No waiting period shall be allowed and no benefits shall be paid to an individual under this chapter for
(b) Any week with respect to which the commissioner finds that his unemployment is due to a stoppage of work which exists because of a labor dispute at the factory, establishment or other premises at which he was last employed; provided, however, that nothing in this subsection shall be construed so as to deny benefits to an otherwise eligible individual (1) who becomes involuntarily unemployed during the period of the negotiation of a collective bargaining contract, in which case the individual shall receive benefits for the period of his unemployment but in no event beyond the date of the commencement of a strike; or (2) who is not recalled to work within one week following the termination of the labor dispute; and provided, further, that this subsection shall not apply if it is shown to the satisfaction of the commissioner that:
(1) The employee is not participating in or financing or directly interested in the labor dispute which caused the stoppage of work; and that
(2) The employee does not belong to a grade or class of workers of which, immediately before the commencement of the stoppage, there were members employed at the premises at which the stoppage occurs, any of whom are participating in or financing or directly interested in the dispute, except that an individual for whom no work is available and who is not a member of or eligible to membership in the group or organization which caused the stoppage, shall not be considered as belonging to the same grade or class of workers as those who are responsible for the stoppage of work; provided, further, that if, in any case, separate branches of work which are commonly conducted as separate businesses in separate premises are conducted in separate departments of the same premises, each such department may, for the purposes of this subsection, be deemed a separate factory, establishment or other premises.
(3) For the purposes of this chapter, the payment of regular union dues or assessments shall not be construed as participating in or financing or being directly interested in a labor dispute.
(4) The individual has, subsequent to his unemployment because of a labor dispute, obtained employment, and has been paid wages of not less than the amount specified in clause (a) of section twenty-four; provided, however, that during the existence of such labor dispute the wages of such individual used for the determination of his benefit rights shall not include any wages such individual earned from the employer involved in such labor dispute.
In addition to the foregoing, an employee shall not be denied benefits as the result of an employer's lockout and shall be eligible for the extended benefits authorized under subsection (d) of section 30, whether or not there is a stoppage of work, if such employees are ready, willing and able to work under the terms and conditions of the existing or expired contract pending the negotiation of a new contract unless the employer shows by a preponderance of evidence that the lockout is in response to: (a) acts of repeated and substantial damage to the employer's property, or (b) repeated threats of imminent, substantial damage; provided, however, that such damage or threats of damage are caused or directed by members of the bargaining unit with the express or implied approval of the officers of such unit, and the employer has taken all reasonable measures to prevent such damage to property and such efforts have been unsuccessful.
A lockout, as used in this subsection, shall exist whether or not such action is to obtain for the employer more advantageous terms when an employer fails to provide employment to his employees with whom he is engaged in a labor dispute, either by physically closing his plant or informing his employees that there will be no work until the labor dispute has terminated.
(c) Any week in which an otherwise eligible individual fails, without good cause, to apply for suitable employment whenever notified so to do by the employment office, or to accept suitable employment whenever offered to him, and for the next seven consecutive weeks in addition to the waiting period provided in section twenty-three, and the duration of benefits for unemployment to which the individual would otherwise have been entitled may thereupon be reduced for as many weeks, not exceeding eight, as the commissioner shall determine from the circumstances of each case.
"Suitable employment", as used in this subsection, shall be determined by the commissioner, who shall take into consideration whether the employment is detrimental to the health, safety or morals of an employee, is one for which he is reasonably fitted by training and experience, including employment not subject to this chapter, is one which is located within reasonable distance of his residence or place of last employment, is 1 which reasonably accommodates the individual's need to address the physical, psychological and legal effects of domestic violence, and is one which does not involve travel expenses substantially greater than that required in his former work.
No work shall be deemed suitable, and benefits shall not be denied under this chapter to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work under any of the following conditions:
(1) If the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout or other labor dispute;
(2) If the remuneration, hours or other conditions of the work offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality;
(3) If acceptance of such work would require the individual to join a company union or would abridge or limit his right to join or retain membership in any bona fide labor organization or association of workmen.
An individual who is certified as attending an industrial retraining course or other vocational training course as provided under section thirty shall not be denied benefits by reason of the application of the first paragraph of this subsection relating to failure to apply for, or refusal to accept, suitable work.
(e) For the period of unemployment next ensuing and until the individual has had at least eight weeks of work and has earned an amount equivalent to or in excess of 8 times the individual's weekly benefit amount after the individual has left work (1) voluntarily unless the employee establishes by substantial and credible evidence that he had good cause for leaving attributable to the employing unit or its agent, (2) by discharge shown to the satisfaction of the commissioner by substantial and credible evidence to be attributable to deliberate misconduct in wilful disregard of the employing unit's interest, or to a knowing violation of a reasonable and uniformly enforced rule or policy of the employer, provided that such violation is not shown to be as a result of the employee's incompetence, or (3) because of conviction of a felony or misdemeanor.
No disqualification shall be imposed if the individual establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the reason for the individual's discharge was due to circumstances resulting from domestic violence, including the individual's need to address the physical, psychological and legal effects of domestic violence.
No disqualification shall be imposed if such individual establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner that he left his employment in good faith to accept new employment on a permanent full-time basis, and that he became separated from such new employment for good cause attributable to the new employing unit. An individual shall not be disqualified under the provisions of this subsection from receiving benefits by reason of leaving his work under the terms of a pension or retirement program requiring retirement from the employment notwithstanding his prior assent, direct or indirect, to the establishment of such program. An individual shall not be disqualified from receiving benefits under the provisions of this subsection, if such individual establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner that his reasons for leaving were for such an urgent, compelling and necessitous nature as to make his separation involuntary.
An individual shall not be disqualified under the provisions of this subsection from receiving benefits by reason of leaving work to enter training approved under Section 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974, provided the work left is not suitable employment, as defined in this paragraph. For purposes of this paragraph, the term "suitable employment" means with respect to an individual, work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the individual's past adversely affected employment, as defined for purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, and wages for such work at not less than eighty per cent of the individual's average weekly wage as determined for the purposes of the Trade Act of 1974.
An individual shall not be disqualified, under the provisions of this subsection, from receiving benefits if it is established to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the reason for leaving work and that such individual became separated from employment due to sexual, racial or other unreasonable harassment where the employer, its supervisory personnel or agents knew or should have known of such harassment.
For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "sexual harassment" shall mean sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when (a) submission to or rejection of such advances, requests or conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment or as a basis for employment decisions; (b) such advances, requests or conduct have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance; or (c) such advances, requests or conduct have the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or sexually offensive work environment. The department shall promulgate regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this paragraph.
An individual shall not be disqualified from receiving benefits under this clause if the individual establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the reason for the individual's leaving work was due to domestic violence, including:
(1) the individual's reasonable fear of future domestic violence at or on route to or from the individual's place of employment;
(2) the individual's need to relocate to another geographic area in order to avoid future domestic violence;
(3) the individual's need to address the physical, psychological and legal effects of domestic violence;
(4) the individual's need to leave employment as a condition of receiving services or shelter from an agency which provides support services or shelter to victims of domestic violence;
(5) any other respect in which domestic violence causes the individual to reasonably believe that termination of employment is necessary for the future safety of the individual or the individual's family.
An individual in partial unemployment who leaves work from other than the most recent base period employer while receiving benefits under this chapter shall not be disqualified pursuant to the provisions of this subsection from receiving benefits, if such individual establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the reason for leaving was to enter training for which the individual has received the commissioner's approval under section thirty.
A temporary employee of a temporary help firm shall be deemed to have voluntarily quit employment if the employee does not contact the temporary help firm for reassignment before filing for benefits and the unemployment benefits may be denied for failure to do so. Failure to contact the temporary help firm shall not be deemed a voluntary quitting unless the claimant has been advised of the obligation in writing to contact the firm upon completion of an assignment.
For the purposes of this paragraph, "temporary help firm" shall mean a firm that hires its own employees and assigns them to clients to support or supplement the client's workforce in work situations such as employee absences, temporary skill shortages, seasonal workloads and special assignments and projects. "Temporary employee" shall mean an employee assigned to work for the clients of a temporary help firm.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, no waiting period shall be allowed and no benefits shall be paid to an individual under this chapter for the period of unemployment next ensuing and until the individual has had at least eight weeks of work and in each of said weeks has earned an amount equivalent to or in excess of the individual's weekly benefit amount after having left work to accompany or join one's spouse or another person at a new locality.