CHAPTER 283 - UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION COMMISSION LAW
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 258, VOLUME 41, LAWS OF DELAWARE, BEING AN ACT KNOWN AND CITED AS THE "UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION LAW", IN REFERENCE TO SEASONABLE EMPLOYMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That Chapter 258, Volume 41, Laws of Delaware, be and the same is hereby amended by striking out and repealing all of Section 19 thereof, and substituting in lieu thereof a new Section 19, as follows:
"Section 19. (a) Whenever, in any employment, it is customary to operate only during a regular recurring period or periods of less than 40 weeks, in a calendar year, benefits shall be payable only with respect to unemployment occurring in the longest seasonal period or periods of employment which the best practice of such industry or classes of employment will reasonably permit. The commission shall, after investigation and hearing, ascertain and determine or redetermine the longest seasonal period or periods during which, by the best practice of the occupation or industry in question, operations are conducted. Until such determination by the commission, no employment shall be deemed seasonal. The Commission shall prescribe fair and reasonable general rules applicable to seasonal workers for determining the total wages in employment by an employer required to qualify such workers for benefits and the period during which benefits shall be payable to them.
"Provided, however, that no occupation or industry shall be deemed seasonal that is not part of the first processing of agricultural products. For the purpose of this section, the canning of chicken and allied products shall be considered part of such processing of agricultural products.
"(b) The term 'seasonal worker' means an individual who is ordinarily engaged in a seasonal industry and who, during the portion or portions of the year when such industry is not in operation, is ordinarily not engaged in any other work. 'Seasonal employer' means any employer, any employment for whom has been determined by the commission to be seasonal employment.
"(c) Contributions with respect to wages for employment which has been determined to be seasonal under this Section shall be payable at the rate of 2.7 per cent until January 1, 1942, and the contribution rate with respect to wages for such employment after January 1, 1942, shall. be determined by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Section 7 (c) of this Act, but shall not exceed 2.7 per cent; provided, however, that such 2.7 per cent rate shall be the maximum rate only for contributions payable with respect to wages for such employment for pay periods ended before April 1, 1943, and that any other restrictions on the full application of the provisions of Section 7 (c) of this Act to employment which has been determined to be seasonal under this Section shall likewise not extend beyond April 1, 1943. The Commission shall make studies of the employment experience of seasonal workers and of benefits paid to workers engaged partially or entirely in seasonal employment and such studies shall serve as a basis for recommendations to the General Assembly meeting in January, 1943. The results of these studies shall on request be available to all interested parties.
Approved April 14, 1941.