Helping Americans Return to Work Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3857 To cap the benefits received under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program at prior wages. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2020 Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To cap the benefits received under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program at prior wages. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Americans Re- 4 turn to Work Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. CAP ON TEMPORARY INCREASED UNEMPLOYMENT 6 COMPENSATION BENEFITS AT PRIOR WAGES. 7 (a) PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE.—Sec- 8 tion 2102(d) of the Relief for Workers Affected by 9 Coronavirus Act (contained in subtitle A of title II of divi- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:39 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3857.IS S3857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3857 IS sion A of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136)) is 1 amended— 2 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 3 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘The assistance’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (4), the assistance’’; 5 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘In the case’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (4), in the 7 case’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraph: 10 ‘‘(4) For weeks of unemployment beginning on 11 or after June 1, 2020, and ending on or before the 12 date specified in subsection (c)(1)(A)(ii), the total 13 amount of the weekly assistance applicable to an in- 14 dividual under paragraph (1) or (2) (including the 15 increase under section 2104) may not exceed— 16 ‘‘(A) in the case of paragraph (1), the 17 amount of the individual’s average weekly 18 wages on which the individual’s weekly benefit 19 is based; and 20 ‘‘(B) in the case of paragraph (2), the 21 amount of the individual’s average weekly 22 wages for an appropriate period prior to the re- 23 ceipt of assistance under such section, as deter- 24 mined by the Secretary of Labor.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:39 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3857.IS S3857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3857 IS (b) FEDERAL PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT COM- 1 PENSATION.—Subsection (b) of section 2104 of the Relief 2 for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained in 3 subtitle A of title II of division A of the CARES Act (Pub- 4 lic Law 116–136)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 6 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Any agreement’’ and 7 inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (2), any agree- 8 ment’’; 9 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 10 graph (3); and 11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 12 lowing new paragraph: 13 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—For weeks of unemployment 14 beginning on or after June 1, 2020, and ending on 15 or before the date specified in subsection (e)(2), the 16 sum of the weekly amount described in subpara- 17 graphs (A) (regular compensation) and (B) (Federal 18 pandemic unemployment compensation) of para- 19 graph (1) with respect to an individual may not ex- 20 ceed the amount of the individual’s average weekly 21 wages on which the amount described in such sub- 22 paragraph (A) is based.’’. 23 (c) PANDEMIC EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COM- 24 PENSATION.—Section 2107(b)(3) of the Relief for Work- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:39 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3857.IS S3857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3857 IS ers Affected by Coronavirus Act (contained in subtitle A 1 of title II of division A of the CARES Act (Public Law 2 116–136)) is amended by adding at the end the following 3 new sentence: ‘‘The limitation under section 2104(b)(2) 4 shall apply for purposes of determining the weekly benefit 5 amount under the preceding sentence.’’. 6 (d) SHORT-TIME COMPENSATION.— 7 (1) STATES WITH PROGRAMS IN LAW.—Section 8 2108(a) of the Relief for Workers Affected by 9 Coronavirus Act (contained in subtitle A of title II 10 of division A of the CARES Act (Public Law 116– 11 136)) is amended by adding at the end the following 12 new paragraph: 13 ‘‘(4) TOTAL PAYMENT MAY NOT EXCEED WEEK- 14 LY WAGES.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For weeks of unem- 16 ployment beginning on or after June 1, 2020, 17 and ending on or before the date specified in 18 subsection (b)(2), the sum of the amounts de- 19 scribed in subparagraph (B) with respect to an 20 individual for a week may not exceed the 21 amount of the individual’s average weekly 22 wages on which the amount described in sub- 23 paragraph (B)(ii) is based. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:39 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3857.IS S3857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3857 IS ‘‘(B) AMOUNTS.—The amounts described 1 in this subparagraph are the following with re- 2 spect to a week: 3 ‘‘(i) The amount of the wages the in- 4 dividual receives from the employer for the 5 week for the reduced hours under the 6 short-time compensation program. 7 ‘‘(ii) The amount of the regular com- 8 pensation (including dependents’ allow- 9 ances) payable to such individual for the 10 week under the short-time compensation 11 program. 12 ‘‘(iii) The amount of Federal Pan- 13 demic Unemployment Compensation under 14 section 2104 payable to such individual for 15 the week under the short-time compensa- 16 tion program.’’. 17 (2) AGREEMENTS.—Section 2109(b)(2) of the 18 Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act 19 (contained in subtitle A of title II of division A of 20 the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136)) is amended 21 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 22 ‘‘(C) TOTAL PAYMENT MAY NOT EXCEED 23 WEEKLY WAGES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:39 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3857.IS S3857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3857 IS ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For weeks of un- 1 employment beginning on or after June 1, 2 2020, and ending on or before the date 3 specified in subsection (d)(2), the sum of 4 the amounts described in clause (ii) with 5 respect to an individual for a week may 6 not exceed the amount of the individual’s 7 average weekly wages on which the amount 8 described in clause (ii)(II) is based. 9 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNTS.—The amounts de- 10 scribed in this clause are the following with 11 respect to a week: 12 ‘‘(I) The amount of the wages 13 the individual receives from the em- 14 ployer for the week for the reduced 15 hours under the short-time compensa- 16 tion plan under the agreement. 17 ‘‘(II) The amount of the regular 18 compensation (including dependents’ 19 allowances) payable to such individual 20 for the week under such short-time 21 compensation plan. 22 ‘‘(III) The amount of Federal 23 Pandemic Unemployment Compensa- 24 tion under section 2104 payable to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:39 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3857.IS S3857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3857 IS such individual for the week under 1 such short-time compensation plan.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:39 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3857.IS S3857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS