Arkansas Amends its UI Law

Recently, Arkansas legislators have changed the state’s Employment Security Law in the following ways:

• Misconduct disqualification. An employee’s disqualification for misconduct will involve eight week of unemployment. The exception is for a discharge that occurs between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2012; these disqualifications will last until the state of Arkansas, another state, or the US government covers an individual’s 30 days +or more of employment with unemployment compensation.
• Federal income tax refunds. A federal income tax refund can be held to repay an amount owed to the fund as subject to Pub. L. No. 111-291, also called “The Claims Resolution Act of 2010.” A finding of fraud is not required before the federal income tax refund can be withheld to cover an overpayment.
• Stabilization tax. The period of time during which a portion of the funds collected by the stabilization tax are assigned to the Department of the Workforce Services has been extended from June 30, 2011, to June 30, 2015. A 0.025% portion of the stabilization tax is used for worker training, and another 0.025% is used for the Unemployment Insurance Administration Fund’s operating expenses.

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