsection 10. 
Sec. 3.  26 MRSA §1043, sub-§19, as amended by PL 2011, c. 691, Pt. A, §28, is 
further amended to read: 
19.  Wages. "Wages" means all remuneration for personal services, including 
commissions, bonuses, severance or terminal pay, gratuities and the cash value of all 
remuneration in any medium other than cash. The reasonable cash value of remuneration 
in any medium other than cash shall must be estimated and determined in accordance 
with regulations prescribed by the commission, except that: 
A.  For purposes of section 1221, the term "wages" does not include remuneration 
that exceeds the first $7,000 through December 31, 1999, and on and after January 1, 
2000, the first $12,000 that is paid in a calendar year to an individual by an employer 
or the employer's predecessor for employment during any calendar year, unless that 
remuneration is subject to a tax under a federal law imposing a tax against which 
credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment 
fund. The wages of an individual for employment with an employer are subject to this 
exception whether earned in this State or any other state when the employer-
employee relationship is between the same legal entities; 
B.  For purposes of section 1191, subsection 2, section 1192, subsection 5 and section 
1221, the term "wages" shall does not include: 
(1)  The amount of any payment, including any amount paid by an employer for 
insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment, made to, 
or on behalf of, an employee or any of his the employee's dependents under a 
plan or system established by an employer which that makes provision for his the 
employer's employees generally, or for his the employer's employees generally 
and their dependents, or for a class or classes of his the employer's employees, or 
for a class or classes of his the employer's employees and their dependents, on 
account of: 
(a)  Sickness or accident disability, but, in the case of payments made to an 
employee or any of his the employee's dependents, this subparagraph shall 
exclude excludes from the term "wages" only payments which that are 
received under a workers' compensation law; 
(b)  Medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or 
accident disability; or 
(c)  Death; 
(1-A)  Any payment on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical or 
hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, made 
by an employer or a 3rd party to, or on behalf of, an employee after the expiration 
of 6 calendar months following the last calendar month in which the employee 
worked for that employer; 
(2)  The payment by an employing unit, without deduction from the remuneration 
of the employee, of the tax imposed upon an employee under section 3101 of the 
Federal Insurance Contributions Act, as amended, with respect to service 
performed after July 26, 1940, with respect to remuneration paid to an employee 
for domestic service in a private home of the employer or for agricultural labor; 
or 
(3)  The amount of any payment, other than vacation or sick pay, to an individual 
after the month in which he the individual attains the age of 62, if he the 
individual did not perform services for the employing unit in the period for which 
such payment is made and is not expected to perform service in the future for the 
payment; or 
(4) The amount of any nominal fee or stipend to a volunteer whose service is 
excluded from the definition of employment pursuant to subsection 11, paragraph 
F, subparagraph (35); 
C.  With respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 1, 1978, 
wages for insured work includes wages paid for previously uncovered services. For 
the purposes of this paragraph, the term "previously uncovered services" means 
services: 
(1)  That were not employment as defined in subsection 11, and were not services 
covered pursuant to section 1222, at any time during the one-year period ending 
December 31, 1975; and 
(2)  That: 
(a)  Are agricultural labor, as defined in subsection 11, paragraph A-2 or 
domestic service as defined in subsection 11, paragraph A-3; or 
(b)  Are services performed by an employee of this State or a political 
subdivision thereof, or any of their instrumentalities as provided in 
subsection 11, paragraph A-1, subparagraph (1), or by an employee of a 
nonprofit educational institution that is not an institution of higher education, 
as provided in subsection 11, paragraph F, subparagraph (17), division (i); 
except to the extent that assistance under Title II of the Emergency Jobs and 
Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974 was paid on the basis of such services; 
D.  Nothing in this subsection may be construed to include as wages any payment 
which that is not included as wages under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, 26 
United States Code, Section 3306(b)(5) and (r), as amended, as of January 1, 1985; 
and 
E.  Nothing in this subsection may be construed to exclude from wages any 
remuneration which that is:  
(1)  Taxable under any federal law that imposes a tax against which credit may be 
taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment fund; or  
(2)  Required to be covered under this chapter as a condition for full tax credit 
against the tax imposed by the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. 
Sec. 4.  26 MRSA §1192, sub-§6-E, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 705, §1, is 
amended to read: 
6-E.  Prohibition against disqualification of individuals in approved training 
under federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.  Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this chapter, unless inconsistent with federal law, the acceptance of 
training opportunities available through the federal Workforce Investment Innovation and 
Opportunity Act of 1998, 20 United States Code, Sections 9201 to 9276 (1998) is deemed 
to be acceptance of training with the approval of the State within the meaning of any 
other provision of federal or state law relating to unemployment benefits. 
Sec. 5.  26 MRSA §1192, sub-§13, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 645, §4, is amended 
to read: 
13.  Reemployment services and eligibility assessment; participation.  In the case 
that the individual has been referred to reemployment services and eligibility assessment 
services by the Department of Labor, the individual participates in those services, unless 
the department determines there is good cause for the individual's failure to participate. 
Failure to participate in reemployment services and eligibility assessment services 
without good cause results in a denial of benefits until the individual participates. 
Sec. 6.  26 MRSA §1193, sub-§1, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 33, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
A.  For the week in which the claimant left regular employment voluntarily without 
good cause attributable to that employment.  The disqualification continues until the 
claimant has earned 4 times the claimant's weekly benefit amount in employment by 
an employer.  A claimant may not be disqualified under this paragraph if: 
(1)  The leaving was caused by the illness or disability of the claimant or an 
immediate family member and the claimant took all reasonable precautions to 
protect the claimant's employment status by promptly notifying the employer of 
the need for time off, a change or reduction in hours or a shift change and being 
advised by the employer that the time off or change or reduction in hours or shift 
change cannot or will not be accommodated; 
(2)  The leaving was necessary to accompany, follow or join the claimant's 
spouse in a new place of residence, and the claimant is in all respects able, 
available and actively seeking suitable work; 
(3)  The leaving was in good faith in order to accept new employment on a 
permanent full-time basis and the new employment did not materialize for 
reasons attributable to the new employing unit; 
(4)  The leaving was necessary to protect the claimant or any member of the 
claimant's immediate family from domestic abuse or the leaving was due to 
domestic violence that caused the claimant reasonably to believe that the 
claimant's continued employment would jeopardize the safety of the claimant or 
any member of the claimant's immediate family and the claimant made all 
reasonable efforts to preserve the employment; or 
(5)  The claimant's employer announced in writing to employees that it planned 
to reduce the work force through a layoff or reduction in force and that 
employees may offer to be among those included in the layoff or reduction in 
force, at which time the claimant offered to be one of the employees included in 
the layoff or reduction in force and the claimant's employer accepted the 
claimant's offer, thereby ending the employment relationship. 
Separation from employment based on the compelling family reasons in 
subparagraphs (1), (2) and (4) does not result in disqualification. 
Sec. 7.  26 MRSA §1193, sub-§1, ¶C, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 702, Pt. F, §1, is 
amended to read: 
C.  For the duration of an unpaid voluntary a leave of absence or sabbatical leave that 
has been mutually agreed to by the employee and the employer. 
Sec. 8.  26 MRSA §1193, sub-§1, ¶D is enacted to read: 
D.  For the duration of a partial separation or reduction of hours initiated at the 
employee's request and agreed to by the employee and employer; 
Sec. 9.  26 MRSA §1193, sub-§7-A, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 420, §2, is 
amended to read: 
7-A.  Absence from work due to incarceration.  For the duration of his the 
individual's unemployment subsequent to a discharge arising from his the individual's 
absence from work for more than 2 workdays due to his the individual's incarceration for 
conviction of a criminal offense.  This disqualification continues until the claimant 
individual has earned  4  8 times his the individual's weekly benefit amount in 
employment by an employer; or 
Sec. 10.  26 MRSA §1198, sub-§1, ¶F, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 91, §1 and 
affected by §3, is amended to read: 
F.  "Intermittent employment" means employment that is not continuous but may 
consist of intervals of weekly work and intervals of no weekly work or annually 
reoccurring reductions of work at a year-round business that has not been determined 
seasonal. 
Sec. 11.  26 MRSA §1198, sub-§2, ¶J, as enacted by PL 2013, c. 448, §3, is 
amended to read: 
J.  The eligible employer allows eligible employees to participate, as appropriate, in 
training, including employer-sponsored training or worker training funded under the 
federal Workforce Investment Innovation and Opportunity Act of 1998, Public Law 
105-220, 112 Stat. 936, to enhance job skills if such training has been approved by 
the commissioner. 
Sec. 12.  26 MRSA §1221, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 175, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
A.  At the time the status of an employing unit is ascertained to be that of an 
employer, the commissioner shall establish and maintain, until the employer status is 
terminated, for the employer an experience rating record, to which are credited all the 
contributions that the employer pays on the employer's own behalf. This chapter may 
not be construed to grant any employer or individuals in the employer's service prior 
claims or rights to the amounts paid by the employer into the fund. Benefits paid to 
an eligible individual under the Maine Employment Security Law must be charged 
against the experience rating record of the claimant's most recent subject employer or 
to the General Fund if the otherwise chargeable experience rating record is that of an 
employer whose status as such has been terminated; except that no charge may be 
made to an individual employer but must be made to the General Fund if the 
commission finds that:  
(1)  The claimant's separation from the claimant's last employer was for 
misconduct in connection with the claimant's employment or was voluntary 
without good cause attributable to the employer;  
(2)  The claimant has refused to accept reemployment in suitable work when 
offered by a previous employer, without good cause attributable to the employer;  
(3)  Benefits paid are not chargeable against any employer's experience rating 
record in accordance with section 1194, subsection 11, paragraphs B and C;  
(5)  Reimbursements are made to a state, the Virgin Islands or Canada for 
benefits paid to a claimant under a reciprocal benefits arrangement as authorized 
in section 1082, subsection 12, as long as the wages of the claimant transferred to 
the other state, the Virgin Islands or Canada under such an arrangement are less 
than the amount of wages for insured work required for benefit purposes by 
section 1192, subsection 5; 
(6)  The claimant was hired by the claimant's last employer to fill a position left 
open by a Legislator given a leave of absence under chapter 7, subchapter 5-A, 
and the claimant's separation from this employer was because the employer 
restored the Legislator to the position after the Legislator's leave of absence as 
required by chapter 7, subchapter 5-A;  
(7)  The claimant was hired by the claimant's last employer to fill a position left 
open by an individual who left to enter active duty in the United States military, 
and the claimant's separation from this employer was because the employer 
restored the military serviceperson to the person's former employment upon 
separation from military service; or 
(8)  The claimant was hired by the claimant's last employer to fill a position left 
open by an individual given a leave of absence for family medical leave provided 
under Maine or federal law, and the claimant's separation from this employer was 
because the employer restored the individual to the position at the completion of 
the leave.; or 
(9)  The claimant initiated a partial separation or reduction of hours and that 
partial separation or reduction of hours was agreed to by the employee and 
employer. 
SUMMARY 
The purpose of this bill is to bring consistency to Maine's employment security law 
and bring it into compliance with changes in federal law. The bill: 
1.  Repeals outdated provisions; 
2.  Provides that nominal fees or stipends paid to a volunteer are excluded from the 
definition of wages and specifies that a volunteer does not meet the definition of 
"employee"; 
3.  Clarifies the status of workers with specific disabilities who are not eligible for 
unemployment in order to be consistent with changes to state and federal wage and hour 
laws; 
4.  Reflects changes to a program name in the federal law; 
5.  Specifies that unemployment benefits will not be awarded to an employee during a 
mutually agreed-upon leave or sabbatical leave from the employee's employer; 
6.  Provides that a reduction in hours initiated by the employee and agreed upon by 
the employee and employer does not qualify the employee for unemployment benefits; 
7.  Amends the requalification amount specified under the provision governing 
absence from work due to incarceration so as to align with the requalification amount 
specified in provisions governing discharge from work due to misconduct; 
8.  Amends the definition of "intermittent employment" to specify that employees 
who have the same reduction in hours of work each year due to the cyclical nature of 
their employers' business are not eligible for work-sharing benefits; and 
9.  Specifies that an employer's experience rating may not be charged when an 
employee has requested an unpaid, voluntary reduction in hours.