Montana Unemployment Insurance

– Law amended

Montana has amended its Unemployment Insurance Law as follows:

Charging of benefits. For purposes of benefit payments chargeable to employer experience rating accounts, the Department will determine if a claimant left work with good cause attributable to his or her employment when: (1) the claimant had compelling reasons arising from the work environment that caused him or her to leave work and the claimant (a) attempted to correct the problem in the work environment, and (b) informed the employer of the problem and gave the employer reasonable opportunity to correct the problem; (2) the claimant left work that the Department determined was unsuitable; or (3) the claimant left work within 30 days of returning to state-approved training.

The account of an employer with an experience rating may not be charged with respect to benefits paid to a worker who was terminated by the employer for misconduct or gross misconduct.

For purposes of this section, the term “compelling reasons” includes, but is not limited to: (1) undue risk of injury, illness, or physical impairment or reasonably foreseeable risk to the claimant’s morals; (2) unreasonable actions by the employer concerning hours, wages, terms of employment, or working conditions; (3) a condition underlying a workers’ compensation or occupational disease claim for which liability has been accepted by a workers’ compensation insurer. Note that if the condition is one for which liability has not been accepted by the workers’ compensation insurer, the Department will independently evaluate the condition to determine whether the condition appears to result from the claimant’s employment. If the condition appears to the satisfaction of the Department to be related to work, the Department will consider the condition to provide a compelling reason for leaving work; and (4) unreasonable rules or discipline by the employer so severe as to constitute harassment (Mont. ¶4182C).
Source: cch.com