AN ACT PROTECTING LOCKED OUT EMPLOYEES.
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to provide forthwith certain employment benefits for certain locked out employees, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.___________
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 25 of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “lockout”, in line 56, the following words:- and shall be eligible for the extended benefits authorized under subsection (d) of section 30.
SECTION 2. Section 30 of chapter 151A is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the total benefits of an individual eligible to receive benefits due to an employer’s lockout, pursuant to subsection (b) of section 25, shall be extended beyond the benefit amount authorized in subsection (a) for an additional 26 times the individual’s benefit rate, or until the lockout is concluded, whichever is shorter; provided, however, that the additional benefits shall be paid to the individual only if that individual has exhausted all rights to regular and extended benefits under this chapter and has no rights to benefits or compensation under this chapter or any other state unemployment compensation law or under federal law; and provided further, that any benefit paid to an individual under this subsection shall be charged in accordance with paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of section 14.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no electric company or gas company as defined in section 1 of chapter 164 of the General Laws may seek recovery of assessments made under subsection (d) of section 30 of chapter 151A of the General Laws in a rate proceeding before the department of public utilities.
Approved December 31, 2018.