SF 57

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to unemployment insurance; modifying 
  1.3             deductibility of pensions; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             2002, section 268.085, subdivisions 3, 4. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 268.085, 
  1.7   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 3.  [DEDUCTIBLE PAYMENTS.] (a) An applicant shall not 
  1.9   be eligible to receive unemployment benefits for any week with 
  1.10  respect to which the applicant is receiving, has received, or 
  1.11  has filed for payment in an amount equal to or in excess of the 
  1.12  applicant's weekly unemployment benefit amount in the form of: 
  1.13     (1) severance pay, bonus pay, vacation pay, sick pay, and 
  1.14  any other money payments, except earnings under subdivision 5, 
  1.15  and back pay under subdivision 6, paid by an employer because 
  1.16  of, upon, or after separation from employment that are 
  1.17  considered wages under section 268.035, subdivision 29, or 
  1.18  United States Code, title 26, section 3121, clause (2) of the 
  1.19  Federal Insurance Contribution Act.  This clause shall apply to 
  1.20  the first four weeks of payment and to one-half of the total 
  1.21  number of any additional weeks of payment.  This clause shall be 
  1.22  applied to the period immediately following the last day of 
  1.23  employment.  The number of weeks of payment shall be determined 
  1.24  as follows: 
  1.25     (i) if the payments are made periodically, the total of the 
  2.1   payments to be received shall be divided by the applicant's last 
  2.2   level of regular weekly pay from the employer; or 
  2.3      (ii) if the payment is made in a lump sum, that sum shall 
  2.4   be divided by the applicant's last level of regular weekly pay 
  2.5   from the employer.  This clause shall not apply to vacation pay 
  2.6   paid by an employer upon permanent separation from employment; 
  2.7      (2) pension, retirement, or annuity payments from any plan 
  2.8   contributed to by to which a base period employer including the 
  2.9   United States government made a contribution and the applicant 
  2.10  did not make a contribution, except social security benefits 
  2.11  which are provided for in subdivision 4.  The base period 
  2.12  employer contributed to the plan if the contribution is excluded 
  2.13  from the definition of wages under section 268.035, subdivision 
  2.14  29, clause (1), or United States Code, title 26, section 3121, 
  2.15  clause (2), of the Federal Insurance Contribution Act.  No 
  2.16  deduction shall be made for the receipt of pension payments for 
  2.17  which the applicant made a contribution. 
  2.18     If the applicant receives a lump sum pension payment, that 
  2.19  sum shall be divided by the applicant's last level of regular 
  2.20  weekly pay to determine the number of weeks of payment.  The 
  2.21  number of weeks of payment shall be applied to the period 
  2.22  immediately following the last day of employment.  An applicant 
  2.23  shall not be considered to have received the lump sum payment if 
  2.24  the applicant immediately deposits that payment in a qualified 
  2.25  pension plan or account; or 
  2.26     (3) holiday pay. 
  2.27     (b) If the deductible payment is less than the applicant's 
  2.28  weekly unemployment benefit amount, unemployment benefits shall 
  2.29  be reduced by the amount of the payment.  If the computation of 
  2.30  reduced unemployment benefits is not a whole dollar, it shall be 
  2.31  rounded down to the next lowest dollar. 
  2.32     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 268.085, 
  2.33  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.34     Subd. 4.  [SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS.] (a) Any applicant 
  2.35  aged 62 or over shall be required to state when filing an 
  2.36  application for unemployment benefits and when filing continued 
  3.1   requests for unemployment benefits whether the applicant is 
  3.2   receiving, has filed for, or intends to file for, primary social 
  3.3   security old age or disability benefits for any week during the 
  3.4   benefit year. 
  3.5      (b) There shall be deducted from an applicant's weekly 
  3.6   unemployment benefit amount 50 percent of the weekly equivalent 
  3.7   of the primary social security old age or disability benefit the 
  3.8   applicant has received, has filed for, or intends to file for, 
  3.9   with respect to that week. 
  3.10     (c) Regardless of paragraph (b), An applicant shall be 
  3.11  ineligible for unemployment benefits for any week with respect 
  3.12  to which the applicant is receiving, has received, or has filed 
  3.13  for primary social security disability benefits. 
  3.14  This paragraph shall not apply if the Social Security 
  3.15  Administration approved the collecting of primary social 
  3.16  security disability benefits each month the applicant was 
  3.17  employed during the base period.  
  3.18     (d) (b) Information from the Social Security Administration 
  3.19  shall be considered conclusive, absent specific evidence showing 
  3.20  that the information was erroneous. 
  3.21     (e) (c) Any applicant who receives primary social security 
  3.22  old age or disability benefits for periods that the applicant 
  3.23  has been paid unemployment benefits shall be considered overpaid 
  3.24  those unemployment benefits under section 268.18, subdivision 1.