General Provisions on Employment

California’s Unemployment Insurance Code has general provisions and definitions in Division 3, Part 1, Chapter 1, Article 1. Section 9000 contains a legislative declaration of purpose and intent in enacting the Employment Development Act of 1973.

The statement is: “It is the public policy of the State of California to provide for comprehensive statewide and local manpower planning, to improve the efficiency of, and the accountability for, delivery systems for manpower programs, to promptly place job-ready individuals in suitable jobs, to provide qualified job applicants to employers, to assist potentially employable individuals to become job ready, and to create employment opportunities.

Section 9001 also provides five legislative findings and declarations including that “it is essential to the health and welfare of the people of this state that action be taken by local, state and federal governments to effectively and economically utilize public funds for job training and placement services.”

In addition, it is the intent of the Legislature “to concentrate and account for the funds available for job training and placement services in one state agency whose functions shall be subject to periodic review by the Legislature and appropriate federal agencies, and to which is assigned the responsibility for the efficient administration of job training and placement services in this state and the allocation of these funds to the end that such funds will be more effectively utilized and will be directed primarily to those areas of the state with the largest concentrations of chronically unemployed persons.”

Section 9002 requires the Secretary of the Health and Welfare Agency to coordinate all job training placement, and related programs, conducted by state agencies, with the federal government and ensure that there is no duplication of the programs among state agencies and that all agreements, contracts, plans, or programs conform to the provisions of this part of the law.

Section 9003 prohibits individuals with disabilities who are clients of the Department of Rehabilitation from being barred as participants in manpower programs, including, but not limited to, retraining programs, work incentive programs, job training and placement programs, career opportunity development programs, and vocational educational programs, because of their mental or physical disability when certified by the Department of Rehabilitation as being potentially employable.

Section 9004 provides, upon receipt of a formal ruling from a specified federal agency, if that ruling cannot be given effect without causing the state’s plan to be out of conformity with federal requirements or would result in decertification of provisions of this code and notification of intention to withdraw federal funds from the state, that provision will not become inoperative to the extent that it is not in conformity with federal requirements.

Article 2 of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of the UI Code provides a number of definitions for this area of law. Section 9100 states that the definitions in this article govern the construction of this division.

Section 9101 defines the term “Department.” Section 9102 defines the term “Director.” Section 9105 defines the term “state agency.” Section 9107 defines the term “job training and placement services” or “job training and placement programs.” Section 9108 defines the term “unemployed person.”

Sectio 9109 defines the term “underemployed person.” Section 9110 defines the term “economic deprivation.” Section 9111 defines the term “economically disadvantaged area.” Section 9112 defines the term “eligible person.” Section 9115 defines the term “economically displaced persons.”