Connecticut House Bill HB05280

Connecticut 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/19/26
• Refer: 2/19/26
• Report Pass: 3/5/26
• Refer: 3/16/26
• Report Pass: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act Concerning A Noncharge For Employees Paid Benefits Through The Shared Work Program During Periods Of High Unemployment.

Summary

HB 5280 amends Connecticut’s unemployment compensation chargeability rules to create a new employer “noncharge” for benefits paid through the voluntary shared work unemployment compensation program during periods of high unemployment or an extended benefit period. Beginning January 1, 2027, if a claim is filed while the state is in an extended benefit period or high unemployment period, the employer’s experience account generally will not be charged for those shared-work benefits until the federal trigger-off notice is received from the U.S. Secretary of Labor. The bill also makes a technical change to the existing list of circumstances in which unemployment benefits are not charged to an employer’s account. It preserves and restates a range of existing noncharge categories, including certain separations involving misconduct, drug-testing policy violations, continued employment, refusal of suitable work, extended duration benefits, family-care quits, loss of a driver’s license under specified testing programs, and return from protected leave. Noncharged benefits are pooled, and most noncharging rules do not apply to reimbursing employers, with limited exceptions.

Impact

The bill would amend General Statutes section 31-225a(c), which governs when unemployment benefits are charged to an employer’s experience account. Its main practical effect is to shield employers participating in the shared work program from benefit charges during periods of high unemployment, reducing potential unemployment tax impacts for those employers and shifting those benefit costs into the pooled system. The change applies prospectively on October 1, 2026, with the shared-work noncharge effective January 1, 2027.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong support: the Labor and Public Employees Committee reported the bill out Joint Favorably on a 13-0 vote. No committee transcript was provided, but the unanimous vote suggests broad agreement that the measure is a targeted unemployment insurance adjustment intended to support employer participation in shared work during economic downturns.

Contention

No explicit opposition appears in the provided materials. The only potentially sensitive policy issue is the fiscal and programmatic tradeoff created by moving shared-work benefit costs away from individual employer accounts and into the pooled unemployment system during high-unemployment periods. That said, the unanimous committee vote indicates no recorded contention at the committee stage over the bill’s approach or its interaction with reimbursing employers and existing noncharge rules.