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268.047 Benefits charged to employer.

Subdivision 1. General rule. Benefits paid to a claimant pursuant to a reemployment insurance account, including extended, additional, and shared work benefits, shall be charged to the account of the claimant's base period employer as and when paid except as provided in subdivisions 2 and 3. The amount of benefits chargeable to each base period employer's account shall bear the same ratio to the total benefits paid to a claimant as the wage credits the claimant was paid by the employer bear to the total amount of wage credits the claimant was paid by all the claimant's base period employers.

In making computations under this subdivision, the amount of wage credits, if not a multiple of $1, shall be computed to the nearest multiple of $1.

Subd. 2. Exceptions to charges for all employers. Benefits paid to a claimant shall not be charged to the account of a contributing base period employer or to the account of a base period employer that is liable for payments in lieu of contributions under the following conditions:

(a) the claimant was discharged from the employment because of gross misconduct as determined under section 268.09, subdivision 10, clause (2). This paragraph shall apply only to benefits paid for weeks occurring subsequent to the claimant's discharge from employment;

(b) a claimant's discharge from that employment was required by a law mandating a background check, or the claimant's discharge from that employment was required by law because of a criminal conviction;

(c) the employer:

(1) provided regularly scheduled part-time employment to the claimant during the claimant's base period;

(2) during the claimant's benefit year, continues to provide the claimant with regularly scheduled employment approximating 90 percent of the employment provided the claimant by that employer in the base period, or, for a fire department or firefighting corporation or operator of a life-support transportation service, continues to provide employment for a volunteer firefighter or a volunteer ambulance service personnel on the same basis that employment was provided in the base period; and

(3) is an involved employer because of the claimant's loss of other employment. The exception to charges shall terminate effective the first week in the claimant's benefit year that the employer fails to meet the provisions of clause (2);

(d) the claimant's unemployment:

(1) was directly caused by a major natural disaster declared by the president pursuant to Section 102(2) of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, United States Code, title 42, section 5122(2), if the claimant would have been eligible for disaster unemployment assistance with respect to that unemployment but for the claimant's receipt of reemployment insurance benefits; or

(2) was directly caused by the condemnation of property by a governmental agency, a fire, flood, or act of God where 70 percent or more of the employees employed in the affected location became unemployed as a result and the employer substantially reopens its operations in that same area within 18 months. Benefits shall be charged to the employer where the unemployment is caused by the willful act of the employer or a person acting on behalf of the employer;

(e) the benefits were paid by another state as a result of the transferring of wage credits under a federally combined wage agreement provided for in section 268.13;

(f) on a second reemployment insurance account established pursuant to section 268.07, subdivision 3, where the employer provided 90 percent or more of the wage credits in the claimant's preceding base period and the claimant did not perform services for the employer during the subsequent base period;

(g) the claimant left or partially or totally lost employment because of a strike or other labor dispute at the claimant's primary place of employment if the employer was not a party to the particular strike or labor dispute; or

(h) the benefits were determined overpaid benefits under section 268.18.

Subd. 3. Exceptions to charges for contributing employers. Benefits paid to a claimant shall not be charged to the account of a contributing base period employer under the following conditions:

(a) the claimant's wage credits from that employer are less than $500;

(b) the claimant quit the employment, unless it was determined under section 268.09, subdivisions 1a and 9, to have been because of a good reason caused by the employer. This paragraph shall apply only to benefits paid for periods occurring subsequent to the claimant's quitting the employment;

(c) the employer discharged the claimant from employment because of misconduct as determined pursuant to section 268.09, subdivisions 10 and 12. This paragraph shall apply only to benefits paid for periods occurring subsequent to the claimant's discharge from employment;

(d) the employer discharged the claimant from employment because of reasons resulting directly from the claimant's serious illness provided the employer made a reasonable effort to retain the claimant in employment in spite of the claimant's serious illness; or

(e) the claimant avoided or failed to accept an offer of suitable reemployment, or reemployment that offered substantially the same or better hourly wages or conditions of employment, or both, as were previously provided by that employer. This paragraph shall apply to benefits paid for weeks occurring after the claimant's refusal or avoidance.

Subd. 4. Federal reimbursed benefits not charged. Notwithstanding subdivision 1, no employer's account shall be charged for benefits for which the reemployment insurance fund is reimbursed by the federal government.

Subd. 5. Notice of benefits charged. (a) The commissioner shall mail to the last known address of each employer a quarterly notice of the benefits that have been charged to the employer's account. Unless a written protest is filed within 30 calendar days from the date of mailing of the notice, the charges set forth in the notice shall be final and shall not be subject to collateral attack by way of review of a contribution rate notice, application for adjustment or refund, or otherwise.

(b) Upon receipt of a protest, the commissioner shall review the charges on the notice and determine whether there has been an error in the charging of the employer's account. The commissioner shall either affirm or make a redetermination of the charges, and a notice of affirmation or redetermination shall be mailed to the employer.

(c) The affirmation or redetermination shall be final unless the employer files a written appeal within 30 calendar days after the date of mailing. Proceedings on the appeal shall be conducted in accordance with section 268.105.

(d) An employer may not collaterally attack, by way of a protest to a notice of benefits charged, any prior determination or decision holding that benefits shall be charged to the employer's account, that has become final.

(e) The commissioner may at any time upon the commissioner's own motion correct a clerical error that resulted in charges to an employer's account.

HIST: 1997 c 66 s 10,16,79

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Revisor of Statutes