GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2013

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 528*

Short Title:        Mass Layoffs/Displaced Worker Assistance.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representative Pierce (Primary Sponsor). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Appropriations.

April 4, 2013

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT providing for the payment of benefits to displaced workers in the event of mass layoffs designated by the governor as a major distress event.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  The Workforce Displacement Benefit Program is established to provide uniform payments to workers who are displaced as a result of a mass layoff that has been identified by the Governor as a major distress event. These payments are available to an individual only after the exhaustion of any unemployment benefits that the individual may be eligible to receive.

SECTION 2.  The Workforce Displacement Benefits Program shall be administered by the Office of the Governor. The program shall include all of the following components:

(1)        Benefits that are triggered when the Governor designates a mass layoff as a major distress event. A "mass layoff" means a reduction-in-force that affects at least 500 employees from a single facility or business entity within a locality within a twenty-week period.

(2)        A uniform payout amount that is set as the standard benefit for all displaced workers who participate in the program.

(3)        A uniform period of eligibility for payments that is set for all displaced workers who participate in the program.

(4)        Funding that is appropriated from the General Fund.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.