HEARINGS BEFORE THE s SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISCAL AFFAIKS SEVENTY-FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION H.R. 5534 COMMITTEE, ON; THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VINCENT L. PALMISANO, Maryland MARY T. NORTON, NEW JERSEY, Chairman RVESETT Ml DIRKSEN, Illinois DEWEY SHORT, Missouri RAi£H O. BREWSTER, Maine CHAUNCEY W. REED, Illinois CLARE GERALD FENERTY, Pennsylvania W. STERLING COLE, New York MERLIN HULL, Wisconsin Subcommittee On Fiscal Affairs HENRY ELLENBOGEN, Pennsylvania, Chairman THEO. B. WERNER, South Dakota DEWEY SHORT, Missouri. REUBEN T. WOOD, Missouri W. STERLING COLE, New York TO PROVIDE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1935 House Of Representatives, Washington, D. C. The Subcommittee met at 9:30 a. m. in room 327, House Office Building, Hon. Henry Ellenbogen (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. Ellenbogen. The meeting will please come to order. The Subcommittee on Fiscal Affairs will begin hearings today on H. R. 5534, a bill to provide for unemployment compensation in the District of Columbia, make appropriations, and for other purposes. (The bill referred to is as follows:) JH. R. 5534, 74th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for unemployment compensation in the District of Columbia, make appropriations, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SHORT TITLE Section 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Listrict of Columbia Unemployment Compensation Law." DECLARATION OF PUBLIC POliCY OP THE DISTRICT Sec. 2. As a guide to the interpretation and application of this Act, the public policy of the District of Columbia is declared to be as follows: Economic insecurity due to unemployment is a serious menace to the health, morals, and welfare of the people of the District of Columbia. Involuntary unemployment is therefore a subject of general interest and concern which requires appropriate action by the Congress to prevent its spread arid to lighten its burden, which now so often falls with crushing force upon the unemployed worker aitd his family. Social security requires protection against this greatest hazard of our economic life. This can be provided only by application of the insurance principle of sharing the risks, and by the systematic accumulation of funds during periods of employment to provide benefit? for periods of unemployment, thus limiting the serious social consequences of poor relief assistance. The Congress, therefore, declares that in its considered judgment, the public good, and the general welfare of the workers of the District of Columbia, require the enactment of this measure for the compulsory setting aside of unemployment reserves to be used for the benefit of persons unemployed through no fault of their own. Definitions Sec 3. The following words and phrases, as used in this Act, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: (1) "Benefit" means the money payable to an employee as compensation for his wage losses due to unemployment as provided in this Act. (2) "Board" means the Social Insurance Board established by Act of Congress, or its authorized representative. (3) "Contributions" means the money payments to the District of Columbia Unemployment Compensation Fund required by this Act. 1 (4) "District" mean the District of Columbia. (5) "Elibigility." An employee shall be deemed "eligible" for benefits for any given week of his partial or total unemployment (occurring subsequent to any required waiting period) only when he is not disqualified by any provision of this Act from receiving benefits for such week of unemployment. (6) "Employee" means any person employed by an employer subject to this Act and in employment subject to this Act. (7) "Employer" means any person, partnership, association, corporation, whether domestic or foreign, or the legal representative, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, or trustee thereof, or the legal representative of a deceased person, including the District, who or whose agent or predecessor in interest has employed at least four persons in employment subject to this Act within each of thirteen or more calendar weeks in the year 1935 or any subsequent calendar year: Proirided, That such employment in 1935 shall make an employer subject on January 1, 1936, and such employment in any subsequent calendar year shall make a newly subject employer subject for all purposes as of January 1 of the calendar year in which such employment occurs. In determining whether an employer (of any person in the District) employs enough persons to be an "employer" subject hereto, and in determining for what contributions he is liable hereunder he shall, whenever he contracts with any contractor or subcontractor for any work which is part of his usual trade, occupation, profession, or business, be deemed to employ all persons employed by such contractor or subcontractor on such work, and he alone shall be liable for the contributions measured by wages paid to such persons for such work; except as any such contractor or subcontractor, who would in the absence of the foregoing provisions be liable to pay said contributions, accepts exclusive liability for said contributions under an agreement with such employer made pursuant to general Board rules. All persons thus employed by an employer (of any person) within the District, in all of his several places of employment maintained within the District, shall be treated as employed by a single "employer" for the purposes of this Act: Provided, however, That where any person, partnership, association, corporation, whether domestic or foreign, or the legal representative, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, or trustee thereof, or the legal representative of a deceased person, either directly or through a holding company or otherwise, has a majority control or ownership of otherwise separate business enterprises employing persons in the District, all such enterprises shall be treated as a single "employer" for the purposes of this Act. Any employer subject to this Act shall cease to be subject hereto only upon a written application by him and after a finding by the Board that he has not within any calendar week within the last completed calendar year employed four or more persons in employment subject hereto. Any employer (of any person within the District) not otherwise subject to this Act shall become fully subject hereto, upon filing by such employer with the Board of his election to become fully subject hereto for not less than two calendar years, subject to written approval of such election by the Board. (8) "Employment" means any employment in which all or the greater part of the person's work (within the continental United States) is or was customarily performed within the District, under any contract of hire, oral or written, express or implied, whether such person was hired and paid directly by the employer or through any other person employed by the employer, provided the employer had actual or constructive knowledge of such contract. Such employment shall include the person's entire employment in all States. In the case of all other persons employed partly in the District and partly in the States the term "employment" shall include the employment of such persons to the extent prescribed by regulations adopted by the Board. Except as provided in any reciprocal benefit arrangement made pursuant to this Act, employment shall not include any employment included in any unemployment compensation system established by another Act of Congress. Nor shall the term "employment" apply to— (a) Employment on a governmental relief project approved by the Board; (b) Employment as an elected or appointed public officer; (c) Employment by the District on an annual salary basis; (d) Employment as a teacher in a public school. (9) "Employment office" means that free public employment office in the District (operated by the United States Employment Service) or branch thereof nearest to the employee's place of residence or employment, unless otherwise prescribed by the Board. (10) An employee's "full-time weekly wage" means the weekly earnings such employee would average from his employment if employed at the "hourly rate of earnings" and for the "full-time weekly hours" applicable to such employee. (a) The applicable "hourly rate of earnings" shall be determined by averaging the employee's actual earnings for at least one hundred hours of employment by his most recent employers. (b) An employee's "full-time weekly hours" shall mean the standard maximum weekly hours which can lawfully be worked by the employee under law or the applicable Federal code of fair competition. Where there is no code or law applicable, the Board shall determine the employee's full-time weekly-hours by averaging his weekly hours for all calendar weeks (in at least the past three months) in which he worked thirty hours or more, or by such equitable method as the Board may by general rule prescribe for determining a full-time standard of not less than thirty weekly hours of benefit purposes. In the case of any employee who is found by the Board, at the time he becomes eligible for benefits, to be unable by reason of physical disability or by reason of continuing personal obligations (other than employment) to work half the full-time weekly hours which prevail in such establishment for full-time employees, the Board shall determine his full-time weekly hours for benefit purposes by averaging his weekly hours for all weeks (in at least the past three months) in which he worked. (11) "Fund" means the District of Columbia unemployment compensation fund established by this Act, to which all contributions and from which all benefits required under this Act shall be paid. (12) "Partial unemployment." An employee shall be deemed "partially unemployed" in any calendar week of partial work if he fails to earn in wages (and/or any other pay for personal services, including net earnings from selfemployment) for such week at least $1 more than the amount of weekly benefits for total unemployment he might receive if totally unemployed and eligible. (13) "Pay roll" means the total amount of all wages payable by the employer to his employees, commencing with wages payable for employment occurring after the employer becomes newly subject to this Act. (14) "Total unemployment." An employee shall be deemed "totally unemployed" in any calendar week in which he performs no wage-earning services whatsoever, and for which he earns no wages (and no other pay for personal services, including net earnings from self-employment), and in which he cannot reasonably return to any self-employment in which he has customarily been engaged. (15) "Unemployment administration fund" means the unemployment compensation administration fund established by this Act. (16) "Wages" means every form of remuneration for employment received by a person from his employer, whether paid directly or indirectly by the employer, including salaries, commissions, bonuses, and the reasonable money value of Hoard, rent, housing, lodging, payments in kind, and similar advantages. (17) "Waiting-period unit" means a period (for which no benefits are payable but during which the employee is in all other respects eligible) consisting of either one week of total unemployment or two weeks of partial unemployment, required as a condition precedent to the receipt of benefits for subsequent unemployment, as prescribed in this Act. (18) "Week" means calendar week. (19) "Week of employment" means each calendar week (occurring at least one year after contributions first become generally due under this Act from employers then subject hereto, and occurring after any probationary period or periods required hereunder) within which the person in question performed any employment subject to this Act for any employer subject to this Act: Provided however, That any week (occurring within the customary school vacation periods) in which an employer employed an employee who attended a school, college, or university in the last preceding school term, shall not be counted as a "week of employment" in determining the benefit rights of such employee under this Act. UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FUND Sec. 4. (1) Fund.—There is hereby created the District of Columbia unemployment compensation fund in the Treasury of the United States to be administered by the Board without liability on the part of the Government of the United States beyond the amounts paid into and earned by the fund. This fund shall consist of all contributions and money paid into and received by the fund as provided by this Act, of property and securities acquired by and through |