COLORADO – AVOID DELINQUENT PREMIUM PENALTY ASSESSMENT

Ensure that your account is up to date and all your premiums have been paid prior to June 30! Accounts with delinquent premiums as of June 30 are subject to the Delinquent Premium Penalty (DPP) in Colorado, which is equal to the past-due premiums or 1% of taxable payroll, whichever is less. You can avoid DPP by ensuring that all premiums are paid before June 30.

KENTUCKY – WORKERS WITH DEFINITE RETURN TO WORK DATE DO NOT NEED TO COMPLETE JOB SEARCH REQUIREMENTS

Emergency legislation SB136 provides clarification that individuals who have a definite return-to-work or recall-to-work date—no longer than one year from the filing date of their claim—are not required to actively seek work while collecting unemployment benefits.

In order to be eligible for this waiver, the employer must inform the state, in writing, attesting to the temporary separation. They must provide detailed information, including the reason for the temporary layoff, names of impacted workers, return-to-work dates for employees, and authorizing their reserve account to be charged for benefits payable to the affected employee or employees. Employers are also expected to notify the state of any changes to the plans or circumstances provided in the attestation letter.

NEBRASKA – NEW STATE LEVEL WORKER ADJUSTMENT AND RETRAINING NOTIFICATION (WARN) ACT GOES INTO EFFECT JULY 2026

Earlier this month, Governor Jim Pillen signed into law LB921 which, among other things, creates a state level Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, providing stricter requirements for certain employers when laying off employees.

Employers with 100 or more full-time employees must provide 90-days advance, written notice before a business closing or mass layoff. This adds an additional 30-days advance notice to the federal WARN Act. Employers must notify affected employees and the Nebraska Department of Labor via “any reasonable method of delivery” in addition to posting the notice in a visible location in any language(s) spoken by at least 5% of the employer’s workforce.

This new mini-WARN Act will go into effect July 2026.

NEVADA – NUI SYSTEM UPDATE, DOWNTIME SCHEDULED

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR) announced a security upgrade to their NUI online system. To make these updates, the system will be offline beginning at 5:00PM PT on Friday, May 1. The system is anticipated to be back online sometime Saturday, May 2.

After the system comes back online, you will notice that there is a new log-in screen. You are still in the right place! When logging in for the first time after the system update, you will have more ways to access your account, including passkey, authentication app, security code via email or text, password, or recovery codes. You will need to set up at least two of these login methods the next time you login on or after May 2.

TENNESSEE – DISASTER UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE NOW AVAILABLE

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is now available to individuals who were affected by the severe winter storms beginning January 22, 2026. Impacted individuals in Benton, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester, Clay, Davidson, Decatur, Dickson, Dyer, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, Henderson, Hickman, Lewis, Macon, Madison, Maury, McNairy, Montgomery, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Shelby, Sumner, Trousdale, Wayne, Williamson, and Wilson counties may be eligible for DUA benefits.

As a reminder, DUA is an unemployment insurance benefit made available after a disaster and is only available to individuals who:

• Have applied for and used all regular unemployment benefits from any state, or do not qualify for unemployment benefits.
• Worked or were self-employed or scheduled to begin work or self-employment in the disaster area.
• Can no longer work or perform services because of physical damage or destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of the disaster.
• Establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their primary source of income.
• Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster.
• Became the breadwinner or major support of a household because of the death of the head of household.

Individuals can apply for DUA at Jobs4TN.gov or by calling 1-877-813-0950 Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. CDT. When filing online, applicants should specify that they were impacted by a disaster.

The application deadline is June 9,2026.

VIRGINIA – NEW PAID FAMILY & MEDICAL LEAVE PROGRAM TO LAUNCH IN 2028

The Commonwealth of Virginia announced legislation establishing Virginia’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), to begin in 2028. The law will provide working Virginians with up to 12 months paid time off to welcome a child, care for a seriously ill loved one, or recover from their own serious health condition.

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) will establish and administer the program which will be funded by a small payroll contribution shared by employers and employees. Payroll contributions will begin on April 1, 2028, with program benefits available beginning December 1, 2028.

As program development continues through 2026 and 2027, the VEC will continue to share important updates and information about the new PFML program.

VIRGINIA – LEGISLATION CLARIFIES UNEMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY FOR LOCKED OUT WORKERS

Effective July 1, 2026, SB433 amends the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act’s labor dispute disqualification to clarify that an employer lockout does not constitute a labor dispute and that, as such, those employees impacted by such a lockout who are otherwise eligible for unemployment benefits can receive benefits.

According to the legislation, exceptions include if the collective bargaining representative of the locked-out employees refuses to meet under reasonable conditions with the employer to discuss the issues giving rise to the lockout, there is a final adjudication under the federal National Labor Relations Act that such representative has refused to bargain in good faith with the employer, or the lockout is the direct result of the representative’s violation of an existing collective bargaining agreement.