2006 Minnesota Statutes

268.035 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Scope. Unless the language or context clearly indicates that a different
meaning is intended, the words, terms, and phrases in this section shall, for the purposes of the
Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Law, have the meaning stated.
    Subd. 2. Agricultural employment. "Agricultural employment" means services:
(1) on a farm, in the employ of any person or family farm corporation in connection with
cultivating the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural
commodity, including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of
livestock, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals, and wildlife;
(2) in the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of a farm, in connection with the
operation, management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of the farm and its tools and
equipment, or in salvaging timber or clearing land of brush and other debris left by a tornado-like
storm, if the major part of the employment is performed on a farm;
(3) in connection with the production or harvesting of any commodity defined as an
agricultural product in United States Code, title 7, section 1626 of the Agricultural Marketing
Act, or in connection with cotton ginning, or in connection with the operation or maintenance of
ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways, not owned or operated for profit, used exclusively for
supplying and storing water for farming purposes;
(4) in the employ of the operator of a farm in handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging,
processing, freezing, grading, storing, or delivering to storage or to market or to a carrier for
transportation to market, in its unmanufactured state, any agricultural or horticultural commodity;
but only if the operator produced more than one-half of the commodity with respect to which the
employment is performed, or in the employ of a group of operators of farms or a cooperative
organization of which the operators are members, but only if the operators produced more than
one-half of the commodity with respect to which the employment is performed; however, this
clause shall not be applicable to employment performed in connection with commercial canning
or commercial freezing or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural commodity after its
delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption; or
(5) on a farm operated for profit if the employment is not in the course of the employer's
trade or business.
For purposes of this subdivision, the term "farm" includes stock, dairy, poultry, fruit,
fur-bearing animals, and truck farms, plantations, ranches, nurseries, orchards, ranges,
greenhouses, or other similar structures used primarily for the raising of agricultural or
horticultural commodities.
    Subd. 2a. Applicant. "Applicant" means an individual who has filed an application for
unemployment benefits and has established or is pursuing the establishment of a benefit account.
    Subd. 3. Back pay. "Back pay" means a retroactive payment of money by an employer to an
employee or former employee for lost wages.
    Subd. 4. Base period. "Base period" means:
(1) the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the effective date of an
applicant's benefit account as set forth below:

		If the benefit account is effective on or between these dates:		The base period is the prior:
		January 1 - March 31		October 1 - September 30
		April 1 - June 30		January 1 - December 31
		July 1 - September 30		April 1 - March 31
		October 1 - December 31		July 1 - June 30

(2) if during the base period under clause (1) an applicant received workers' compensation
for temporary disability under chapter 176 or a similar federal law or similar law of another
state, or if an applicant whose own serious illness caused a loss of work for which the applicant
received compensation for loss of wages from some other source, the applicant may request a
base period as follows:
(i) if an applicant was compensated for a loss of work of seven to 13 weeks, the base period
shall be the first four of the last six completed calendar quarters prior to the effective date of
the benefit account;
(ii) if an applicant was compensated for a loss of work of 14 to 26 weeks, the base period
shall be the first four of the last seven completed calendar quarters prior to the effective date of
the benefit account;
(iii) if an applicant was compensated for a loss of work of 27 to 39 weeks, the base period
shall be the first four of the last eight completed calendar quarters prior to the effective date
of the benefit account; and
(iv) if an applicant was compensated for a loss of work of 40 to 52 weeks, the base period
shall be the first four of the last nine completed calendar quarters prior to the effective date of
the benefit account;
(3) if the applicant qualifies for a base period under clause (2), but has insufficient wage
credits to establish a benefit account, the applicant may request a base period of the last four
completed calendar quarters prior to the date the applicant's benefit account is effective. This base
period may be used only once during any five-calendar-year period; and
(4) no base period under clause (1), (2), or (3) shall include wage credits upon which a
prior benefit account was established.
    Subd. 5.[Renumbered subd 26a]
    Subd. 6. Benefit year. "Benefit year" means the period of 52 calendar weeks beginning
the date a benefit account is effective. For a benefit account established effective any January
1, April 1, July 1, October 1, or January 2, 2000, or October 2, 2011, the benefit year will be a
period of 53 calendar weeks.
    Subd. 7. Calendar quarter. "Calendar quarter" means the period of three consecutive
calendar months ending on March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31.
    Subd. 8.[Renumbered subd 2a]
    Subd. 8a. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of employment and
economic development.
    Subd. 9. Construction/independent contractor. A worker doing commercial or residential
building construction or improvement, in the public or private sector, performing services in the
course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of the employer, shall be considered
an employee and not an "independent contractor" unless the worker meets all the following
conditions:
(1) maintains a separate business with the independent contractor's own office, equipment,
materials, and other facilities;
(2) holds or has applied for a federal employer identification number or has filed business
or self-employment income tax returns with the federal Internal Revenue Service based on that
work or service in the previous year;
(3) operates under contracts to perform specific services or work for specific amounts of
money under which the independent contractor controls the means of performing the services or
work;
(4) incurs the main expenses related to the service or work that the independent contractor
performs under contract;
(5) is responsible for the satisfactory completion of work or services that the independent
contractor contracts to perform and is liable for a failure to complete the work or service;
(6) receives compensation for work or service performed under a contract on a commission
or per job or competitive bid basis and not on any other basis;
(7) may realize a profit or suffer a loss under contracts to perform work or service;
(8) has continuing or recurring business liabilities or obligations; and
(9) the success or failure of the independent contractor's business depends on the relationship
of business receipts to expenditures.
    Subd. 10. Corporation. "Corporation" includes associations, joint-stock companies, and
insurance companies. This definition shall not be exclusive.
    Subd. 11. Covered agricultural employment. "Covered agricultural employment" means
agricultural employment where:
(1) The employment is performed for a person who:
(i) during any calendar quarter in either the current or the prior calendar year paid wages of
$20,000 or more to employees in agricultural employment; or
(ii) for some portion of a day in each of 20 different calendar weeks, whether or not the
weeks were consecutive, in either the current or prior calendar year employed in agricultural
employment four or more employees, regardless of whether they were employed at the same time.
(2) Any employee who is a member of a crew furnished by a crew leader to be employed in
agricultural employment for any other person shall be treated as an employee of the crew leader:
(i) if the crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration under United States Code, title
29, section 1802, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; or substantially
all of the members of the crew operate or maintain tractors, mechanized harvesting or crop
dusting equipment, or any other mechanized equipment, that is provided by the crew leader; and
(ii) if the employee is not an employee of another person.
(3) Any employee who is furnished by a crew leader to be employed in agricultural
employment for any other person and who is not treated as an employee of the crew leader
under clause (2):
(i) the other person and not the crew leader shall be treated as the employer of the employee;
and
(ii) the other person shall be treated as having paid wages to the employee in an amount equal
to the amount of wages paid to the employee by the crew leader (either on the crew leader's behalf
or on behalf of the other person) for the agricultural employment performed for the other person.
(4) The term "crew leader" means an individual who:
(i) furnishes employees to be employed in agricultural employment for any other person;
(ii) pays (either on the crew leader's own behalf or on behalf of the other person) the
employees furnished by the crew leader for the agricultural employment performed by them; and
(iii) has not entered into a written agreement with the other person under which the furnished
employee is designated as an employee of the other person.
(5) Employment of an officer or shareholder of a family farm corporation shall be excluded
from covered agricultural employment unless the corporation is an employer under United States
Code, title 26, section 3306(a)(2) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
(6) Employment of an individual 16 years of age or under shall be excluded from covered
agricultural employment unless the employer is an employer under United States Code, title 26,
section 3306(a)(2) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
    Subd. 12. Covered employment. "Covered employment" means the following unless
excluded as "noncovered employment" under subdivision 20:
(1) an employee's entire employment if:
(i) the employment is performed entirely in Minnesota;
(ii) the employment is performed primarily in Minnesota, and the employment performed
outside Minnesota is incidental to the employment in Minnesota; or
(iii) the employment is not performed primarily in any one state but some of the employment
is performed in Minnesota and the base of operations or the place from which the employment
is directed or controlled is in Minnesota; or the base of operations or place from which the
employment is directed or controlled is not in any state in which part of the employment is
performed, but the employee's residence is in Minnesota;
(2) an employee's employment wherever performed within the United States or Canada, if:
(i) the employment is not covered under the unemployment insurance program of any other
state or Canada; and
(ii) the place from which the employment is directed or controlled is in Minnesota;
(3) the employment of an employee who is a citizen of the United States, performed outside
the United States, except in Canada, in the employ of an American employer if:
(i) the employer's principal place of business in the United States is located in Minnesota;
(ii) the employer has no place of business in the United States, but the employer is an
individual who is a resident of Minnesota, or the employer is a corporation that is organized under
the laws of Minnesota, or the employer is a partnership or a trust and the number of partners or
trustees who are residents of Minnesota is greater than the number who are residents of any
one other state;
(iii) none of the criteria of subclauses (i) and (ii) is met but the employer has elected coverage
in Minnesota, or the employer having failed to elect coverage in any state, an applicant has made
an application for unemployment benefits under section 268.07, based on the employment;
(iv) an "American employer," for the purposes of this subdivision, means an individual
who is a resident of the United States, or a partnership if two-thirds or more of the partners are
residents of the United States, or a trust, if all of the trustees are residents of the United States, or
a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any state; or
(v) as used in this subdivision, the term "United States" includes the states, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands;
(4) all employment performed by an officer or member of the crew of an American vessel on
or in connection with the vessel, if the operating office from which the operations of the vessel
operating on navigable waters within, or within and without, the United States are ordinarily and
regularly supervised, managed, directed, and controlled is in Minnesota; and
(5) for the purposes of satisfying disqualifications under section 268.095, subdivision 10,
"covered employment" shall include covered employment under an unemployment insurance
program of any other state or employment covered under an unemployment insurance program
established by an act of Congress.
    Subd. 12a. Department. "Department" means the Department of Employment and
Economic Development.
    Subd. 12b. Electronic transmission. "Electronic transmission" means a communication sent
by electronic, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities, and,
when permitted by the commissioner, a telephone communication.
    Subd. 13. Employee. "Employee" means:
(1) every individual who is performing or has performed services for an employer in
employment; or
(2) each individual employed to perform or assist in performing the work of any agent or
employee of the employer shall be considered to be an employee of that employer whether the
individual was hired or paid directly by that employer or by the agent or employee, provided the
employer had actual or constructive knowledge of the work.
    Subd. 14. Employer. "Employer" means any person which has had one or more employees
during the current or the prior calendar year including any person that has elected, under section
268.042, to be subject to the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Law and a joint venture
composed of one or more employers.
An employee leasing company, professional employer organization, or similar person that
has been assigned a tax or reimbursable account under section 268.046 is an employer for
purposes of this chapter.
    Subd. 15. Employment. "Employment" means service performed by:
(1) an individual who is considered an employee under the common law of
employer-employee and not considered an independent contractor;
(2) an officer of a corporation;
(3) a member of a limited liability company who is considered an employee under the
common law of employer-employee; or
(4) an individual who performs services for a person for compensation, as:
(i) an agent-driver or commission-driver engaged in distributing meat products, vegetable
products, fruit products, beverages, or laundry or dry cleaning services; or
(ii) a traveling or city salesperson, other than as an agent-driver or commission-driver,
engaged full-time in the solicitation on behalf of the person, of orders from wholesalers, retailers,
contractors, or operators of hotels, restaurants, or other similar establishments for merchandise for
resale or supplies for use in their business operations.
This clause shall apply only if the contract of service provides that substantially all of the
services are to be performed personally by the individual, and the services are part of a continuing
relationship with the person for whom the services are performed, and the individual does not
have a substantial investment in facilities used in connection with the performance of the services,
other than facilities for transportation.
    Subd. 16. Family farm corporation. "Family farm corporation" has the meaning given to
it in section 500.24, subdivision 2.
    Subd. 17. Filing; filed. "Filing" or "filed" means the delivery of any document to the
commissioner or any of the commissioner's agents, or the depositing of the document in the
United States mail properly addressed to the department with postage prepaid, in which case the
document shall be considered filed on the day indicated by the cancellation mark of the United
States Postal Service.
If, where allowed, an application, protest, appeal, or other required action is made by
electronic transmission, it shall be considered filed on the day received by the department.
    Subd. 18.[Renumbered subd 25a]
    Subd. 19. High quarter. "High quarter" means the calendar quarter in an applicant's base
period with the highest amount of wage credits.
    Subd. 20. Noncovered employment. "Noncovered employment" means:
(1) employment for the United States government or an instrumentality thereof, including
military service;
(2) employment for a state, other than Minnesota, or a political subdivision or instrumentality
thereof;
(3) employment for a foreign government;
(4) employment for an instrumentality wholly owned by a foreign government, if the
employment is of a character similar to that performed in foreign countries by employees of
the United States government or an instrumentality thereof and the United States Secretary
of State has certified that the foreign government grants an equivalent exemption to similar
employment performed in the foreign country by employees of the United States government
and instrumentalities thereof;
(5) employment covered under United States Code, title 45, section 351, the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Act;
(6) employment covered by a reciprocal arrangement between the commissioner and another
state or the federal government which provides that all employment performed by an individual
for an employer during the period covered by the reciprocal arrangement is considered performed
entirely within another state;
(7) employment for a church or convention or association of churches, or an organization
operated primarily for religious purposes that is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally
supported by a church or convention or association of churches described in United States
Code, title 26, section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code and exempt from income
tax under section 501(a);
(8) employment of a duly ordained or licensed minister of a church in the exercise of a
ministry or by a member of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by the order, for
Minnesota or a political subdivision or an organization described in United States Code, title
26, section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code and exempt from income tax under
section 501(a);
(9) employment of an individual receiving rehabilitation of "sheltered" work in a facility
conducted for the purpose of carrying out a program of rehabilitation for individuals whose
earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury or a program
providing "sheltered" work for individuals who because of an impaired physical or mental capacity
cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market. This clause applies only to services
performed for Minnesota or a political subdivision or an organization described in United States
Code, title 26, section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code and exempt from income tax
under section 501(a) in a facility certified by the Rehabilitation Services Branch of the department
or in a day training or habilitation program licensed by the Department of Human Services;
(10) employment of an individual receiving work relief or work training as part of an
unemployment work relief or work training program assisted or financed in whole or in part by
any federal agency or an agency of a state or political subdivision thereof. This clause applies
only to employment for Minnesota or a political subdivision or an organization described in
United States Code, title 26, section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code and exempt
from income tax under section 501(a). This clause shall not apply to programs that require
unemployment benefit coverage for the participants;
(11) employment for Minnesota or a political subdivision as an elected official, a member of
a legislative body, or a member of the judiciary;
(12) employment as a member of the Minnesota National Guard or Air National Guard;
(13) employment for Minnesota, a political subdivision, or instrumentality thereof, as an
employee serving only on a temporary basis in case of fire, flood, tornado, or similar emergency;
(14) employment as an election official or election worker for Minnesota or a political
subdivision, but only if the compensation for that employment was less than $1,000 in a calendar
year;
(15) employment for Minnesota that is a major policy making or advisory position in the
unclassified service, including those positions established pursuant to section 43A.08, subdivision
1a ;
(16) employment for a political subdivision of Minnesota that is a nontenured major policy
making or advisory position;
(17) domestic employment in a private household, local college club, or local chapter of
a college fraternity or sorority performed for a person, only if the wages paid in any calendar
quarter in either the current or preceding calendar year to all individuals in domestic employment
totaled less than $1,000.
"Domestic employment" includes all service in the operation and maintenance of a private
household, for a local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority as
distinguished from service as an employee in the pursuit of an employer's trade or business;
(18) employment of an individual by a son, daughter, or spouse, and employment of a child
under the age of 18 by the child's father or mother;
(19) employment of an inmate of a custodial or penal institution;
(20) employment for a school, college, or university by a student who is enrolled and is
regularly attending classes at the school, college, or university;
(21) employment of an individual who is enrolled as a student in a full-time program at
a nonprofit or public educational institution that maintains a regular faculty and curriculum
and has a regularly organized body of students in attendance at the place where its educational
activities are carried on, taken for credit at the institution, that combines academic instruction
with work experience, if the employment is an integral part of the program, and the institution has
so certified to the employer, except that this clause shall not apply to employment in a program
established for or on behalf of an employer or group of employers;
(22) employment of university, college, or professional school students in an internship or
other training program with the city of St. Paul or the city of Minneapolis pursuant to Laws
1990, chapter 570, article 6, section 3;
(23) employment for a hospital by a patient of the hospital. "Hospital" means an institution
that has been licensed by the Department of Health as a hospital;
(24) employment as a student nurse for a hospital or a nurses' training school by an individual
who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes in an accredited nurses' training school;
(25) employment as an intern for a hospital by an individual who has completed a four-year
course in an accredited medical school;
(26) employment as an insurance salesperson, by other than a corporate officer, if all the
wages from the employment is solely by way of commission. The word "insurance" shall include
an annuity and an optional annuity;
(27) employment as an officer of a township mutual insurance company or farmer's mutual
insurance company operating pursuant to chapter 67A;
(28) employment of a corporate officer, if the officer owns 25 percent or more of the
employer corporation, and employment of a member of a limited liability company, if the member
owns 25 percent or more of the employer limited liability company;
(29) employment as a real estate salesperson, by other than a corporate officer, if all the
wages from the employment is solely by way of commission;
(30) employment as a direct seller as defined in United States Code, title 26, section 3508;
(31) employment of an individual under the age of 18 in the delivery or distribution of
newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent
delivery or distribution;
(32) casual employment performed for an individual, other than domestic employment under
clause (17), that does not promote or advance that employer's trade or business;
(33) employment in "agricultural employment" unless considered "covered agricultural
employment" under subdivision 11; or
(34) if employment during one-half or more of any pay period was covered employment,
all the employment for the pay period shall be considered covered employment; but if during
more than one-half of any pay period the employment was noncovered employment, then all of
the employment for the pay period shall be considered noncovered employment. "Pay period"
means a period of not more than a calendar month for which a payment or compensation is
ordinarily made to the employee by the employer.
    Subd. 21. Person. "Person" means:
(1) an individual or any type of organization or entity, resident or nonresident, for profit or
nonprofit, religious, charitable or educational, including any receiver or trustee in a bankruptcy,
successor of any of the foregoing, or legal representative of a deceased individual; and
(2) any government entity, state or federal, foreign or domestic, or Indian tribe, including any
subdivision or instrumentality thereof owned wholly or in part.
    Subd. 21a. Reemployment assistance training. (a) An applicant is in "reemployment
assistance training" when:
(1) reasonable and suitable employment for the applicant does not exist in the labor market
area and it is necessary that the applicant receive training in order to obtain suitable employment;
(2) the curriculum, facilities, staff, and other essentials are adequate to achieve the training
objective;
(3) the training is vocational in nature or short term academic training vocationally directed
to an occupation or skill for which there are reasonable employment opportunities available
to the applicant;
(4) the training course is considered full time by the training provider; and
(5) the applicant is making satisfactory progress in the training.
(b) Full-time training provided through the dislocated worker program, the Trade Act of 1974,
as amended, or the North American Free Trade Agreement shall be considered "reemployment
assistance training," if that training course is in accordance with the requirements of that program.
(c) An applicant will be considered in reemployment assistance training only if the training
course has actually started or is scheduled to start within 30 calendar days.
    Subd. 22. State. "State" includes, in addition to the states of the United States, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands.
    Subd. 23. State's average annual and average weekly wage. (a) On or before June 30 of
each year, the commissioner shall calculate the state's average annual wage and the state's average
weekly wage in the following manner:
(1) The sum of the total monthly covered employment reported by all employers for the prior
calendar year shall be divided by 12 to calculate the average monthly covered employment.
(2) The sum of the total wages paid for all covered employment reported by all employers
for the prior calendar year shall be divided by the average monthly covered employment to
calculate the state's average annual wage.
(3) The state's average annual wage shall be divided by 52 to calculate the state's average
weekly wage.
(b) For purposes of calculating the amount of taxable wages, the state's average annual wage
shall apply to the calendar year following the calculation.
(c) For purposes of calculating the state's maximum weekly unemployment benefit amount
available on any benefit account under section 268.07, subdivision 2, the state's average weekly
wage shall apply to the one-year period beginning the first Sunday in August of the calendar
year of the calculation.
    Subd. 23a. Suitable employment. (a) Suitable employment means employment in the
applicant's labor market area that is reasonably related to the applicant's qualifications. In
determining whether any employment is suitable for an applicant, the degree of risk involved
to the health and safety, physical fitness, prior training, experience, length of unemployment,
prospects for securing employment in the applicant's customary occupation, and the distance of
the employment from the applicant's residence shall be considered.
(b) In determining what is suitable employment, primary consideration shall be given to the
temporary or permanent nature of the applicant's separation from employment and whether the
applicant has favorable prospects of finding employment in the applicant's usual or customary
occupation at the applicant's past wage level within a reasonable period of time.
If prospects are unfavorable, employment at lower skill or wage levels is suitable if the
applicant is reasonably suited for the employment considering the applicant's education, training,
work experience, and current physical and mental ability.
The total compensation must be considered, including the wage rate, hours of employment,
method of payment, overtime practices, bonuses, incentive payments, and fringe benefits.
(c) When potential employment is at a rate of pay lower than the applicant's former rate,
consideration must be given to the length of the applicant's unemployment and the proportion
of difference in the rates. Employment that may not be suitable because of lower wages during
the early weeks of the applicant's unemployment may become suitable as the duration of
unemployment lengthens.
(d) For an applicant seasonally unemployed, suitable employment includes temporary work
in a lower skilled occupation that pays average gross weekly wages equal to or more than 150
percent of the applicant's weekly unemployment benefit amount.
(e) If a majority of the applicant's wage credits were earned from part-time employment,
part-time employment in a position with comparable skills and comparable hours that pays
average gross weekly wages equal to or more than 150 percent of the applicant's weekly
unemployment benefit amount shall be considered suitable employment.
(f) To determine suitability of employment in terms of shifts, the arrangement of hours in
addition to the total number of hours is to be considered. Employment on a second, third, rotating,
or split shift is suitable employment if it is customary in the occupation in the labor market area.
(g) Employment shall not be considered suitable if:
(1) the position offered is vacant because of a labor dispute;
(2) the wages, hours, or other conditions of employment are substantially less favorable than
those prevailing for similar employment in the labor market area; or
(3) as a condition of becoming employed, the applicant would be required to join a company
union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization.
    Subd. 24. Taxable wages. (a) "Taxable wages" means those wages paid to an employee in
covered employment each calendar year up to an amount equal to 60 percent of the state's average
annual wage, rounded to the nearest $1,000.
(b) Taxable wages includes the amount of wages paid for covered employment by the
employer's predecessor when there has been an experience rating transfer under section 268.051,
subdivision 4 .
    Subd. 25. Taxes. "Taxes" means the money payments required by the Minnesota
Unemployment Insurance Law to be paid into the trust fund by an employer on account of paying
wages to employees in covered employment.
    Subd. 25a. Trust fund. "Trust fund" means the Minnesota unemployment insurance trust
fund established by section 268.194.
    Subd. 26. Unemployed. An applicant shall be considered "unemployed" (1) in any week
that the applicant performs less than 32 hours of service in employment, covered employment,
noncovered employment, self-employment, or volunteer work; and (2) any earnings with respect
to that week are less than the applicant's weekly unemployment benefit amount.
    Subd. 26a. Unemployment benefits. "Unemployment benefits" means the money payments
portion of the Minnesota unemployment insurance program available to an applicant.
    Subd. 27. Wage credits. "Wage credits" mean the amount of wages paid within an applicant's
base period for covered employment.
    Subd. 28. Wage detail report. "Wage detail report" means the report on each employee in
covered employment required from an employer on a calendar quarter basis under section 268.044.
    Subd. 29. Wages. "Wages" means all compensation for services, including commissions;
bonuses; severance payments; vacation and holiday pay; back pay as of the date of payment;
tips and gratuities paid to an employee by a customer of an employer and accounted for by
the employee to the employer; sickness and accident disability payments, except as otherwise
provided in this subdivision; and the cash value of all compensation in any medium other than
cash, except:
(1) the amount of any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee under a plan
established by an employer that makes provision for employees generally or for a class or classes
of employees, including any amount paid by an employer for insurance or annuities, or into a
plan, to provide for a payment, on account of (i) retirement or (ii) medical and hospitalization
expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, or (iii) death;
(2) the payment by an employer of the tax imposed upon an employee under United
States Code, title 26, section 3101 of the Federal Insurance Contribution Act, with respect to
compensation paid to an employee for domestic employment in a private household of the
employer or for agricultural employment;
(3) any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or beneficiary (i) from or to a trust
described in United States Code, title 26, section 401(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code,
that is exempt from tax under section 501(a) at the time of the payment unless the payment is
made to an employee of the trust as compensation for services as an employee and not as a
beneficiary of the trust, or (ii) under or to an annuity plan that, at the time of the payment, is
a plan described in section 403(a);
(4) sickness or accident disability payments made by the employer after the expiration of six
calendar months following the last calendar month that the individual worked for the employer;
(5) disability payments made under the provisions of any workers' compensation law;
(6) sickness or accident disability payments made by a third party payer such as an insurance
company;
(7) payments made into a trust fund, or for the purchase of insurance or an annuity, to
provide for sickness or accident disability payments to employees pursuant to a plan or system
established by the employer that provides for the employer's employees generally or for a class
or classes of employees; or
(8) nothing in this subdivision shall exclude from the term "wages" any payment made
under any type of salary reduction agreement, including payments made under a cash or deferred
arrangement and cafeteria plan, as defined in United States Code, title 26, sections 401(k) and
125 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, to the extent that the employee has the option to
receive the payment in cash.
    Subd. 30. Wages paid. (a) "Wages paid" means the amount of wages that have been actually
paid or that have been credited to or set apart so that payment and disposition is under the control
of the employee. Wage payments delayed beyond the regularly scheduled pay date are considered
"wages paid" on the missed pay date. Back pay shall be considered "wages paid" on the date of
actual payment. Any wages earned but not paid with no scheduled date of payment shall be
considered "wages paid" on the last day of employment.
(b) Wages paid shall not include wages earned but not paid except as provided for in this
subdivision.
    Subd. 31. Week. "Week" means calendar week, ending at midnight Saturday.
    Subd. 32. Weekly unemployment benefit amount. "Weekly unemployment benefit amount"
means the amount of unemployment benefits computed under section 268.07, subdivision 2,
paragraph (b).
History: 1998 c 265 s 4; 1999 c 107 s 2-15,66; 2000 c 343 s 4; 2001 c 175 s 3-8,52; 1Sp2003
c 3 art 2 s 1,2,20; 2004 c 183 s 4-12; 2005 c 112 art 2 s 2-7