Bill Text: IN HB1329 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Charging of employer unemployment experience accounts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-31 - Representative Morris added as coauthor [HB1329 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2013-HB1329-Introduced.html
Citations Affected: IC 22-4.
Synopsis: Charging of employer unemployment experience accounts.
Provides that after December 31, 2013, unemployment benefits paid to
an eligible individual are charged to the experience or reimbursable
account of the separating employer. (Currently, benefits are charged
proportionately to the experience or reimbursable accounts of the
individual's base period employers in reverse chronological order.)
Effective: July 1, 2013.
January 15, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Employment, Labor and
Pensions.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning labor
and safety.
(1) Remuneration for services from employing units, whether or not such remuneration is subject to contribution under this article, except as provided in subsection (c).
(2) Dismissal pay.
(3) Vacation pay.
(4) Pay for idle time.
(5) Holiday pay.
(6) Sick pay.
(7) Traveling expenses granted to an individual by an employing unit and not fully accounted for by such individual.
(8) Net earnings from self-employment.
(9) Payments in lieu of compensation for services.
(10) Awards by the national labor relations board of additional pay, back pay, or for loss of employment, or any such payments made under an agreement entered into by an employer, a union, and the National Labor Relations Board.
(11) Payments made to an individual by an employing unit pursuant to the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act (Federal Wage and Hour Law, 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).
(12) This subdivision applies to initial claims for unemployment filed for a week that begins after March 14, 2008, and before October 1, 2011. For a week in which a payment is actually received by an individual, payments made by an employer to an individual who accepts an offer from the employer in connection with a layoff or a plant closure.
(13) This subdivision applies to initial claims for unemployment filed for a week that begins after March 14, 2008, and before October 1, 2011. Except as provided in subsection (c)(2), the part of a payment made by an employer to an individual who accepts an offer from the employer in connection with a layoff or a plant closure if that part is attributable to a week and the week:
(A) occurs after an individual receives the payment; and
(B) was used under the terms of a written agreement to compute the payment.
(b) Deductible income shall not include the first three dollars ($3), or twenty percent (20%) of the claimant's weekly benefit amount rounded to the next lowest dollar, whichever is the larger, of remuneration paid or payable to an individual with respect to any week by other than the individual's:
(1) base period employer or employers, before January 1, 2014; or
(2) separating employer, after December 31, 2013.
(c) For the purpose of deductible income only, remuneration for services from employing units does not include:
(1) bonuses, gifts, or prizes awarded to an employee by an employing unit; or
(2) for initial claims for unemployment filed for a week that begins after March 14, 2008, and before October 1, 2011, compensation made under a valid negotiated contract or agreement in connection with a layoff or plant closure, without regard to how the compensation is characterized by the contract or agreement.
(d) Deductible income does not include a supplemental
unemployment insurance benefit made under a valid negotiated
contract or agreement.
(e) Deductible income does not include any payments made to an
individual by a court system under a summons for jury service.
(b) Benefits paid under provisions of IC 22-4-22-3 in excess of the amount that the claimant would have been monetarily eligible for under other provisions of this article shall be paid from the fund and not charged to the experience account of any employer. This exception shall not apply to those employers electing to make payments in lieu of contributions who shall be charged for the full amount of regular benefit payments and the part of benefits not reimbursed by the federal government under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 that are attributable to service in their
employ. Irrespective of Notwithstanding the twenty-eight percent
(28%) maximum limitation provided for in this section, subsection for
benefits charged before January 1, 2014, the part of benefits not
reimbursed by the federal government under the Federal-State
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 paid to an eligible
individual based on service with a governmental entity of this state or
its political subdivisions shall be charged to the experience or
reimbursable accounts of the employers before January 1, 2014, and
to the experience or reimbursable account of the separating
employer after December 31, 2013, and the part of benefits not
reimbursed by the federal government under the Federal-State
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 paid to an eligible
individual shall be charged to the experience or reimbursable accounts
of the individual's employers in the individual's base period, other than
governmental entities of this state or its political subdivisions, in the
same proportion and sequence as are provided in this section for
regular benefits paid before January 1, 2014, and to the experience
or reimbursable accounts of the separating employer, other than
governmental entities of the state or its political subdivisions, in the
same manner as regular benefits paid after December 31, 2013.
Additional benefits paid under IC 22-4-12-4(c) and benefits paid under
IC 22-4-15-1(c)(8) shall:
(1) be paid from the fund; and
(2) not be charged to the experience account or the reimbursable
account of any employer.
(b) (c) This subsection applies to benefits charged before
January 1, 2014. If the aggregate of wages paid to an individual by
two (2) or more employers during the same calendar quarter exceeds
the maximum wage credits (as defined in IC 22-4-4-3) then the
experience or reimbursable account of each such employer shall be
charged in the ratio which the amount of wage credits from such
employer bears to the total amount of wage credits during the base
period.
(c) (d) This subsection applies to benefits charged before
January 1, 2014. When wage records show that an individual has been
employed by two (2) or more employers during the same calendar
quarter of the base period but do not indicate both that such
employment was consecutive and the order of sequence thereof, then
and in such cases it shall be deemed that the employer with whom the
individual established a plurality of wage credits in such calendar
quarter is the most recent employer in such quarter and its experience
or reimbursable account shall be first charged with benefits paid to
such individual. The experience or reimbursable account of the
employer with whom the next highest amount of wage credits were
established shall be charged secondly and the experience or
reimbursable accounts of other employers during such quarters, if any,
shall likewise be charged in order according to plurality of wage credits
established by such individual.
(d) (e) Except as provided in subsection (f), (g), if an individual:
(1) voluntarily leaves an employer without good cause in
connection with the work; or
(2) is discharged from an employer for just cause;
wage credits earned with the employer from whom the employee has
separated under these conditions shall be used to compute the
claimant's eligibility for benefits, but charges based on such wage
credits shall be paid from the fund and not charged to the experience
account of any employer. However, this exception shall not apply to
those employers who elect to make payments in lieu of contributions,
who shall be charged for all benefit payments which are attributable to
service in their employ.
(e) (f) Any nonprofit organization which elects to make payments
in lieu of contributions into the unemployment compensation fund as
provided in this article is not liable to make the payments with respect
to the benefits paid to any individual whose base period wages include
wages for previously uncovered services as defined in IC 22-4-4-4, nor
is the experience account of any other employer liable for charges for
benefits paid the individual to the extent that the unemployment
compensation fund is reimbursed for these benefits pursuant to Section
121 of P.L.94-566. Payments which otherwise would have been
chargeable to the reimbursable or contributing employers shall be
charged to the fund.
(f) (g) If an individual:
(1) earns wages during the individual's base period through
employment with two (2) or more employers concurrently;
(2) is separated from work by one (1) of the employers for reasons
that would not result in disqualification under IC 22-4-15-1; and
(3) continues to work for one (1) or more of the other employers
after the end of the base period and continues to work during the
applicable benefit year on substantially the same basis as during
the base period;
wage credits earned with the base period employers shall be used to
compute the claimant's eligibility for benefits, but charges based on the
wage credits from the employer who continues to employ the individual
shall be charged to the experience or reimbursable account of the
separating employer.
(g) (h) Subsection (f) (g) does not affect the eligibility of a claimant
who otherwise qualifies for benefits nor the computation of benefits.
(h) (i) Unemployment benefits paid shall not be charged to the
experience account of a base period or separating employer when the
claimant's unemployment from the employer was a direct result of the
condemnation of property by a municipal corporation (as defined in
IC 36-1-2-10), the state, or the federal government, a fire, a flood, or an
act of nature, when at least fifty percent (50%) of the employer's
employees, including the claimant, became unemployed as a result.
This exception does not apply when the unemployment was an
intentional result of the employer or a person acting on behalf of the
employer.
When the Fund Ratio Is:
Applicable
As Much As But Less Than Schedule
1 .0% A
1 .0% 1 .5% B
1 .5% 2 .25% C
2 .25% D
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), the applicable schedule of rates for calendar years after December 31, 2010, shall be determined by the ratio resulting when the balance in the fund as of the determination date is divided by the total payroll of all subject
employers for the immediately preceding calendar year. Schedules A
through I appearing on the line opposite the fund ratio in the schedule
below are applicable in determining and assigning each employer's
contribution rate for the calendar year immediately following the
determination date. For purposes of this subsection, "total payroll"
means total remuneration reported by all contributing employers as
required by this article and does not include the total payroll of any
employer who elected to become liable for payments in lieu of
contributions (as defined in IC 22-4-2-32). For purposes of this
subsection, "subject employers" means those employers who are
subject to contribution.
When the Fund Ratio Is:
Applicable
As Much As But Less Than Schedule
0 .2% A
0 .2% 0 .4% B
0 .4% 0 .6% C
0 .6% 0 .8% D
0 .8% 1 .0% E
1 .0% 1 .2% F
1 .2% 1 .4% G
1 .4% 1 .6% H
1 .6% I
(c) For calendar years 2011 through 2020, Schedule E applies in determining and assigning each employer's contribution rate.
(d) Any adjustment in the amount charged to any employer's experience account made subsequent to the assignment of rates of contributions for any calendar year shall not operate to alter the amount charged to the experience accounts of:
(1) any other base-period employers, before January 1, 2014; or
(2) any other separating employer, after December 31, 2013.
wages meet the requirements for the individual to be an insured
worker, and, if so, the week ending date of the first week of the
individual's benefit period, the individual's weekly benefit amount, and
the maximum amount of benefits that may be paid to the individual for
weeks of unemployment in the individual's benefit period. For the
individual who is not insured, the notice shall include the reason for the
determination. Unless the individual, within ten (10) days after such
determination was mailed to the individual's last known address, or
otherwise delivered to the individual, asks a hearing thereon before an
administrative law judge, such determination shall be final and benefits
shall be paid or denied in accordance therewith.
(b) The department shall promptly furnish:
(1) before January 1, 2014, to each employer in the base period;
or
(2) after December 31, 2014, to the separating employer;
whose experience or reimbursable account is potentially chargeable
with benefits to be paid to such individual with a notice in writing of
the employer's benefit liability. The notice shall contain the date, the
name and Social Security account number of the individual, the ending
date of the individual's base period, and the week ending date of the
first week of the individual's benefit period. For a notice sent before
January 1, 2014, the notice shall further contain information as to the
proportion of benefits chargeable to the employer's experience or
reimbursable account in ratio to the earnings of such individual from
such employer. Unless the employer within ten (10) days after such
notice of benefit liability was mailed to the employer's last known
address, or otherwise delivered to the employer, asks a hearing thereon
before an administrative law judge, such determination shall be final
and benefits paid shall be charged in accordance therewith.
(c) An employing unit, including an employer, having knowledge
of any facts which may affect an individual's eligibility or right to
waiting period credits or benefits, shall notify the department of such
facts within ten (10) days after the mailing of notice that a former
employee has filed an initial or additional claim for benefits on a form
prescribed by the department.
(d) If, after the department determines that additional information
is necessary to make a determination under this chapter:
(1) the department makes a request in writing for additional
information from an employing unit, including an employer, on
a form prescribed by the department; and
(2) the employing unit fails to respond within ten (10) days after
the date the request is mailed to the employing unit;
the department shall make a decision with the information available.
(e) If:
(1) an employer appeals an original determination granting benefits to a claimant and the determination is reversed on appeal; and
(2) the decision to reverse the determination is at least in part based on information that the department requested from the employer under subsection (d), but which the employer failed to provide within ten (10) days after the department's request was mailed to the employer;
the employer's experience account shall be charged an amount equal to fifty percent (50%) of the benefits paid to the employee to which the employee was not entitled and for which the employer's experience account may be charged.
(f) If:
(1) the employer's experience account is charged under subsection (e); and
(2) the employee repays all or a part of the benefits on which the charge under subsection (e) is based;
the employer shall receive a credit to the employer's experience account that is equal to the amount of the employee's repayment up to fifty percent (50%) of the amount charged to the employer's experience account under subsection (e).
(g) In addition to the foregoing determination of insured status by the department, the deputy shall, throughout the benefit period, determine the claimant's eligibility with respect to each week for which the claimant claims waiting period credit or benefit rights, the validity of the claimant's claim therefor, and the cause for which the claimant left the claimant's work, or may refer such claim to an administrative law judge who shall make the initial determination with respect thereto in accordance with the procedure in section 3 of this chapter.
(h) In cases where the claimant's benefit eligibility or disqualification is disputed, the department shall promptly notify the claimant and the employer or employers directly involved or connected with the issue raised as to the validity of such claim, the eligibility of the claimant for waiting period credit or benefits, or the imposition of a disqualification period or penalty, or the denial thereof, and of the cause for which the claimant left the claimant's work, of such determination and the reasons thereof.
(i) Except as otherwise hereinafter provided in this section regarding parties located in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, unless the claimant or such employer, within ten (10) days after the notification required
by subsection (h), was mailed to the claimant's or the employer's last
known address or otherwise delivered to the claimant or the employer,
asks for a hearing before an administrative law judge thereon, such
decision shall be final and benefits shall be paid or denied in
accordance therewith.
(j) For a notice of disputed administrative determination or decision
mailed or otherwise delivered to the claimant or employer either of
whom is located in Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico, unless the claimant
or employer, within fifteen (15) days after the notification required by
subsection (h), was mailed to the claimant's or employer's last known
address or otherwise delivered to the claimant or employer, asks for a
hearing before an administrative law judge thereon, such decision shall
be final and benefits shall be paid or denied in accordance therewith.
(k) If a claimant or an employer requests a hearing under subsection
(i) or (j), the request therefor shall be filed with the department in
writing within the prescribed periods as above set forth in this section
and shall be in such form as the department may prescribe. In the event
a hearing is requested by an employer or the department after it has
been administratively determined that benefits should be allowed to a
claimant, entitled benefits shall continue to be paid to said claimant
unless said administrative determination has been reversed by a due
process hearing. Benefits with respect to any week not in dispute shall
be paid promptly regardless of any appeal.
(l) A person may not participate on behalf of the department in any
case in which the person is an interested party.
(m) Solely on the ground of obvious administrative error appearing
on the face of an original determination, and within the benefit year of
the affected claims, the commissioner, or a representative authorized
by the commissioner to act in the commissioner's behalf, may
reconsider and direct the deputy to revise the original determination so
as to correct the obvious error appearing therein. Time for filing an
appeal and requesting a hearing before an administrative law judge
regarding the determinations handed down pursuant to this subsection
shall begin on the date following the date of revision of the original
determination and shall be filed with the commissioner in writing
within the prescribed periods as above set forth in subsection (c).
(n) Notice to the employer and the claimant that the determination
of the department is final if a hearing is not requested shall be
prominently displayed on the notice of the determination which is sent
to the employer and the claimant.
(o) If an allegation of the applicability of IC 22-4-15-1(c)(8) is made
by the individual at the time of the claim for benefits, the department
shall not notify the employer of the claimant's current address or
physical location.
(b) Upon the filing by an individual of an additional claim for benefits, a notice in writing or a carbon copy of such additional claim shall be mailed promptly to:
(1) the:
(A) base period employer or employers, for a notice sent before January 1, 2014; or
(B) separating employer for the individual's initial claim for benefits, for a notice sent after December 31, 2013; and
(2) the employing unit, including an employer from whose employ the individual claims to have been last separated.
(c) Upon the filing by an individual of an initial claim for benefits, a notice in writing or a carbon copy of such initial claim shall be mailed promptly to the employing unit including an employer from whose employ the individual claims to have been last separated. The computation of the benefit rights of such individual shall be made as promptly as possible and, if such claim is deemed valid, then a notice of benefit liability shall be mailed to each employer whose experience account is potentially chargeable with benefits to be paid to such individual. Such notice shall contain the date, the name and Social Security number of the individual, the ending date of the individual's base period, and the week ending date of the first week of the
individual's benefit year. Such notice shall further contain information
as to the proportion of benefits chargeable to the employer's experience
account in ratio to the earnings of such individual from such employer
and shall advise such employer of the employer's right to protest such
claim and the payment of any benefits thereon and of the place and
time within which protest must be made and the form and contents
thereof.
(d) Whenever a determination is made with respect to the validity
of any claim for benefits, or the eligibility of any claimant for benefits,
which involves the cancellation of wage credits or benefit rights, the
imposition of any disqualification, period of ineligibility or penalty, or
the denial thereof, a notice in writing shall promptly be mailed to such
claimant and to each employer directly involved or connected with the
issue raised as to the validity of such claim, the eligibility of such
claimant for benefits, or the imposition of a disqualification period of
ineligibility or penalty, or the denial thereof. Such employer or such
claimant may protest any such determination within such time limits
and in such manner as provided in IC 22-4-17-2 and upon said protest
shall be entitled to a hearing as provided in IC 22-4-17-2 and
IC 22-4-17-3.
(e) Every employer shall be mailed a monthly report of benefit
charges which shall contain an itemized statement showing the names
of individuals to whom benefits were paid and charged to the
experience account of such employer, the weeks with respect to which
each such individual received benefits, the amount thereof, and the
total amount of benefits charged to such employer's said account during
the period covered by such report.
(f) Following the computation of rates of contribution for employers
for each calendar year, each employer shall be mailed not later than
ninety (90) days after the effective date of such rates a notice in writing
setting out the employer's rate of contribution for such year, computed
by the department as of the preceding June 30, together with sufficient
information for such employer to determine and compute the amount
of a voluntary payment required from such employer in order to qualify
for and obtain a lower rate of contribution for such year and also
advising such employer of the length of time within which or last date
upon which said voluntary payment will be received or can be made.