March 10, 2016, Introduced by Rep. Johnson and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Trade.
A bill to amend 1936 (Ex Sess) PA 1, entitled
"Michigan employment security act,"
by amending section 13 (MCL 421.13), as amended by 2012 PA 493.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 13. (1) Each employer subject to this act shall pay to
the unemployment agency a tax in the form of payments in lieu of
contributions
where if the employer is liable for those payments,
or
shall pay tax contributions equal to a standard rate of
2.7% for
calendar
years before 1985 and 5.4% for calendar year 1985 and
thereafter,
subject to an adjustment in rate of contributions as at
a rate provided in section 19. The contributions shall become due
and be paid to the unemployment agency, for the unemployment
compensation fund, by each employer semiannually or for shorter
periods of not less than 28 days, as the unemployment agency may by
rule prescribe. Contributions due and payable from an employer that
is liable under this act solely on the basis of the payment of
wages for domestic service may be paid annually on the date
specified by the unemployment agency. An obligation assessment
payment made pursuant to section 10a or a contribution payment made
pursuant to this section shall be credited first to interest on the
obligation assessment and then to the obligation assessment, with
those payments applied to amounts unpaid and owing in the oldest
calendar quarter and progressing each quarter to the most recent
quarter. Any remainder shall be credited first to penalties on
contributions, then to interest on contributions, and then to
contribution principal, with those payments applied to amounts
unpaid and owing in the oldest calendar quarter and progressing
each quarter to the most recent quarter. An employer's contribution
shall not be deducted directly or indirectly, in whole or in part,
from wages of individuals in his or her employ. A contribution
payment amount that is not an even dollar amount shall be credited
to the account of the employer in an amount equal to the next lower
dollar amount if under 50 cents and in an amount equal to the next
higher dollar amount if 50 cents or more. The unemployment agency
may prescribe by rule the details of the computation and payment of
contributions. Every employing unit shall file with the
unemployment agency periodic reports on forms and at a time the
unemployment agency prescribes to disclose liability for
contributions under this act. Each employing unit shall keep
records, including wage and employment records, and shall, within
prescribed time limits, submit or provide reports, including wage
and employment reports, to the unemployment agency or to the
employing unit's employees or former employees as the unemployment
agency prescribes by rule.
(2)
Beginning with the first quarter of 1986, each Each
employer shall file a quarterly wage report with the unemployment
agency, on forms and at a time as the unemployment agency
prescribes, which shall include for each of the employer's
employees the employee's name, social security number, gross wages
paid during each quarter, and the name, address, and federal and
state employer identification number of the individual's employer.
If the unemployment agency discovers an error in a report filed
timely, the unemployment agency shall provide written notification
to the employer of the error. If the employer provides corrected
information within 14 days of the notification, the administrative
fine provided in section 54 for a late, incomplete, or erroneous
report shall not apply. An employer having more than 25 employees
on January 1, 2013 shall file quarterly reports beginning with the
report for the first quarter of 2013 by an electronic method
approved by the unemployment agency. An employer having more than 5
but fewer than 26 employees on January 1, 2013 shall file quarterly
reports beginning with the report for the first quarter of 2014 by
an electronic method approved by the unemployment agency. An
employer having 5 or fewer employees on January 1, 2013 shall file
quarterly reports beginning with the report for the first quarter
of 2015 by an electronic method approved by the unemployment
agency, except that the director of the unemployment agency, upon
application by the employer, may grant additional time for the
employer to comply with the electronic filing method if the
director concludes that satisfying the requirement of electronic
filing will cause economic hardship for the employer. The employer
shall provide, and the director shall consider, information about
the employer's anticipated cost expenditure for preparing for
electronic filing and about the employer's annual income. Upon
application of the employer, the agency shall grant an exemption to
the electronic filing requirement under this subsection to
accommodate the employer's religious practice that is incompatible
with electronic filing. An exemption granted as a religious
accommodation is retroactive to January 1, 2015. An exemption from
electronic filing to accommodate a religious practice under this
subsection does not relieve the employer from other requirements of
this act, including the requirement to file a report on a form
approved by the department within the time intervals required under
this act. An employer that complies with the reporting requirements
of this subsection by filing electronically a quarterly wage report
using a method approved by the unemployment agency is not required
to file periodically by another method to disclose contributions
under this act.
(3) The unemployment agency shall allow a contributing
employer that employed 25 or fewer individuals during the pay
period that includes January 12, 2012, or during the corresponding
pay period in each succeeding calendar year, and that incurred 50%
or more of the employer's total previous year's contribution
obligation in the first quarter of that year to discharge the
liability for contributions due in the next succeeding year through
quarterly payments that distribute the payment of the first
quarter's obligation equally over the 4 quarters in that year. To
avoid interest and penalties otherwise applicable to those
payments, an employer meeting the requirements of this subsection
shall notify the unemployment agency of the election to make
apportioned payments with the first quarter's payment and timely
file each succeeding quarterly payment in the amounts prescribed in
section 15a. This subsection applies to contributions beginning in
the 2013 tax year.