Bill Text: MI HB4654 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Employment security; benefits; unemployment charge rate increase; provide exemptions for certain employers that eliminate positions due to temporary road closure. Amends sec. 20 of 1939 (Ex Sess) PA 1 (MCL 421.20).
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 15-3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-03-24 - Printed Bill Filed 03/20/2009 [HB4654 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-HB4654-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4654
March 19, 2009, Introduced by Reps. Hansen, Agema, Horn, Espinoza, Moss, Elsenheimer, Meekhof, Caul, Rogers, Genetski, Rick Jones, Tyler, Pearce, Mayes, Booher, Wayne Schmidt, Sheltrown and Proos and referred to the Committee on Labor.
A bill to amend 1936 (Ex Sess) PA 1, entitled
"Michigan employment security act,"
by amending section 20 (MCL 421.20), as amended by 2008 PA 479.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 20. (a) Benefits paid shall be charged against the
employer's account as of the quarter in which the payments are
made. If the bureau determines that any benefits charged against an
employer's account were improperly paid, an amount equal to the
charge based on those benefits shall be credited to the employer's
account and a corresponding charge shall be made to the
nonchargeable benefits account as of the current period or, in the
discretion of the bureau, as of the date of the charge. Benefits
paid to an individual as a result of an employer's failure to
provide the unemployment agency with separation, employment, and
wage data as required by section 32 shall be considered as benefits
properly paid to the extent that the benefits are chargeable to the
noncomplying employer.
(b) For benefit years established before October 1, 2000,
benefits paid to an individual shall be based upon the credit weeks
earned during the individual's base period and shall be charged
against the experience accounts of the contributing employers or
charged to the accounts of the reimbursing employers from whom the
individual earned credit weeks. If the individual earned credit
weeks from more than 1 employer, a separate determination shall be
made of the amount and duration of benefits based upon the total
credit weeks and wages earned with each employer. Benefits paid in
accordance with the determinations shall be charged against the
experience account of a contributing employer or charged to the
account of a reimbursing employer beginning with the most recent
employer first and thereafter as necessary against other base
period employers in inverse order to that in which the claimant
earned his or her last credit week with those employers. If there
is any disqualifying act or discharge under section 29(1) with an
employer, benefits based upon credit weeks earned from that
employer before the disqualifying act or discharge shall be charged
only after the exhaustion of charges as provided above. Benefits
based upon those credit weeks shall be charged first against the
experience account of the contributing employer involved or to the
account of the reimbursing employer involved in the most recent
disqualifying act or discharge and thereafter as necessary in
similar inverse order against other base period employers involved
in disqualifying acts or discharges. The order of charges
determined as of the beginning date of a benefit year shall remain
fixed during the benefit year. For benefit years established on or
after October 1, 2000, the claimant's full weekly benefit rate
shall be charged to the account or experience account of the
claimant's most recent separating employer for each of the first 2
weeks of benefits payable to the claimant in the benefit year in
accordance with the monetary determination issued pursuant to
section 32. However, if the total sum of wages paid by an employer
totals $200.00 or less, those wages shall be used for purposes of
benefit payment, but any benefit charges attributable to those
wages shall be charged to the nonchargeable benefits account.
Thereafter, remaining weeks of benefits payable in the benefit year
shall be paid in accordance with the monetary determination and
shall be charged proportionally to all base period employers, with
the charge to each base period employer being made on the basis of
the ratio that total wages paid by the employer in the base period
bears to total wages paid by all employers in the base period.
However, if the claimant did not perform services for the most
recent separating employer or employing entity and receive earnings
for performing the services of at least the amount a claimant must
earn, in the manner prescribed in section 29(3), to requalify for
benefits following a disqualification under section 29(1)(a), (b),
(i), or (k) during the claimant's most recent period of employment
with the employer or employing entity, then all weeks of benefits
payable in the benefit year shall be charged proportionally to all
base period employers, with the charge to each base period employer
being made on the basis of the ratio that total wages paid by the
employer in the base period bears to total wages paid by all
employers in the base period. If the claimant performed services
for the most recent separating employing entity and received
earnings for performing the services of at least the amount a
claimant must earn, in the manner prescribed in section 29(3), to
requalify for benefits following a disqualification under section
29(1)(a), (b), (i), or (k) during the claimant's most recent period
of employment for the employing entity but the separating employing
entity was not a liable employer, the first 2 weeks of benefits
payable to the claimant shall be charged proportionally to all base
period employers, with the charge to each base period employer made
on the basis of the ratio that total wages paid by the employer in
the base period bears to total wages paid by all employers in the
base period. The "separating employer" is the employer that caused
the individual to be unemployed as defined in section 48.
(c) For benefit years established before October 1, 2000, and
except as otherwise provided in section 11(d) or (g) or section
46a, the charges for regular benefits to any reimbursing employer
or to any contributing employer's experience account shall not
exceed the weekly benefit rate multiplied by 3/4 the number of
credit weeks earned by the individual during his or her base period
from that employer. If the resultant product is not an even
multiple of 1/2 the weekly benefit rate, the amount shall be raised
to an amount equal to the next higher multiple of 1/2 the weekly
benefit rate, and in the case of an individual who was employed by
only 1 employer in his or her base period and who earned 34 credit
weeks with that employer, the product shall be raised to the next
higher multiple of the weekly benefit rate.
(d) For benefit years beginning on or after October 1, 2000,
and except as otherwise provided in section 11(d) or (g) or section
46, the charges for regular benefits to any reimbursing employer's
account or to any contributing employer's experience account shall
not exceed either the amount derived by multiplying by 2 the weekly
benefit rate chargeable to the employer in accordance with
subsection (b) if the employer is the separating employer and is
chargeable for the first 2 weeks of benefits, or the amount derived
from the percentage of the weekly benefit rate chargeable to the
employer in accordance with subsection (b), multiplied by the
number of weeks of benefits chargeable to base period employers
based on base period wages, to which the individual is entitled as
provided in section 27(d), if the employer is a base period
employer, or both of these amounts if the employer was both the
chargeable separating employer and a base period employer.
(e) For benefit years beginning before October 1, 2000:
(1) If an individual has multiemployer credit weeks in his or
her base period, and if it becomes necessary to use those credit
weeks as a basis for benefit payments, a single determination shall
be made of the individual's weekly benefit rate and maximum amount
of benefits based on the individual's multiemployer credit weeks
and the wages earned in those credit weeks. Each employer involved
in the individual's multiemployer credit weeks shall be an
interested party to the determination. The proviso in section 29(2)
does not apply to multiemployer credit weeks, nor does the
reduction provision of section 29(4) apply to benefit entitlement
based upon those credit weeks.
(2) The charge for benefits based on multiemployer credit
weeks shall be allocated to each employer involved on the basis of
the ratio that the total wages earned during the total
multiemployer credit weeks counted under section 50(b) with the
employer bears to the total amount of wages earned during the total
multiemployer credit weeks counted under section 50(b) with all
such employers, computed to the nearest cent. However, if an
adjusted weekly benefit rate is determined in accordance with
section 27(f), the charge to the employer who has contributed to
the financing of the retirement plan shall be reduced by the same
amount by which the weekly benefit rate was adjusted under section
27(f). Benefits for a week of unemployment allocated under this
subsection to a contributing employer shall be charged to the
nonchargeable benefits account if the claimant during that week
earns remuneration with that employer that equals or exceeds the
amount of benefits allocated to that employer.
(3) Benefits paid in accordance with the determination based
on multiemployer credit weeks shall be allocated to each employer
involved and charged as of the quarter in which the payments are
made. Notice of charges made under this subsection shall be given
to each employer by means of a current listing of charges, at least
weekly, or of a quarterly statement of charges. The listing or
statement shall specify the weeks for which benefits were paid
based on multiemployer credit weeks and the amount of benefits paid
chargeable to that employer for each week. The notice shall be
considered to satisfy the requirements of sections 21(a) and 32(d)
that notification be given each employer of benefits charged
against that employer's account by means of a copy or listing of
the benefit check, and all protest and appeal rights applicable to
benefit check copies or listings shall also apply to the notice of
charges. If an employer receives both a current listing of charges
and a quarterly statement of charges under this subsection, all
protest and appeal rights shall only apply to the first notice
given.
(f) For benefit years beginning on or after October 1, 2000,
if benefits for a week of unemployment are charged to 2 or more
base period employers, the share of the benefits allocated and
charged under this section to a contributing employer shall be
charged to the nonchargeable benefits account if the claimant
during that week earns remuneration with that employer that equals
or exceeds the amount of benefits charged to that employer.
(g) For benefit years beginning before October 1, 2000:
(1) Training benefits as provided in section 27(g), and
extended benefits as provided in section 64, shall be allocated to
each reimbursing employer involved in the individual's base period
of the claim to which the benefits are related, on the basis of the
ratio that the total wages earned during the total credit weeks
counted under section 50(b) with a reimbursing employer bears to
the total amount of wages earned during the total credit weeks
counted under section 50(b) with all employers.
(2) Training benefits and extended benefits, to the extent
that they are not reimbursable by the federal government and have
been allocated to a reimbursing employer, shall be charged to that
reimbursing employer. A contributing employer's experience account
shall not be charged with training benefits. Training benefits
based on service with a contributing employer, to the extent that
they are not reimbursable by the federal government, shall be
charged to the nonchargeable benefits account. Extended benefits
paid and based on service with a contributing employer, to the
extent that they are not reimbursable by the federal government,
shall be charged to that employer's experience account.
(3) If the training benefits or extended benefits are
chargeable only to a single reimbursing employer, the benefits
shall be charged in accordance with subsection (a). If the training
benefits or extended benefits are chargeable to more than 1
reimbursing employer, or to 1 or more reimbursing employers and the
nonchargeable benefits account, the benefits shall be charged as of
the quarter in which the payments are made.
(4) Notice of charges made under this subsection shall be
given to each employer by means of a current listing of charges, at
least weekly, and subsequently by a quarterly summary statement of
charges. The listing shall specify the name and social security
number of each claimant paid benefits during the week, the weeks
for which the benefits were paid, and the amount of benefits
chargeable to that employer paid for each week. The quarterly
statement of charges shall list each claimant by name and social
security number and shall show total benefit payments chargeable to
that employer and made to each claimant during the calendar
quarter. The listing shall be considered to satisfy the
requirements of sections 21(a) and 32(d) that notification be given
each employer of benefits charged against that employer's account
by means of a listing of the benefit check. All protest and appeal
rights applicable to benefit check listings shall also apply to the
notice of charges. If an employer receives both a current listing
of charges and a quarterly statement of charges under this
subsection, all protest and appeal rights shall only apply to the
first notice given.
(h) For benefit years beginning on or after October 1, 2000:
(1) Training benefits as provided in section 27(g), and
extended benefits as provided in section 64, shall be charged to
each reimbursing employer in the base period of the claim to which
the benefits are related, on the basis of the ratio that the total
wages paid by a reimbursing employer during the base period bears
to the total wages paid by all reimbursing employers in the base
period.
(2) Training benefits, and extended benefits to the extent
they are not reimbursable by the federal government and have been
allocated to a reimbursing employer, shall be charged to that
reimbursing employer. A contributing employer's experience account
shall not be charged with training benefits. Training benefits
based on service with a contributing employer, to the extent they
are not reimbursable by the federal government, shall be charged to
the nonchargeable benefits account. Except as provided in section
17(3)(m), extended benefits paid and based on service with a
contributing employer, to the extent they are not reimbursable by
the federal government, shall be charged to that employer's
experience account.
(3) If the training benefits or extended benefits are
chargeable only to a single reimbursing employer, the benefits
shall be charged in accordance with subsection (a). If the training
benefits or extended benefits are chargeable to more than 1
reimbursing employer, or to 1 or more reimbursing employers and the
nonchargeable benefits account, the benefits shall be charged as of
the quarter in which the payments are made.
(4) Notice of charges made under this subsection shall be
given to each employer by means of a current listing of charges, at
least weekly, and subsequently by a quarterly summary statement of
charges. The listing shall specify the name and social security
number of each claimant paid benefits in the week, the weeks for
which the benefits were paid, and the amount of benefits chargeable
to that employer paid for each week. The quarterly summary
statement of charges shall list each claimant by name and social
security number and shall show total benefit payments chargeable to
that employer and made to each claimant during the calendar
quarter. The listing shall be considered to satisfy the
requirements of sections 21(a) and 32(d) that notification be given
to each employer of benefits charged against that employer's
account by means of a listing of the benefit check. All protest and
appeal rights applicable to benefit check listings shall also apply
to the notice of charges. If an employer receives both a current
listing of charges and a quarterly summary statement of charges
under this subsection, all protest and appeal rights shall only
apply to the first notice given.
(i) If a benefit year is established on or after October 1,
2000, the portion of benefits paid in that benefit year that are
based on wages used to establish the immediately preceding benefit
year that began before October 1, 2000 shall not be charged to the
employer or employers who paid those wages but shall be charged
instead to the nonchargeable benefits account.
(j) For benefits years beginning after March 30, 2009,
benefits paid to a person who leaves employment to accompany a
spouse who is a full-time member of the United States armed forces
and is reassigned for military service in a different geographic
location are not chargeable to the employer, but shall be charged
to the nonchargeable benefits account.
(k) For benefit years beginning after the effective date of
the amendatory act that added this subsection, benefits that are
attributable to business necessity resulting from a governmental
road closure or repair that temporarily limits access to the
employer's business premises for a period of 30 days or more are
not chargeable to the employer, but are chargeable to the
nonchargeable benefits account.
