CHAPTER 124
HOUSE BILL No. 2534
An Act amending the employment security law;
relating to eligibility for benefits; amending
K.S.A. 44-716a and K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 44-703,
44-705, 44-712, 44-717 and 44-718 and
repealing the existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 44-703 is hereby amended to
read as
follows: 44-703. As used in this act, unless the context clearly
requires
otherwise:
(a) (1) ``Annual payroll'' means the total amount of
wages paid or
payable by an employer during the calendar year.
(2) ``Average annual payroll'' means the average of the annual
payrolls
of any employer for the last three calendar years immediately
preceding
the computation date as hereinafter defined if the employer has
been
continuously subject to contributions during those three calendar
years
and has paid some wages for employment during each of such years.
In
determining contribution rates for the calendar year, if an
employer has
not been continuously subject to contribution for the three
calendar years
immediately preceding the computation date but has paid wages
subject
to contributions during only the two calendar years immediately
preced-
ing the computation date, such employer's ``average annual
payroll'' shall
be the average of the payrolls for those two calendar years.
(3) ``Total wages'' means the total amount of wages paid or
payable
by an employer during the calendar year, including that part of
remu-
neration in excess of the limitation prescribed as provided in
subsection
(o)(1) of this section.
(b) ``Base period'' means the first four of the last five
completed cal-
endar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an
individual's ben-
efit year, except that the base period in respect to combined wage
claims
means the base period as defined in the law of the paying
state.
(c) (1) ``Benefits'' means the money payments payable to an
individ-
ual, as provided in this act, with respect to such individual's
unemploy-
ment.
(2) ``Regular benefits'' means benefits payable to an
individual under
this act or under any other state law, including benefits payable
to federal
civilian employees and to ex-servicemen pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
chapter 85,
other than extended benefits.
(d) ``Benefit year'' with respect to any individual, means the
period
beginning with the first day of the first week for which such
individual
files a valid claim for benefits, and such benefit year shall
continue for
one full year. In the case of a combined wage claim, the benefit
year shall
be the benefit year of the paying state. Following the termination
of a
benefit year, a subsequent benefit year shall commence on the first
day
of the first week with respect to which an individual next files a
claim for
benefits. When such filing occurs with respect to a week which
overlaps
the preceding benefit year, the subsequent benefit year shall
commence
on the first day immediately following the expiration date of the
preceding
benefit year. Any claim for benefits made in accordance with
subsection
(a) of K.S.A. 44-709 and amendments thereto shall be deemed to be
a
``valid claim'' for the purposes of this subsection if the
individual has been
paid wages for insured work as required under subsection (e) of
K.S.A.
44-705 and amendments thereto. Whenever a week of unemployment
overlaps two benefit years, such week shall, for the purpose of
granting
waiting-period credit or benefit payment with respect thereto, be
deemed
to be a week of unemployment within that benefit year in which
the
greater part of such week occurs.
(e) ``Commissioner'' or ``secretary'' means the secretary of
human re-
sources.
(f) (1) ``Contributions'' means the money payments to the
state em-
ployment security fund which are required to be made by employers
on
account of employment under K.S.A. 44-710 and amendments
thereto,
and voluntary payments made by employers pursuant to such
statute.
(2) ``Payments in lieu of contributions'' means the money
payments
to the state employment security fund from employers which are
required
to make or which elect to make such payments under subsection (e)
of
K.S.A. 44-710 and amendments thereto.
(g) ``Employing unit'' means any individual or type of
organization,
including any partnership, association, limited liability company,
agency
or department of the state of Kansas and political subdivisions
thereof,
trust, estate, joint-stock company, insurance company or
corporation,
whether domestic or foreign including nonprofit corporations, or
the re-
ceiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee or successor thereof, or the
legal
representatives of a deceased person, which has in its employ one
or more
individuals performing services for it within this state. All
individuals per-
forming services within this state for any employing unit which
maintains
two or more separate establishments within this state shall be
deemed to
be employed by a single employing unit for all the purposes of this
act.
Each individual employed to perform or to assist in performing the
work
of any agent or employee of an employing unit shall be deemed to
be
employed by such employing unit for all the purposes of this act,
whether
such individual was hired or paid directly by such employing unit
or by
such agent or employee, provided the employing unit had actual or
con-
structive knowledge of the employment.
(h) ``Employer'' means:
(1) (A) Any employing unit for which agricultural labor as
defined in
subsection (w) of this section is performed and which during any
calendar
quarter in either the current or preceding calendar year paid
remunera-
tion in cash of $20,000 or more to individuals employed in
agricultural
labor or for some portion of a day in each of 20 different calendar
weeks,
whether or not such weeks were consecutive, in either the current
or the
preceding calendar year, employed in agricultural labor 10 or more
in-
dividuals, regardless of whether they were employed at the same
moment
of time.
(B) For the purpose of this subsection (h)(1), any individual
who is a
member of a crew furnished by a crew leader to perform service in
ag-
ricultural labor for any other person shall be treated as an
employee of
such crew leader if:
(i) Such crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration
under the
federal migrant and seasonal agricultural workers protection act or
sub-
stantially all the members of such crew operate or maintain
tractors,
mechanized harvesting or cropdusting equipment or any other
mecha-
nized equipment, which is provided by such crew leader; and
(ii) such individual is not in the employment of such other
person
within the meaning of subsection (i) of this section.
(C) For the purpose of this subsection (h)(1), in the case of
any in-
dividual who is furnished by a crew leader to perform service in
agricul-
tural labor for any other person and who is not treated as an
employee
of such crew leader:
(i) Such other person and not the crew leader shall be treated
as the
employer of such individual; and
(ii) such other person shall be treated as having paid cash
remuner-
ation to such individual in an amount equal to the amount of cash
re-
muneration paid to such individual by the crew leader, either on
the crew
leader's own behalf or on behalf of such other person, for the
service in
agricultural labor performed for such other person.
(D) For the purposes of this subsection (h)(1) ``crew leader''
means
an individual who:
(i) Furnishes individuals to perform service in agricultural
labor for
any other person;
(ii) pays, either on such individual's own behalf or on behalf
of such
other person, the individuals so furnished by such individual for
the serv-
ice in agricultural labor performed by them; and
(iii) has not entered into a written agreement with such other
person
under which such individual is designated as an employee of such
other
person.
(2) (A) Any employing unit which: (i) In any calendar
quarter in ei-
ther the current or preceding calendar year paid for service in
employ-
ment wages of $1,500 or more, or (ii) for some portion of a day in
each
of 20 different calendar weeks, whether or not such weeks were
consec-
utive, in either the current or preceding calendar year, had in
employment
at least one individual, whether or not the same individual was in
em-
ployment in each such day.
(B) Employment of individuals to perform domestic service or
agri-
cultural labor and wages paid for such service or labor shall not
be con-
sidered in determining whether an employing unit meets the criteria
of
this subsection (h)(2).
(3) Any employing unit for which service is employment as
defined
in subsection (i)(3)(E) of this section.
(4) (A) Any employing unit, whether or not it is an employing
unit
under subsection (g) of this section, which acquires or in any
manner
succeeds to (i) substantially all of the employing enterprises,
organization,
trade or business, or (ii) substantially all the assets, of another
employing
unit which at the time of such acquisition was an employer subject
to this
act;
(B) any employing unit which is controlled substantially,
either di-
rectly or indirectly by legally enforceable means or otherwise, by
the same
interest or interests, whether or not such interest or interests
are an em-
ploying unit under subsection (g) of this section, which acquires
or in any
manner succeeds to a portion of an employer's annual payroll, which
is
less than 100% of such employer's annual payroll, and which intends
to
continue the acquired portion as a going business.
(5) Any employing unit which paid cash remuneration of $1,000
or
more in any calendar quarter in the current or preceding calendar
year
to individuals employed in domestic service as defined in
subsection (aa)
of this section.
(6) Any employing unit which having become an employer under
this
subsection (h) has not, under subsection (b) of K.S.A. 44-711 and
amend-
ments thereto, ceased to be an employer subject to this act.
(7) Any employing unit which has elected to become fully
subject to
this act in accordance with subsection (c) of K.S.A. 44-711 and
amend-
ments thereto.
(8) Any employing unit not an employer by reason of any other
par-
agraph of this subsection (h), for which within either the current
or pre-
ceding calendar year services in employment are or were performed
with
respect to which such employing unit is liable for any federal tax
against
which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid
into a
state unemployment compensation fund; or which, as a condition for
ap-
proval of this act for full tax credit against the tax imposed by
the federal
unemployment tax act, is required, pursuant to such act, to be an
``em-
ployer'' under this act.
(9) Any employing unit described in section 501(c)(3) of the
federal
internal revenue code of 1986 which is exempt from income tax
under
section 501(a) of the code that had four or more individuals in
employ-
ment for some portion of a day in each of 20 different weeks,
whether or
not such weeks were consecutive, within either the current or
preceding
calendar year, regardless of whether they were employed at the
same
moment of time.
(i) ``Employment'' means:
(1) Subject to the other provisions of this subsection,
service, includ-
ing service in interstate commerce, performed by
(A) Any active officer of a corporation; or
(B) any individual who, under the usual common law rules
applicable
in determining the employer-employee relationship, has the status
of an
employee; or
(C) any individual other than an individual who is an employee
under
subsection (i)(1)(A) or subsection (i)(1)(B) above who performs
services
for remuneration for any person:
(i) As an agent-driver or commission-driver engaged in
distributing
meat products, vegetable products, fruit products, bakery products,
bev-
erages (other than milk), or laundry or dry-cleaning services, for
such
individual's principal; or
(ii) as a traveling or city salesman, other than as an
agent-driver or
commission-driver, engaged upon a full-time basis in the
solicitation on
behalf of, and the transmission to, a principal (except for
side-line sales
activities on behalf of some other 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.
For purposes of subsection (i)(1)(D), the term ``employment'' shall
in-
clude services described in paragraphs (i) and (ii) above only
if:
(a) The contract of service contemplates that substantially
all of the
services are to be performed personally by such individual;
(b) the individual does not have a substantial investment in
facilities
used in connection with the performance of the services (other than
in
facilities for transportation); and
(c) the services are not in the nature of a single transaction
that is not
part of a continuing relationship with the person for whom the
services
are performed.
(2) The term ``employment'' shall include an individual's
entire serv-
ice within the United States, even though performed entirely
outside this
state if,
(A) The service is not localized in any state, and
(B) the individual is one of a class of employees who are
required to
travel outside this state in performance of their duties, and
(C) the individual's base of operations is in this state, or
if there is no
base of operations, then the place from which service is directed
or con-
trolled is in this state.
(3) The term ``employment'' shall also include:
(A) Services performed within this state but not covered by
the pro-
visions of subsection (i)(1) or subsection (i)(2) shall be deemed
to be
employment subject to this act if contributions are not required
and paid
with respect to such services under an unemployment compensation
law
of any other state or of the federal government.
(B) Services performed entirely without this state, with
respect to no
part of which contributions are required and paid under an
unemploy-
ment compensation law of any other state or of the federal
government,
shall be deemed to be employment subject to this act only if the
individual
performing such services is a resident of this state and the
secretary ap-
proved the election of the employing unit for whom such services
are
performed that the entire service of such individual shall be
deemed to
be employment subject to this act.
(C) Services covered by an arrangement pursuant to subsection
(l) of
K.S.A. 44-714 and amendments thereto between the secretary and
the
agency charged with the administration of any other state or
federal un-
employment compensation law, pursuant to which all services
performed
by an individual for an employing unit are deemed to be performed
en-
tirely within this state, shall be deemed to be employment if the
secretary
has approved an election of the employing unit for whom such
services
are performed, pursuant to which the entire service of such
individual
during the period covered by such election is deemed to be insured
work.
(D) Services performed by an individual for wages or under any
con-
tract of hire shall be deemed to be employment subject to this act
unless
and until it is shown to the satisfaction of the secretary that:
(i) Such
individual has been and will continue to be free from control or
direction
over the performance of such services, both under the individual's
con-
tract of hire and in fact; and (ii) such service is either outside
the usual
course of the business for which such service is performed or that
such
service is performed outside of all the places of business of the
enterprise
for which such service is performed.
(E) Service performed by an individual in the employ of this
state or
any instrumentality thereof, any political subdivision of this
state or any
instrumentality thereof, any instrumentality of more than one of
the fore-
going or any instrumentality which is jointly owned by this state
or a
political subdivision thereof and one or more other states or
political sub-
divisions of this or other states, provided that such service is
excluded
from ``employment'' as defined in the federal unemployment tax act
by
reason of section 3306(c)(7) of that act and is not excluded from
``em-
ployment'' under subsection (i)(4)(A) of this section.
(F) Service performed by an individual in the employ of a
religious,
charitable, educational or other organization which is excluded
from the
term ``employment'' as defined in the federal unemployment tax act
solely
by reason of section 3306(c)(8) of that act, and is not excluded
from
employment under paragraphs (I) through (M) of subsection
(i)(4).
(G) The term ``employment'' shall include the service of an
individual
who is a citizen of the United States, performed outside the United
States
except in Canada, in the employ of an American employer (other
than
service which is deemed ``employment'' under the provisions of
subsec-
tion (i)(2) or subsection (i)(3) or the parallel provisions of
another state's
law), if:
(i) The employer's principal place of business in the United
States is
located in this state; or
(ii) the employer has no place of business in the United
States, but
(A) The employer is an individual who is a resident of this
state; or
(B) the employer is a corporation which is organized under the
laws
of this state; or
(C) the employer is a partnership or a trust and the number of
the
partners or trustees who are residents of this state is greater
than the
number who are residents of any other state; or
(iii) none of the criteria of paragraphs (i) and (ii) above of
this sub-
section (i)(3)(G) are met but the employer has elected coverage in
this
state or, the employer having failed to elect coverage in any
state, the
individual has filed a claim for benefits, based on such service,
under the
law of this state.
(H) An ``American employer,'' for purposes of subsection
(i)(3)(G),
means a person who is:
(i) An individual who is a resident of the United States;
or
(ii) a partnership if 2/3 or more of the partners are
residents of the
United States; or
(iii) a trust, if all of the trustees are residents of the
United States; or
(iv) a corporation organized under the laws of the United
States or
of any state.
(I) Notwithstanding subsection (i)(2) of this section, all
service per-
formed by an officer or member of the crew of an American vessel
or
American aircraft on or in connection with such vessel or aircraft,
if the
operating office, from which the operations of such vessel or
aircraft op-
erating within, or within and without, the United States are
ordinarily and
regularly supervised, managed, directed and controlled is within
this state.
(J) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subsection
(i), service
with respect to which a tax is required to be paid under any
federal law
imposing a tax against which credit may be taken for contributions
re-
quired to be paid into a state unemployment compensation fund or
which
as a condition for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the
federal
unemployment tax act is required to be covered under this act.
(K) Domestic service in a private home, local college club or
local
chapter of a college fraternity or sorority performed for a person
who
paid cash remuneration of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter in
the
current calendar year or the preceding calendar year to individuals
em-
ployed in such domestic service.
(4) The term ``employment'' shall not include: (A) Service
performed
in the employ of an employer specified in subsection (h)(3) of this
section
if such service is performed by an individual in the exercise of
duties:
(i) As an elected official;
(ii) as a member of a legislative body, or a member of the
judiciary,
of a state or political subdivision;
(iii) as a member of the state national guard or air national
guard;
(iv) as an employee serving on a temporary basis in case of
fire, storm,
snow, earthquake, flood or similar emergency;
(v) in a position which, under or pursuant to the laws of this
state, is
designated as a major nontenured policymaking or advisory position
or as
a policymaking or advisory position the performance of the duties
of
which ordinarily does not require more than eight hours per
week;
(B) service with respect to which unemployment compensation
is
payable under an unemployment compensation system established by
an
act of congress;
(C) service performed by an individual in the employ of such
indi-
vidual's son, daughter or spouse, and service performed by a child
under
the age of 21 years in the employ of such individual's father or
mother;
(D) service performed in the employ of the United States
govern-
ment or an instrumentality of the United States exempt under the
con-
stitution of the United States from the contributions imposed by
this act,
except that to the extent that the congress of the United States
shall
permit states to require any instrumentality of the United States
to make
payments into an unemployment fund under a state unemployment
com-
pensation law, all of the provisions of this act shall be
applicable to such
instrumentalities, and to services performed for such
instrumentalities, in
the same manner, to the same extent and on the same terms as to
all
other employers, employing units, individuals and services. If this
state
shall not be certified for any year by the federal security agency
under
section 3304(c) of the federal internal revenue code of 1986, the
payments
required of such instrumentalities with respect to such year shall
be re-
funded by the secretary from the fund in the same manner and
within
the same period as is provided in subsection (f) of K.S.A. 44-717
and
amendments thereto with respect to contributions erroneously
collected;
(E) service covered by an arrangement between the secretary
and
the agency charged with the administration of any other state or
federal
unemployment compensation law pursuant to which all services
per-
formed by an individual for an employing unit during the period
covered
by such employing unit's duly approved election, are deemed to be
per-
formed entirely within the jurisdiction of such other state or
federal
agency;
(F) service performed by 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
distribu-
tion;
(G) service performed by an individual for an employing unit
as an
insurance agent or as an insurance solicitor, if all such service
performed
by such individual for such employing unit is performed for
remuneration
solely by way of commission;
(H) service performed in any calendar quarter in the employ of
any
organization exempt from income tax under section 501(a) of the
federal
internal revenue code of 1986 (other than an organization described
in
section 401(a) or under section 521 of such code) if the
remuneration for
such service is less than $50. In construing the application of the
term
``employment,'' if services performed during 1/2 or more of any pay
period
by an individual for the person employing such individual
constitute em-
ployment, all the services of such individual for such period shall
be
deemed to be employment; but if the services performed during
more
than 1/2 of any such pay period by an individual for the person
employing
such individual do not constitute employment, then none of the
services
of such individual for such period shall be deemed to be
employment. As
used in this subsection (i)(4)(H) the term ``pay period'' means a
period
(of not more than 31 consecutive days) for which a payment of
remuner-
ation is ordinarily made to the individual by the person employing
such
individual. This subsection (i)(4)(H) shall not be applicable with
respect
to services with respect to which unemployment compensation is
payable
under an unemployment compensation system established by an act
of
congress;
(I) services performed in the employ of a church or convention
or
association of churches, or an organization which is operated
primarily
for religious purposes and which is operated, supervised,
controlled, or
principally supported by a church or convention or association
of
churches;
(J) service performed by a duly ordained, commissioned, or
licensed
minister of a church in the exercise of such individual's ministry
or by a
member of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by
such
order;
(K) service performed in a facility conducted for the purpose
of car-
rying out a program of:
(i) Rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is
impaired
by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury, or
(ii) providing remunerative work for individuals who because
of their
impaired physical or mental capacity cannot be readily absorbed in
the
competitive labor market, by an individual receiving such
rehabilitation
or remunerative work;
(L) service performed as part of an employment 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, by
an in-
dividual receiving such work relief or work training;
(M) service performed by an inmate of a custodial or
correctional
institution, unless such service is performed for a private,
for-profit em-
ployer;
(N) service performed, in the employ of a school, college, or
univer-
sity, if such service is performed by a student who is enrolled and
is
regularly attending classes at such school, college or
university;
(O) service performed by an individual who is enrolled at a
nonprofit
or public educational institution which normally maintains a
regular fac-
ulty and curriculum and normally has a regularly organized body of
stu-
dents in attendance at the place where its educational activities
are carried
on as a student in a full-time program, taken for credit at such
institution,
which combines academic instruction with work experience, if such
serv-
ice is an integral part of such program, and such institution has
so certified
to the employer, except that this subsection (i)(4)(O) shall not
apply to
service performed in a program established for or on behalf of an
em-
ployer or group of employers;
(P) service performed in the employ of a hospital licensed,
certified
or approved by the secretary of health and environment, if such
service
is performed by a patient of the hospital;
(Q) services performed as a qualified real estate agent. As
used in
this subsection (i)(4)(Q) the term ``qualified real estate agent''
means any
individual who is licensed by the Kansas real estate commission as
a sa-
lesperson under the real estate brokers' and salespersons' license
act and
for whom:
(i) Substantially all of the remuneration, whether or not paid
in cash,
for the services performed by such individual as a real estate
salesperson
is directly related to sales or other output, including the
performance of
services, rather than to the number of hours worked; and
(ii) the services performed by the individual are performed
pursuant
to a written contract between such individual and the person for
whom
the services are performed and such contract provides that the
individual
will not be treated as an employee with respect to such services
for state
tax purposes;
(R) services performed for an employer by an extra in
connection
with any phase of motion picture or television production or
television
commercials for less than 14 days during any calendar year. As used
in
this subsection, the term ``extra'' means an individual who
pantomimes in
the background, adds atmosphere to the set and performs such
actions
without speaking and ``employer'' shall not include any employer
which
is a governmental entity or any employer described in section
501(c)(3)
of the federal internal revenue code of 1986 which is exempt from
income
under section 501(a) of the code;
(S) services performed by an oil and gas contract pumper. As
used in
this subsection (i)(4)(S), ``oil and gas contract pumper'' means a
person
performing pumping and other services on one or more oil or gas
leases,
or on both oil and gas leases, relating to the operation and
maintenance
of such oil and gas leases, on a contractual basis for the
operators of such
oil and gas leases and ``services'' shall not include services
performed for
a governmental entity or any organization described in section
501(c)(3)
of the federal internal revenue code of 1986 which is exempt from
income
taxation under section 501(a) of the code;
(T) service not in the course of the employer's trade or
business per-
formed in any calendar quarter by an employee, unless the cash
remu-
neration paid for such service is $200 or more and such service is
per-
formed by an individual who is regularly employed by such employer
to
perform such service. For purposes of this paragraph, an individual
shall
be deemed to be regularly employed by an employer during a
calendar
quarter only if:
(i) On each of some 24 days during such quarter such
individual per-
forms for such employer for some portion of the day service not in
the
course of the employer's trade or business, or
(ii) such individual was regularly employed, as determined
under sub-
paragraph (i), by such employer in the performance of such service
during
the preceding calendar quarter.
Such excluded service shall not include any services performed for
an
employer which is a governmental entity or any employer described
in
section 501(c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code of 1986
which is
exempt from income taxation under section 501(a) of the code;
(U) service which is performed by any person who is a member
of a
limited liability company and which is performed as a member or
manager
of that limited liability company; and
(V) services performed as a qualified direct seller. The term
``direct
seller'' means any person if:
(i) Such person:
(aa) is engaged in the trade or business of selling or
soliciting the sale
of consumer products to any buyer on a buy-sell basis or a
deposit-com-
mission basis for resale, by the buyer or any other person, in the
home
or otherwise rather than in a permanent retail establishment;
or
(bb) is engaged in the trade or business of selling or
soliciting the
sale of consumer products in the home or otherwise than in a
permanent
retail establishment;
(ii) substantially all the remuneration whether or not paid in
cash for
the performance of the services described in subparagraph (i) is
directly
related to sales or other output including the performance of
services
rather than to the number of hours worked;
(iii) the services performed by the person are performed
pursuant to
a written contract between such person and the person for whom
the
services are performed and such contract provides that the person
will
not be treated as an employee for federal and state tax purposes;
and
(iv) for purposes of this act, a sale or a sale resulting
exclusively from
a solicitation made by telephone, mail, or other
telecommunications
method, or other nonpersonal method does not satisfy the
requirements
of this subsection.; and
(W) service performed as an election official or election
worker, if the
amount of remuneration received by the individual during the
calendar
year for services as an election official or election worker is
less than
$1,000.
(j) ``Employment office'' means any office operated by this
state and
maintained by the secretary of human resources for the purpose of
as-
sisting persons to become employed.
(k) ``Fund'' means the employment security fund established by
this
act, to which all contributions and reimbursement payments required
and
from which all benefits provided under this act shall be paid and
including
all money received from the federal government as reimbursements
pur-
suant to section 204 of the federal-state extended compensation act
of
1970, and amendments thereto.
(l) ``State'' includes, in addition to the states of the
United States of
America, any dependency of the United States, the Commonwealth
of
Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.
(m) ``Unemployment.'' An individual shall be deemed
``unemployed''
with respect to any week during which such individual performs no
serv-
ices and with respect to which no wages are payable to such
individual,
or with respect to any week of less than full-time work if the
wages payable
to such individual with respect to such week are less than such
individual's
weekly benefit amount.
(n) ``Employment security administration fund'' means the fund
es-
tablished by this act, from which administrative expenses under
this act
shall be paid.
(o) ``Wages'' means all compensation for services, including
commis-
sions, bonuses, back pay and the cash value of all remuneration,
including
benefits, paid in any medium other than cash. The reasonable cash
value
of remuneration in any medium other than cash, shall be estimated
and
determined in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by
the
secretary. Compensation payable to an individual which has not
been
actually received by that individual within 21 days after the end
of the
pay period in which the compensation was earned shall be considered
to
have been paid on the 21st day after the end of that pay period.
Effective
January 1, 1986, gratuities, including tips received from persons
other
than the employing unit, shall be considered wages when reported
in
writing to the employer by the employee. Employees must furnish a
writ-
ten statement to the employer, reporting all tips received if they
total $20
or more for a calendar month whether the tips are received directly
from
a person other than the employer or are paid over to the employee
by
the employer. This includes amounts designated as tips by a
customer
who uses a credit card to pay the bill. Notwithstanding the other
provi-
sions of this subsection (o), wages paid in back pay awards or
settlements
shall be allocated to the week or weeks and reported in the manner
as
specified in the award or agreement, or, in the absence of such
specificity
in the award or agreement, such wages shall be allocated to the
week or
weeks in which such wages, in the judgment of the secretary, would
have
been paid. The term ``wages'' shall not include:
(1) That part of the remuneration which has been paid in a
calendar
year to an individual by an employer or such employer's predecessor
in
excess of $3,000 for all calendar years prior to 1972, $4,200 for
the cal-
endar years 1972 to 1977, inclusive, $6,000 for calendar years 1978
to
1982, inclusive, $7,000 for the calendar year 1983, and $8,000 with
re-
spect to employment during any calendar year following 1983, except
that
if the definition of the term ``wages'' as contained in the federal
unem-
ployment tax act is amended to include remuneration in excess of
$8,000
paid to an individual by an employer under the federal act during
any
calendar year, wages shall include remuneration paid in a calendar
year
to an individual by an employer subject to this act or such
employer's
predecessor with respect to employment during any calendar year up
to
an amount equal to the dollar limitation specified in the federal
unem-
ployment tax act. For the purposes of this subsection (o)(1), the
term
``employment'' shall include service constituting employment under
any
employment security law of another state or of the federal
government;
(2) the amount of any payment (including any amount paid by
an
employing unit for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to
provide for
any such payment) made to, or on behalf of, an employee or any of
such
employee's dependents under a plan or system established by an
em-
ployer which makes provisions for employees generally, for a class
or
classes of employees or for such employees or a class or classes of
em-
ployees and their dependents, on account of (A) sickness or
accident
disability, except in the case of any payment made to an employee
or such
employee's dependents, this subparagraph shall exclude from the
term
``wages'' only payments which are received under a workers
compensation
law. Any third party which makes a payment included as wages by
reason
of this subparagraph (2)(A) shall be treated as the employer with
respect
to such wages, or (B) medical and hospitalization expenses in
connection
with sickness or accident disability, or (C) death;
(3) any payment on account of sickness or accident disability,
or med-
ical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or
accident
disability, made by an employer to, or on behalf of, an employee
after the
expiration of six calendar months following the last calendar month
in
which the employee worked for such employer;
(4) any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or such
em-
ployee's beneficiary:
(A) From or to a trust described in section 401(a) of the
federal in-
ternal revenue code of 1986 which is exempt from tax under
section
501(a) of the federal internal revenue code of 1986 at the time of
such
payment unless such payment is made to an employee of the trust
as
remuneration for services rendered as such employee and not as a
ben-
eficiary of the trust;
(B) under or to an annuity plan which, at the time of such
payment,
is a plan described in section 403(a) of the federal internal
revenue code
of 1986;
(C) under a simplified employee pension as defined in
section
408(k)(1) of the federal internal revenue code of 1986, other than
any
contribution described in section 408(k)(6) of the federal internal
revenue
code of 1986;
(D) under or to an annuity contract described in section
403(b) of
the federal internal revenue code of 1986, other than a payment for
the
purchase of such contract which was made by reason of a salary
reduction
agreement whether evidenced by a written instrument or
otherwise;
(E) under or to an exempt governmental deferred compensation
plan
as defined in section 3121(v)(3) of the federal internal revenue
code of
1986;
(F) to supplement pension benefits under a plan or trust
described
in any of the foregoing provisions of this subparagraph to take
into ac-
count some portion or all of the increase in the cost of living, as
deter-
mined by the secretary of labor, since retirement but only if such
sup-
plemental payments are under a plan which is treated as a welfare
plan
under section 3(2)(B)(ii) of the federal employee retirement income
se-
curity act of 1974; or
(G) under a cafeteria plan within the meaning of section 125
of the
federal internal revenue code of 1986;
(5) the payment by an employing unit (without deduction from
the
remuneration of the employee) of the tax imposed upon an
employee
under section 3101 of the federal internal revenue code of 1986
with
respect to remuneration paid to an employee for domestic service in
a
private home of the employer or for agricultural labor;
(6) remuneration paid in any medium other than cash to an
employee
for service not in the course of the employer's trade or
business;
(7) remuneration paid to or on behalf of an employee if and to
the
extent that at the time of the payment of such remuneration it is
reason-
able to believe that a corresponding deduction is allowable under
section
217 of the federal internal revenue code of 1986 relating to moving
ex-
penses;
(8) any payment or series of payments by an employer to an
employee
or any of such employee's dependents which is paid:
(A) Upon or after the termination of an employee's employment
re-
lationship because of (i) death or (ii) retirement for disability;
and
(B) under a plan established by the employer which makes
provisions
for employees generally, a class or classes of employees or for
such em-
ployees or a class or classes of employees and their dependents,
other
than any such payment or series of payments which would have been
paid
if the employee's employment relationship had not been so
terminated;
(9) remuneration for agricultural labor paid in any medium
other than
cash;
(10) any payment made, or benefit furnished, to or for the
benefit of
an employee if at the time of such payment or such furnishing it is
rea-
sonable to believe that the employee will be able to exclude such
payment
or benefit from income under section 129 of the federal internal
revenue
code of 1986 which relates to dependent care assistance
programs;
(11) the value of any meals or lodging furnished by or on
behalf of
the employer if at the time of such furnishing it is reasonable to
believe
that the employee will be able to exclude such items from income
under
section 119 of the federal internal revenue code of 1986;
(12) any payment made by an employer to a survivor or the
estate of
a former employee after the calendar year in which such employee
died;
or
(13) any benefit provided to or on behalf of an employee if at
the
time such benefit is provided it is reasonable to believe that the
employee
will be able to exclude such benefit from income under section
74(c), 117
or 132 of the federal internal revenue code of
1986.; or
(14) any payment made, or benefit furnished, to or for the
benefit of
an employee, if at the time of such payment or such furnishing
it is rea-
sonable to believe that the employee will be able to exclude
such payment
or benefit from income under section 127 of the federal internal
revenue
code of 1986 relating to educational assistance to the
employee.
Nothing in any paragraph of subsection (o), other than paragraph
(1),
shall exclude from the term ``wages'': (1) Any employer
contribution un-
der a qualified cash or deferred arrangement, as defined in section
401(k)
of the federal internal revenue code of 1986, to the extent that
such
contribution is not included in gross income by reason of section
402(a)(8)
of the federal internal revenue code of 1986; or (2) any amount
treated
as an employer contribution under section 414(h)(2) of the federal
inter-
nal revenue code of 1986.
Any amount deferred under a nonqualified deferred compensation
plan shall be taken into account for purposes of this section as of
the later
of when the services are performed or when there is no substantial
risk
of forfeiture of the rights to such amount. Any amount taken into
account
as wages by reason of this paragraph, and the income attributable
thereto,
shall not thereafter be treated as wages for purposes of this
section. For
purposes of this paragraph, the term ``nonqualified deferred
compensa-
tion plan'' means any plan or other arrangement for deferral of
compen-
sation other than a plan described in subsection (o)(4).
(p) ``Week'' means such period or periods of seven consecutive
cal-
endar days, as the secretary may by rules and regulations
prescribe.
(q) ``Calendar quarter'' means the period of three consecutive
cal-
endar months ending March 31, June 30, September 30 or December
31, or the equivalent thereof as the secretary may by rules and
regulations
prescribe.
(r) ``Insured work'' means employment for employers.
(s) ``Approved training'' means any vocational training course
or
course in basic education skills approved by the secretary or a
person or
persons designated by the secretary.
(t) ``American vessel'' or ``American aircraft'' means any
vessel or air-
craft documented or numbered or otherwise registered under the
laws
of the United States; and any vessel or aircraft which is neither
docu-
mented or numbered or otherwise registered under the laws of
the
United States nor documented under the laws of any foreign country,
if
its crew performs service solely for one or more citizens or
residents of
the United States or corporations organized under the laws of the
United
States or of any state.
(u) ``Institution of higher education,'' for the purposes of
this section,
means an educational institution which:
(1) Admits as regular students only individuals having a
certificate of
graduation from a high school, or the recognized equivalent of such
a
certificate;
(2) is legally authorized in this state to provide a program
of education
beyond high school;
(3) provides an educational program for which it awards a
bachelor's
or higher degree, or provides a program which is acceptable for
full credit
toward such a degree, a program of postgraduate or postdoctoral
studies,
or a program of training to prepare students for gainful employment
in a
recognized occupation; and
(4) is a public or other nonprofit institution.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions of this subsection
(u),
all colleges and universities in this state are institutions of
higher educa-
tion for purposes of this section, except that no college,
university, junior
college or other postsecondary school or institution which is
operated by
the federal government or any agency thereof shall be an
institution of
higher education for purposes of the employment security law.
(v) ``Educational institution'' means any institution of
higher educa-
tion, as defined in subsection (u) of this section, or any
institution, except
private for profit institutions, in which participants, trainees or
students
are offered an organized course of study or training designed to
transfer
to them knowledge, skills, information, doctrines, attitudes or
abilities
from, by or under the guidance of an instructor or teacher and
which is
approved, licensed or issued a permit to operate as a school by the
state
department of education or other government agency that is
authorized
within the state to approve, license or issue a permit for the
operation of
a school. The courses of study or training which an educational
institution
offers may be academic, technical, trade or preparation for gainful
em-
ployment in a recognized occupation.
(w) (1) ``Agricultural labor'' means any remunerated
service:
(A) On a farm, in the employ of any person, in connection with
cul-
tivating the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any
agricul-
tural or horticultural commodity, including the raising, shearing,
feeding,
caring for, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry,
and fur-
bearing animals and wildlife.
(B) In the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of
a farm,
in connection with the operating, management, conservation,
improve-
ment, or maintenance of such farm and its tools and equipment, or
in
salvaging timber or clearing land of brush and other debris left by
a hur-
ricane, if the major part of such service is performed on a
farm.
(C) In connection with the production or harvesting of any
commod-
ity defined as an agricultural commodity in section (15)(g) of the
agri-
cultural marketing act, as amended (46 Stat. 1500, sec. 3; 12
U.S.C. 1141j)
or in connection with the ginning of cotton, 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.
(D) (i) In the employ of the operator of a farm in
handling, planting,
drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading, storing,
or de-
livering 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 such operator produced more than 1/2 of the commodity
with
respect to which such service is performed;
(ii) in the employ of a group of operators of farms (or a
cooperative
organization of which such operators are members) in the
performance
of service described in paragraph (i) above of this subsection
(w)(1)(D),
but only if such operators produced more than 1/2 of the commodity
with
respect to which such service is performed;
(iii) the provisions of paragraphs (i) and (ii) above of this
subsection
(w)(1)(D) shall not be deemed to be applicable with respect to
service
performed in connection with commercial canning or commercial
freez-
ing or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural
commodity after
its delivery to a terminal market for distribution for
consumption.
(E) On a farm operated for profit if such service is not in
the course
of the employer's trade or business.
(2) ``Agricultural labor'' does not include service performed
prior to
January 1, 1980, by an individual who is an alien admitted to the
United
States to perform service in agricultural labor pursuant to
sections 214(c)
and 101(a)(15)(H) of the federal immigration and nationality
act.
(3) As used in this subsection (w), the term ``farm'' includes
stock,
dairy, poultry, fruit, fur-bearing animal, and truck farms,
plantations,
ranches, nurseries, ranges, greenhouses, or other similar
structures used
primarily for the raising of agricultural or horticultural
commodities, and
orchards.
(4) For the purpose of this section, if an employing unit does
not
maintain sufficient records to separate agricultural labor from
other em-
ployment, all services performed during any pay period by an
individual
for the person employing such individual shall be deemed to be
agricul-
tural labor if services performed during 1/2 or more of such pay
period
constitute agricultural labor; but if the services performed during
more
than 1/2 of any such pay period by an individual for the person
employing
such individual do not constitute agricultural labor, then none of
the serv-
ices of such individual for such period shall be deemed to be
agricultural
labor. As used in this subsection (w), the term ``pay period''
means a
period of not more than 31 consecutive days for which a payment
of
remuneration is ordinarily made to the individual by the person
employ-
ing such individual.
(x) ``Reimbursing employer'' means any employer who makes
pay-
ments in lieu of contributions to the employment security fund as
pro-
vided in subsection (e) of K.S.A. 44-710 and amendments
thereto.
(y) ``Contributing employer'' means any employer other than a
re-
imbursing employer or rated governmental employer.
(z) ``Wage combining plan'' means a uniform national
arrangement
approved by the United States secretary of labor in consultation
with the
state unemployment compensation agencies and in which this state
shall
participate, whereby wages earned in one or more states are
transferred
to another state, called the ``paying state,'' and combined with
wages in
the paying state, if any, for the payment of benefits under the
laws of the
paying state and as provided by an arrangement so approved by
the
United States secretary of labor.
(aa) ``Domestic service'' means any service for a person in
the oper-
ation and maintenance of a private household, 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, occupation,
pro-
fession, enterprise or vocation.
(bb) ``Rated governmental employer'' means any governmental
entity
which elects to make payments as provided by K.S.A. 44-710d and
amendments thereto.
(cc) ``Benefit cost payments'' means payments made to the
employ-
ment security fund by a governmental entity electing to become a
rated
governmental employer.
(dd) ``Successor employer'' means any employer, as described
in sub-
section (h) of this section, which acquires or in any manner
succeeds to
(1) substantially all of the employing enterprises, organization,
trade or
business of another employer or (2) substantially all the assets of
another
employer.
(ee) ``Predecessor employer'' means an employer, as described
in
subsection (h) of this section, who has previously operated a
business or
portion of a business with employment to which another employer
has
succeeded.
(ff) ``Lessor employing unit'' means any independently
established
business entity which engages in the business of providing leased
em-
ployees to a client lessee.
(gg) ``Client lessee'' means any individual, organization,
partnership,
corporation or other legal entity leasing employees from a lessor
employ-
ing unit.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 44-705 is hereby amended to
read as fol-
lows: 44-705. Except as provided by K.S.A. 44-757 and
amendments
thereto, an unemployed individual shall be eligible to
receive benefits with
respect to any week only if the secretary, or a person or persons
desig-
nated by the secretary, finds that:
(a) The claimant has registered for work at and thereafter
continued
to report at an employment office in accordance with rules and
regula-
tions adopted by the secretary, except that, subject to the
provisions of
subsection (a) of K.S.A. 44-704 and amendments thereto, the
secretary
may adopt rules and regulations which waive or alter either or both
of
the requirements of this subsection (a).
(b) The claimant has made a claim for benefits with respect to
such
week in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the
secretary.
(c) The claimant is able to perform the duties of such
claimant's cus-
tomary occupation or the duties of other occupations for which the
claim-
ant is reasonably fitted by training or experience, and is
available for work,
as demonstrated by the claimant's pursuit of the full course of
action most
reasonably calculated to result in the claimant's reemployment
except
that, notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, an
unemployed
claimant otherwise eligible for benefits shall not become
ineligible for
benefits because of the claimant's enrollment in and satisfactory
pursuit
of approved training, including training approved under section
236(a)(1)
of the trade act of 1974.
For the purposes of this subsection, an inmate of a custodial or
correc-
tional institution shall be deemed to be unavailable for work
and not
eligible to receive unemployment compensation while
incarcerated.
(d) The claimant has been unemployed for a waiting period of
one
week or the claimant is unemployed and has satisfied the
requirement
for a waiting period of one week under the shared work
unemployment
compensation program as provided in subsection (k)(4) of K.S.A.
44-757
and amendments thereto, which period of one week, in either
case, occurs
within the benefit year which includes the week for which the
claimant
is claiming benefits. No week shall be counted as a week of
unemploy-
ment for the purposes of this subsection (d):
(1) If benefits have been paid for such week;
(2) if the individual fails to meet with the other eligibility
require-
ments of this section; or
(3) if an individual is seeking unemployment benefits under
the un-
employment compensation law of any other state or of the United
States,
except that if the appropriate agency of such state or of the
United States
finally determines that the claimant is not entitled to
unemployment ben-
efits under such other law, this subsection (d)(3) shall not
apply.
(e) For benefit years established on and after the effective
date of
this act, the claimant has been paid total wages for insured work
in the
claimant's base period of not less than 30 times the claimant's
weekly
benefit amount and has been paid wages in more than one quarter of
the
claimant's base period, except that the wage credits of an
individual
earned during the period commencing with the end of a prior base
period
and ending on the date on which such individual filed a valid
initial claim
shall not be available for benefit purposes in a subsequent benefit
year
unless, in addition thereto, such individual has returned to work
and sub-
sequently earned wages for insured work in an amount equal to at
least
eight times the claimant's current weekly benefit amount.
(f) The claimant participates in reemployment services, such
as job
search assistance services, if the individual has been determined
to be
likely to exhaust regular benefits and needs reemployment services
pur-
suant to a profiling system established by the secretary, unless
the sec-
retary determines that: (1) The individual has completed such
services;
or (2) there is justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to
participate in
such services.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 44-712 is hereby amended to
read as fol-
lows: 44-712. (a) Establishment and control. There is hereby
established
as a special fund in the state treasury, separate and apart from
all public
moneys or funds of this state, an employment security fund, which
shall
be administered by the secretary as provided in this act. This fund
shall
consist of: (1) All contributions collected under this act; (2)
interest
earned upon any moneys in the fund; (3) all moneys credited to this
state's
account in the federal unemployment trust fund, pursuant to section
903
of the social security act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1103, as amended;
(4) any prop-
erty or securities acquired through the use of moneys belonging to
the
fund, and all other moneys received for the fund from any other
source;
(5) all earnings of such property or securities. All moneys in this
fund
shall be mingled and undivided.
(b) Accounts and deposits. The state treasurer shall be
ex officio cus-
todian of the fund. Payments from the fund, and for the purposes of
this
act deposits with the secretary of the treasury of the United
States shall
not be deemed to be payments from the fund, shall be made upon
war-
rants drawn upon the state treasurer by the director of accounts
and
reports upon vouchers approved by the secretary. There shall be
main-
tained within the fund three separate accounts: (1) A clearing
account;
(2) an unemployment trust fund account, and (3) a benefit account.
All
money payable to the fund upon receipt thereof by the secretary,
shall
be forwarded to the state treasurer, who shall immediately deposit
them
in the state treasury to the credit of the clearing account of the
fund.
Refunds payable pursuant to K.S.A. 44-717 and amendments thereto
may
be paid from the clearing account of the fund by warrants drawn by
the
director of accounts and reports upon the state treasurer upon
vouchers
approved by the secretary. After clearance thereof, all other
moneys in
the clearing account of the fund shall be immediately deposited
with the
secretary of the treasury of the United States of America to the
credit of
the account of this state in the federal unemployment trust fund
estab-
lished and maintained pursuant to section 904 of the social
security act,
42 U.S.C.A. § 1104, as amended, any provisions of law in this
state relating
to the deposit, administration, release, or disbursement of moneys
in the
possession or custody of this state to the contrary
notwithstanding. The
benefit account of the fund shall consist of all moneys
requisitioned from
this state's account in the federal unemployment trust fund. Except
as
herein otherwise provided, moneys in the clearing and benefit
accounts
of the fund may be deposited by the state treasurer in any bank or
public
depository as is now provided by law for the deposit of general
funds of
the state, but no public deposit insurance charge or premium shall
be
paid out of the fund. Moneys in the clearing and benefit accounts
of the
fund shall not be commingled with other state funds and shall be
main-
tained in separate bank accounts.
(c) Withdrawals. Moneys shall be requisitioned from
this state's ac-
count in the federal unemployment trust fund solely for the payment
of
benefits and in accordance with the provisions of this act and the
rules
and regulations adopted by the secretary, except that moneys
credited to
this state's account pursuant to section 903 of the social security
act, 42
U.S.C.A. § 1103, as amended, shall be used exclusively as
provided in
subsection (d) of this section. The secretary shall from time to
time req-
uisition from the federal unemployment trust fund such amounts,
not
exceeding the amounts standing to its account therein, as deemed
nec-
essary for the payment of benefits for a reasonable future period.
Upon
receipt thereof the state treasurer shall deposit such moneys in
the benefit
account of the fund and warrants for the payment of benefits shall
be
charged solely against such benefit account of the fund.
Expenditures of
such moneys in the benefit account and refunds from the clearing
account
of the fund shall not be subject to any provisions of law requiring
specific
appropriations. Any balance of moneys requisitioned from the
federal
unemployment trust fund which remains unclaimed or unpaid in the
ben-
efit account of the fund after the expiration of the period for
which such
sums were requisitioned shall either be deducted from estimates
for, and
may be utilized for the payment of benefits during succeeding
periods,
or, in the discretion of the secretary shall be directed to be
redeposited
with the secretary of the treasury of the United States of America,
to the
credit of this state's account in the federal unemployment trust
fund, as
provided in subsection (b) of this section. All balances accrued
from un-
paid or canceled warrants issued pursuant to this section,
notwithstanding
the provisions of K.S.A. 10-812 and amendments thereto shall remain
in
the benefit account of the fund, and be disbursed in accordance
with the
provisions of this act relating to such account.
(d) Administrative use. (1) Money credited to the
account of this state
in the federal unemployment trust fund by the secretary of the
treasury
of the United States of America, pursuant to section 903 of the
social
security act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1103, as amended, may be
requisitioned and
used for the payment of expenses incurred in the administration of
this
act pursuant to a specific appropriation by the legislature, if
expenses are
incurred and the money is requisitioned after the enactment of an
ap-
propriation law which: (A) Specifies the purposes for which such
money
is appropriated and the amounts appropriated therefor, (B) limits
the
period within which such money may be obligated to a period ending
not
more than two years after the date of the enactment of the
appropriation
law, and (C) limits the amount which may be obligated during a
twelve-
month period beginning on July 1 and ending on the next June 30 to
an
amount which does not exceed the amount by which (i) the aggregate
of
the amounts credited to the account of this state pursuant to
section 903
of the social security act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1103, as amended,
(ii) the aggre-
gate of the amounts obligated pursuant to this subsection and
amounts
paid out for benefits and charged against the amounts credited to
the
account of this state. For the purposes of this subsection, amounts
obli-
gated during any such twelve-month period shall be charged
against
equivalent amounts which were first credited and which are not
already
so charged.
(2) Money credited to the account of this state pursuant to
section
903 of the social security act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1103, as
amended, may not
be withdrawn or obligated except for the payment of benefits and
for the
payment of expenses for the administration of this act and of
public em-
ployment offices pursuant to this subsection (d).
(3) Money appropriated as provided by this subsection (d) for
the
payment of expenses of administration shall be requisitioned as
needed
for the payment of obligations incurred under such appropriation
and,
upon requisition shall be deposited in the state treasury to the
credit of
the employment security administration fund from which such
payments
shall be made. Money so deposited and credited shall, until
expended,
remain a part of the federal unemployment trust fund, and, if it
will not
be expended, shall be returned promptly to the account of this
state in
the federal unemployment trust fund.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), money credited with
respect to
federal fiscal years 1999, 2000 and 2001, shall be used solely
for the ad-
ministration of the UC program, and such money shall not
otherwise be
subject to the requirements of paragraph (1) when appropriated
by the
legislature.
(e) Management of funds upon discontinuance of federal
unemploy-
ment trust fund. The provisions of subsections (a), (b), (c)
and (d) of this
section, to the extent that they relate to the federal unemployment
trust
fund, shall be operative only so long as such unemployment trust
fund
continues to exist and so long as the secretary of the treasury of
the United
States of America continues to maintain for this state a separate
book
account of all funds deposited therein by this state for benefit
purposes,
together with this state's proportionate share of the earnings of
such un-
employment trust fund, from which no other state is permitted to
make
withdrawals. If and when such unemployment trust fund ceases to
exist,
or such separate book account is no longer maintained, all moneys,
prop-
erties or securities therein, belonging to the employment security
fund
of this state, shall be transferred to the state treasurer, to be
administered
by the secretary as a trust fund for the purpose of paying benefits
under
this act, and the director of investments upon the direction of the
sec-
retary shall have authority to hold, invest, transfer, sell,
deposit, and re-
lease such moneys, and any properties, securities, or earnings
acquired
as an incident to such administration.
Sec. 4. K.S.A. 44-716a is hereby amended to read as
follows: 44-
716a. (a) There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
fund to
be known as the special employment security fund. All interest and
pen-
alties collected under the provisions of the Kansas employment
security
law shall be paid into this fund. No such moneys shall be expended
or
available for expenditure in any manner which would permit their
sub-
stitution for, or a corresponding reduction in, federal funds which
in the
absence of such moneys would be available to finance expenditures
for
the administration of the employment security law. Nothing in this
section
shall prevent such moneys from being used as a revolving fund, to
cover
expenditures, necessary and proper under the law, for which federal
funds
have been duly requested but not yet received, subject to the
charging
of such expenditures against such funds when received. Except as
oth-
erwise authorized by this section or by appropriations act, the
moneys in
this fund may be used by the secretary of human resources only for
the
payment of costs of administration which are found not to have
been
properly and validly chargeable against federal grants, or other
funds,
received for or in the employment security administration fund. In
ad-
dition to the other purposes for which expenditures may be made
from
the special employment security fund as authorized by this section
or by
appropriations act, moneys from this fund may be used to finance
activ-
ities as deemed necessary by the secretary of human resources for
the
efficient operation of activities under or the administration of
the em-
ployment security law, except that (1) no moneys shall be used for
such
purposes unless the secretary has determined that no other funds
are
available or can be properly used to finance expenditures for such
pur-
poses, and (2) expenditures during any fiscal year for purposes
authorized
under this section shall not exceed $110,000 except upon approval
of the
state finance council acting on this matter which is hereby
characterized
as a matter of legislative delegation and subject to the guidelines
pre-
scribed by subsection (c) of K.S.A. 75-3711c and amendments
thereto.
No expenditures of this fund shall be made except on written
authori-
zation by the governor and the secretary of human resources.
(b) The director of accounts and reports is hereby directed to
draw
warrants upon the state treasurer against the money in the special
em-
ployment security fund for the use and purposes authorized under
this
section upon vouchers, approved by the secretary of human
resources,
and accompanied by the written authorization of the governor and
the
secretary of human resources. The moneys in this fund are hereby
spe-
cifically made available to replace, within a reasonable time, any
moneys
received by this state pursuant to section 302 of the federal
social security
act, as amended, which, because of any action or contingency, have
been
lost or have been expended for purposes other than, or in amounts
in
excess of, those necessary for the proper administration of the
employ-
ment security law. The moneys in this fund shall be continuously
available
to the secretary of human resources for expenditure in accordance
with
the provisions of this section and shall not lapse at any time or
be trans-
ferred to any other fund, except as otherwise authorized in
subsection (c)
or subsection (d).
(c) In addition to expenditures authorized by this section,
the director
of accounts and reports may transfer funds from the special
employment
security fund to the accounting services recovery fund as provided
in
K.S.A. 75-3728b and 75-6210 and amendments thereto.
(d) In addition to expenditures authorized by this section,
the director
of accounts and reports is directed and authorized to transfer
funds from
the special employment security fund to the department of human
re-
sources federal indirect cost offset fund on July 1 of each year in
the
amount contained in appropriation bills to be expended from the
federal
indirect cost offset fund for that fiscal year.
(e) In addition to expenditures authorized by this section,
the director
of accounts and reports is directed and authorized to transfer
funds from
the special employment security fund to the clearing account of
the em-
ployment security fund to be expended in the payment of interest
due
employers from erroneously collected contributions or benefit
cost pay-
ments as provided in subsection (h) of K.S.A. 44-717 and
amendments
thereto.
Sec. 5. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 44-717 is hereby amended to
read as fol-
lows: 44-717. (a) Penalties on past-due reports, interest on
past-due con-
tributions, payments in lieu of contributions and benefit cost
payments.
Any employer or any officer or agent of an employer, who fails to
file any
wage report or contribution return by the last day of the month
following
the close of each calendar quarter to which they are related shall
pay a
penalty as provided by this subsection (a) for each month or
fraction of
a month until the report or return is received by the secretary of
human
resources. The penalty for each month or fraction of a month shall
be an
amount equal to .05% of the total wages paid by the employer during
the
quarter, except that no penalty shall be less than $25 nor more
than $200
for each such report or return not timely filed. Payments
in lieu of con-
tributions shall be filed by the last day of the month
following the close
of each calendar quarter to which they are
related. Contributions and
benefit cost payments not filed unpaid by
the last day of the month fol-
lowing the last calendar quarter to which they are related and
payments
in lieu of contributions unpaid 30 days after the mailing of the
statement
of benefit charges, shall bear interest at the rate of 1%
per month or
fraction of a month until payment is received by the secretary of
human
resources except that an employing unit, which is not theretofore
subject
to this law and which becomes an employer and does not refuse to
make
the reports, returns and contributions, payments in lieu of
contributions
and benefit cost payments required under this law, shall not be
liable for
such penalty or interest if the wage reports and contribution
returns re-
quired are filed and the contributions, payments in lieu of
contributions
or benefit cost payments required are paid within 10 days following
no-
tification by the secretary of human resources that a determination
has
been made fixing its status as an employer subject to this law.
Upon
written request and good cause shown, the secretary of human
resources
may abate any penalty or interest or portion thereof provided for
by this
subsection (a). Interest amounting to less than $1 shall be waived
by the
secretary of human resources and shall not be collected. Penalties
and
interest collected pursuant to this subsection shall be paid into
the special
employment security fund. For all purposes under this section,
amounts
assessed as surcharges under subsection (j) or under K.S.A. 44-710a
and
amendments thereto shall be considered to be contributions and
shall be
subject to penalties and interest imposed under this section and to
col-
lection in the manner provided by this section. A
For purposes of this
subsection, a wage report, a contribution return, a
contribution, a pay-
ment in lieu of contribution or a benefit cost payment is deemed
to be
filed or paid as of the date it is placed in the United
States mail.
(b) Collection. (1) If, after due notice, any employer
defaults in pay-
ment of any penalty, contributions, payments in lieu of
contributions,
benefit cost payments, or interest thereon the amount due may be
col-
lected by civil action in the name of the secretary of human
resources
and the employer adjudged in default shall pay the cost of such
action.
Civil actions brought under this section to collect contributions,
payments
in lieu of contributions, benefit cost payments, penalties, or
interest
thereon from an employer shall be heard by the district court at
the
earliest possible date and shall be entitled to preference upon the
cal-
endar of the court over all other civil actions except petitions
for judicial
review under this act and cases arising under the workmen's
compensa-
tion act. All liability determinations of contributions due,
payments in lieu
of contributions or benefit cost payments due shall be made within
a
period of five years from the date such contributions, payments in
lieu of
contributions or benefit cost payments were due except such
determi-
nations may be made for any time when an employer has filed
fraudulent
reports with intent to evade liability.
(2) Any employing unit which is not a resident of this state
and which
exercises the privilege of having one or more individuals perform
service
for it within this state and any resident employing unit which
exercises
that privilege and thereafter removes from this state, shall be
deemed
thereby to appoint the secretary of state as its agent and attorney
for the
acceptance of process in any civil action under this subsection. In
insti-
tuting such an action against any such employing unit the secretary
of
human resources shall cause such process or notice to be filed with
the
secretary of state and such service shall be sufficient service
upon such
employing unit and shall be of the same force and validity as if
served
upon it personally within this state. The secretary of human
resources
shall send notice immediately of the service of such process or
notice,
together with a copy thereof, by registered or certified mail,
return receipt
requested, to such employing unit at its last-known address and
such
return receipt, the affidavit of compliance of the secretary of
human re-
sources with the provisions of this section, and a copy of the
notice of
service, shall be appended to the original of the process filed in
the court
in which such civil action is pending.
(3) Any contractor, who is or becomes an employer under the
pro-
visions of this act, who contracts with any subcontractor, who also
is or
becomes an employer under the provisions of this act, shall be
directly
liable for such contributions, penalties and interest due from the
subcon-
tractor and the secretary of human resources shall have all of the
remedies
of collection against the contractor under the provisions of this
act as
though the services in question were performed directly for the
contrac-
tor, unless the contractor requires the subcontractor to provide a
good
and sufficient bond guaranteeing payment of all contributions,
penalties
and interest due or to become due with respect to wages paid for
em-
ployment on the contract. For the purpose of this subsection
(b)(3), the
words, ``contractor'' and ``subcontractor'' mean and include
individuals,
partnerships, firms or corporations, or other associations of
persons en-
gaged in the business of the construction, alteration, repairing,
disman-
tling or demolition of buildings, roads, bridges, viaducts, sewers,
water
and gas mains, streets, disposal plants, water filters, tanks and
towers,
airports, dams, levees and canals, oil and gas wells, water wells,
pipelines,
and every other type of structure, project, development or
improvement
coming within the definition of real property.
(4) The district courts of this state shall entertain, in the
manner
provided in subsections (b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3), actions to
collect con-
tributions, payments in lieu of contributions, benefit cost
payments and
other amounts owed including interest thereon for which liability
has
accrued under the employment security law of any other state or of
the
federal government.
(c) Priorities under legal dissolutions or
distributions. In the event of
any distribution of employer's assets pursuant to an order of any
court
under the laws of this state, including but not limited to any
probate
proceeding, interpleader, receivership, assignment for benefit of
credi-
tors, adjudicated insolvency, composition or similar proceedings,
contri-
butions or payments in lieu of contributions then or thereafter due
shall
be paid in full from the moneys which shall first come into the
estate,
prior to all other claims, except claims for wages of not more than
$250
to each claimant, earned within six months of the commencement of
the
proceedings. In the event of an employer's adjudication in
bankruptcy,
judicially confirmed extension proposal, or composition, under the
federal
bankruptcy act of 1898, as amended, contributions then or
thereafter due
shall be entitled to such priority as is provided in that act for
taxes due
any state of the United States.
(d) Assessments. If any employer fails to file a report
or return re-
quired by the secretary of human resources for the determination of
con-
tributions, or payments in lieu of contributions, or benefit cost
payments,
the secretary of human resources may make such reports or returns
or
cause the same to be made, on the basis of such information as the
sec-
retary may be able to obtain and shall collect the contributions,
payments
in lieu of contributions or benefit cost payments as determined
together
with any interest due under this act. The secretary of human
resources
shall immediately forward to the employer a copy of the assessment
by
registered or certified mail to the employer's address as it
appears on the
records of the agency, and such assessment shall be final unless
the em-
ployer protests such assessment and files a corrected report or
return for
the period covered by the assessment within 15 days after the
mailing of
the copy of assessment. Failure to receive such notice shall not
invalidate
the assessment. Notice in writing shall be presumed to have been
given
when deposited as certified or registered matter in the United
States mail,
addressed to the person to be charged with notice at such person's
address
as it appears on the records of the agency.
(e) (1) Lien. If any employer or person who is
liable to pay contri-
butions, payments in lieu of contributions or benefit cost payments
ne-
glects or refuses to pay the same after demand, the amount,
including
interest and penalty, shall be a lien in favor of the state of
Kansas, sec-
retary of human resources, upon all property and rights to
property,
whether real or personal, belonging to such employer or person.
Such
lien shall not be valid as against any mortgagee, pledgee,
purchaser or
judgment creditor until notice thereof has been filed by the
secretary of
human resources in the office of register of deeds in any county in
the
state of Kansas, in which such property is located, and when so
filed shall
be notice to all persons claiming an interest in the property of
the em-
ployer or person against whom filed. The register of deeds shall
enter
such notices in the financing statement record and shall also
record the
same in full in miscellaneous record and index the same against the
name
of the delinquent employer. The register of deeds shall accept,
file, and
record such notice without prepayment of any fee, but lawful fees
shall
be added to the amount of such lien and collected when satisfaction
is
presented for entry. Such lien shall be satisfied of record upon
the pres-
entation of a certificate of discharge by the state of Kansas,
secretary of
human resources. Nothing contained in this subsection (e) shall be
con-
strued as an invalidation of any lien or notice filed in the name
of the
unemployment compensation division or the employment security
divi-
sion and such liens shall be and remain in full force and effect
until
satisfied as provided by this subsection (e).
(2) Authority of secretary or authorized
representative. If any em-
ployer or person who is liable to pay any contributions, payments
in lieu
of contributions or benefit cost payments, including interest and
penalty,
neglects or refuses to pay the same within 10 days after notice and
de-
mand therefor, the secretary or the secretary's authorized
representative
may collect such contributions, payments in lieu of contributions
or ben-
efit cost payments, including interest and penalty, and such
further
amount as is sufficient to cover the expenses of the levy, by levy
upon all
property and rights to property which belong to the employer or
person
or which have a lien created thereon by this subsection (e) for the
pay-
ment of such contributions, payments in lieu of contributions or
benefit
cost payments, including interest and penalty. As used in this
subsection
(e), ``property'' includes all real property and personal property,
whether
tangible or intangible, except such property which is exempt under
K.S.A.
60-2301 et seq., and amendments thereto. Levy may be made
upon the
accrued salary or wages of any officer, employee or elected
official of any
state or local governmental entity which is subject to K.S.A.
60-723 and
amendments thereto, by serving a notice of levy as provided in
subsection
(d) of K.S.A. 60-304 and amendments thereto. If the secretary or
the
secretary's authorized representative makes a finding that the
collection
of the amount of such contributions, payments in lieu of
contributions or
benefit cost payments, including interest and penalty, is in
jeopardy, no-
tice and demand for immediate payment of such amount may be
made
by the secretary or the secretary's authorized representative and,
upon
failure or refusal to pay such amount, immediate collection of
such
amount by levy shall be lawful without regard to the ten-day period
pro-
vided in this subsection (e).
(3) Seizure and sale of property. The authority to levy
granted under
this subsection (e) includes the power of seizure by any means. A
levy
shall extend only to property possessed and obligations existing at
the
time thereof. In any case in which the secretary or the secretary's
au-
thorized representative may levy upon property or rights to
property, the
secretary or the secretary's authorized representative may seize
and sell
such property or rights to property.
(4) Successive seizures. Whenever any property or right
to property
upon which levy has been made under this subsection (e) is not
sufficient
to satisfy the claim of the secretary for which levy is made, the
secretary
or the secretary's authorized representative may proceed thereafter
and
as often as may be necessary, to levy in like manner upon any
other
property or rights to property which belongs to the employer or
person
against whom such claim exists or upon which a lien is created by
this
subsection (e) until the amount due from the employer or person,
to-
gether with all expenses, is fully paid.
(f) Warrant. In addition or as an alternative to any
other remedy
provided by this section and provided that no appeal or other
proceeding
for review permitted by this law shall then be pending and the time
for
taking thereof shall have expired, the secretary of human resources
or an
authorized representative of the secretary may issue a warrant
certifying
the amount of contributions, payments in lieu of contributions,
benefit
cost payments, interest or penalty, and the name of the employer
liable
for same after giving 15 days prior notice. Upon request, service
of final
notices shall be made by the sheriff within the sheriff's county,
by the
sheriff's deputy or some person specially appointed by the
secretary for
that purpose, or by the secretary's designee. A person specially
appointed
by the secretary or the secretary's designee to serve final notices
may
make service any place in the state. Final notices shall be served
as fol-
lows:
(1) Individual. Service upon an individual, other than
a minor or in-
capacitated person, shall be made by delivering a copy of the final
notice
to the individual personally or by leaving a copy at such
individual's dwell-
ing house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age
and
discretion then residing therein, by leaving a copy at the business
estab-
lishment of the employer with an officer or employee of the
establish-
ment, or by delivering a copy to an agent authorized by appointment
or
by law to receive service of process, but if the agent is one
designated by
a statute to receive service, such further notice as the statute
requires
shall be given. If service as prescribed above cannot be made with
due
diligence, the secretary or the secretary's designee may order
service to
be made by leaving a copy of the final notice at the employer's
dwelling
house, usual place of abode or business establishment.
(2) Corporations and partnerships. Service upon a
domestic or for-
eign corporation or upon a partnership or other unincorporated
associa-
tion, when by law it may be sued as such, shall be made by
delivering a
copy of the final notice to an officer, partner or resident
managing or
general agent thereof by leaving a copy at any business office of
the em-
ployer with the person having charge thereof or by delivering a
copy to
any other agent authorized by appointment or required by law to
receive
service of process, if the agent is one authorized by law to
receive service
and, if the law so requires, by also mailing a copy to the
employer.
(3) Refusal to accept service. In all cases when the
person to be
served, or an agent authorized by such person to accept service of
peti-
tions and summonses, shall refuse to receive copies of the final
notice,
the offer of the duly authorized process server to deliver copies
thereof
and such refusal shall be sufficient service of such notice.
(4) Proof of service. (A) Every officer to whom a final
notice or other
process shall be delivered for service within or without the state,
shall
make return thereof in writing stating the time, place and manner
of
service of such writ, and shall sign such officer's name to such
return.
(B) If service of the notice is made by a person appointed by
the
secretary or the secretary's designee to make service, such person
shall
make an affidavit as to the time, place and manner of service
thereof in
a form prescribed by the secretary or the secretary's designee.
(5) Time for return. The officer or other person
receiving a final no-
tice shall make a return of service promptly and shall send such
return
to the secretary or the secretary's designee in any event within 10
days
after the service is effected. If the final notice cannot be served
it shall
be returned to the secretary or the secretary's designee within 30
days
after the date of issue with a statement of the reason for the
failure to
serve the same. The original return shall be attached to and filed
with
any warrant thereafter filed.
(6) Service by mail. (A) Upon direction of the
secretary or the sec-
retary's designee, service by mail may be effected by forwarding a
copy
of the notice to the employer by registered or certified mail to
the em-
ployer's address as it appears on the records of the agency. A copy
of the
return receipt shall be attached to and filed with any warrant
thereafter
filed.
(B) The secretary of human resources or an authorized
representative
of the secretary may file the warrant for record in the office of
the clerk
of the district court in the county in which the employer owing
such
contributions, payments in lieu of contributions, benefit cost
payments,
interest, or penalty has business property. The warrant shall
certify the
amount of contributions, payments in lieu of contributions, benefit
cost
payments, interest and penalty due, and the name of the employer
liable
for such amount. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the district
court to
file such warrant of record and enter the warrant in the records of
the
district court for judgment and decrees under the procedure
prescribed
for filing transcripts of judgment.
(C) The clerk shall enter, on the day the warrant is filed,
the case on
the appearance docket, together with the amount and the time of
filing
the warrant. From the time of filing such warrant, the amount of
the
contributions, payments in lieu of contributions, benefit cost
payments,
interest, and penalty, certified therein, shall have the force and
effect of
a judgment of the district court until the same is satisfied by the
secretary
of human resources or an authorized representative or attorney for
the
secretary. Execution shall be issuable at the request of the
secretary of
human resources, an authorized representative or attorney for the
sec-
retary, as is provided in the case of other judgments.
(D) Postjudgment procedures shall be the same as for
judgments
according to the code of civil procedure.
(E) Warrants shall be satisfied of record by payment to the
clerk of
the district court of the contributions, payments in lieu of
contributions,
benefit cost payments, penalty, interest to date, and court costs.
Warrants
may also be satisfied of record by payment to the clerk of the
district
court of all court costs accrued in the case and by filing a
certificate by
the secretary of human resources, certifying that the
contributions, pay-
ments in lieu of contributions, benefit cost payments, interest and
penalty
have been paid.
(g) Remedies cumulative. The foregoing remedies shall
be cumulative
and no action taken shall be construed as an election on the part
of the
state or any of its officers to pursue any remedy or action under
this
section to the exclusion of any other remedy or action for which
provision
is made.
(h) Refunds. If any individual, governmental entity or
organization
makes application for refund or adjustment of any amount paid as
con-
tributions, benefit cost payments or interest under this law and
the sec-
retary of human resources determines that such amount or any
portion
thereof was erroneously collected, except for amounts less than $1,
the
secretary of human resources shall allow such individual or
organization
to make an adjustment thereof, in connection with subsequent
contri-
bution payments, or if such adjustment cannot be made the secretary
of
human resources shall refund the amount, except for amounts less
than
$1, from the employment security fund, except that all interest
errone-
ously collected which has been paid into the special employment
security
fund shall be refunded out of the special employment security fund.
No
adjustment or refund shall be allowed with respect to a payment as
con-
tributions, benefit cost payments or interest unless an application
therefor
is made on or before whichever of the following dates is later: (1)
One
year from the date on which such payment was made; or (2) three
years
from the last day of the period with respect to which such payment
was
made. For like cause and within the same period adjustment or
refund
may be so made on the secretary's own initiative. The secretary of
human
resources shall not be required to refund any contributions,
payments in
lieu of contributions or benefit cost payments based upon wages
paid
which have been used as base-period wages in a determination of a
claim-
ant's benefit rights when justifiable and correct payments have
been made
to the claimant as the result of such determination. For all
taxable years
commencing after December 31, 1997, interest at the rate prescribed
in
K.S.A. 79-2968 and amendments thereto shall be allowed on a
contri-
bution or benefit cost payment which the secretary has determined
was
erroneously collected pursuant to this section. Such
interest may be de-
ducted from subsequent contributions or as part of a refund
as described
in this subsection and in subsection (i).
(i) Refund for reimbursing
employer. Upon termination of an
em-
ployer's business or termination of any election to make
payments in lieu
of contributions, a reimbursing employer may file for a
refund of any
payments made to the fund which are in excess of any
regular or extended
benefits which have been charged or could become chargeable
to the
reimbursing employer's account. No refund may be made
within a
twenty-four-month period following termination of a
reimbursing em-
ployer's business or election for payments in lieu of
contributions.
(j) (i) (1) Cash deposit or
bond. If any contributing employer is de-
linquent in making payments under the employment security law
during
any two quarters of the most recent four-quarter period, the
secretary or
the secretary's authorized representative shall have the
discretionary
power to require such contributing employer either to deposit cash
or to
file a bond with sufficient sureties to guarantee the payment of
contri-
butions, penalty and interest owed by such employer.
(2) The amount of such cash deposit or bond shall be not less
than
the largest total amount of contributions, penalty and interest
reported
by the employer in two of the four calendar quarters preceding any
de-
linquency. Such cash deposit or bond shall be required until the
employer
has shown timely filing of reports and payment of contributions for
four
consecutive calendar quarters.
(3) Failure to file such cash deposit or bond shall subject
the em-
ployer to a surcharge of 2.0% which shall be in addition to the
rate of
contributions assigned to the employer under K.S.A. 44-710a and
amend-
ments thereto. Contributions paid as a result of this surcharge
shall not
be credited to the employer's experience rating account. This
surcharge
shall be effective during the next full calendar year after its
imposition
and during each full calendar year thereafter until the employer
has filed
the required cash deposit or bond or has shown timely filing of
reports
and payment of contributions for four consecutive calendar
quarters.
(k) (j) Any officer, major stockholder
or other person who has charge
of the affairs of an employer, which is an employing unit described
in
section 501(c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code of 1954 or
which
is any other corporate organization or association, or any member
or man-
ager of a limited liability company, or any public official, who
willfully
fails to pay the amount of contributions, payments in lieu of
contributions
or benefit cost payments required to be paid under the employment
se-
curity law on the date on which such amount becomes delinquent,
shall
be personally liable for the total amount of the contributions,
payments
in lieu of contributions or benefit cost payments and any penalties
and
interest due and unpaid by such employing unit. The secretary or
the
secretary's authorized representative may assess such person for
the total
amount of contributions, payments in lieu of contributions or
benefit cost
payments and any penalties, and interest computed as due and
owing.
With respect to such persons and such amounts assessed, the
secretary
shall have available all of the collection remedies authorized or
provided
by this section.
Sec. 6. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 44-718 is hereby amended to
read as fol-
lows: 44-718. (a) Waiver of rights void. No agreement by an
individual
to waive, release or commute such individual's rights to benefits
or any
other rights under this act shall be valid. No agreement by any
individual
in the employ of any person or concern to pay all or any portion of
an
employer's contribution or payments in lieu of contributions
required
under this act from such employer, shall be valid. No employer
shall
directly or indirectly make or require or accept any deduction from
re-
muneration to finance the employer's contributions required from
such
employer, or require or accept any waiver of any right hereunder by
any
individual in such employer's employ. Any employer or officer or
agent
of an employer who violates any provision of this subsection shall,
for
each offense, be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or
be
imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.
(b) Limitation of fees. No individual claiming benefits
shall be
charged fees of any kind in any proceeding under this act by the
secretary
of human resources or representatives of the secretary or by any
court or
any officer thereof. Any individual claiming benefits in any
proceeding
before the secretary of human resources or a court may be
represented
by counsel or other duly authorized agent, but no such counsel or
agents
shall either charge or receive for such services more than an
amount
approved by the secretary of human resources. Any person who
violates
any provision of this subsection shall, for each such offense, be
fined not
less than $50 nor more than $500, or imprisoned for not more than
six
months, or both.
(c) No assignment of benefits; exemptions. No
assignment, pledge or
encumbrance of any right to benefits which are or may become due
or
payable under this act shall be valid; and such rights to benefits
shall be
exempt from levy, except in accordance with section 6331 of the
federal
internal revenue code of 1986, and shall be exempt from,
execution, at-
tachment, or any other remedy whatsoever provided for the
collection of
debt; and benefits received by an individual, so long as they are
not min-
gled with other funds of the recipient, shall be exempt from any
remedy
whatsoever for the collection of all debts except debts incurred
for nec-
essaries furnished to such individual or such individual's spouse
or de-
pendents during the time when such individual was unemployed.
No
waiver of any exemption provided for in this subsection shall be
valid.
(d) Support exception. (1) An individual filing a new
claim for un-
employment compensation shall, at the time of filing such claim,
disclose
whether or not the individual owes support obligations as defined
under
paragraph (7). If any such individual discloses that such
individual owes
support obligations, and is determined to be eligible for
unemployment
compensation, the secretary shall notify the state or local support
enforce-
ment agency enforcing such obligation that the individual has been
de-
termined to be eligible for unemployment compensation.
(2) The secretary shall deduct and withhold from any
unemployment
compensation payable to an individual that owes support obligations
as
defined under paragraph (7):
(A) The amount specified by the individual to the secretary to
be
deducted and withheld under this subsection, if neither (B) nor (C)
is
applicable; or
(B) the amount, if any, determined pursuant to an agreement
sub-
mitted to the secretary under section 454(20)(B)(i) of the social
security
act by the state or local support enforcement agency, unless
subparagraph
(C) is applicable; or
(C) any amount otherwise required to be so deducted and
withheld
from such unemployment compensation pursuant to legal process (as
that
term is defined in section 462(e) 459(i)(5)
of the social security act) prop-
erly served upon the secretary.
(3) Any amount deducted and withheld under paragraph (2) shall
be
paid by the secretary to the appropriate state or local support
enforcement
agency.
(4) Any amount deducted and withheld under paragraph (2) shall
for
all purposes be treated as if it were paid to the individual as
unemploy-
ment compensation and paid by such individual to the state or local
sup-
port enforcement agency in satisfaction of the individual's support
obli-
gations.
(5) For purposes of paragraphs (1) through (4), ``unemployment
com-
pensation'' means any compensation payable under the employment
se-
curity law after application of the recoupment provisions of
subsection
(d) of K.S.A. 44-719 and amendments thereto, (including amounts
pay-
able by the secretary pursuant to an agreement under any federal
law
providing for compensation, assistance or allowances with respect
to un-
employment).
(6) This subsection applies only if appropriate arrangements
have
been made for imbursement by the state or local support
enforcement
agency for the administrative costs incurred by the secretary under
this
section which are attributable to support obligations being
enforced by
the state or local support enforcement agency.
(7) For the purposes of this subsection, ``support
obligations'' means
only those obligations which are being enforced pursuant to a plan
de-
scribed in section 454 of the federal social security act which has
been
approved by the secretary of health and human services under part D
of
title IV of the federal social security act.
(8) For the purposes of this subsection, ``state or local
support en-
forcement agency'' means any agency of this state or a political
subdivision
thereof operating pursuant to a plan described in paragraph
(7).
(e) (1) An individual filing a new claim for unemployment
compen-
sation shall, at the time of filing such claim, be advised
that:
(A) Unemployment compensation is subject to federal, state and
local
income tax;
(B) requirements exist pertaining to estimated tax
payments;
(C) the individual may elect to have federal income tax
deducted and
withheld from the individual's payment of unemployment
compensation
at the amount specified in the federal internal revenue code;
and
(D) the individual shall be permitted to change a previously
elected
withholding status.
(2) Amounts deducted and withheld from unemployment
compen-
sation shall remain in the unemployment fund until transferred to
the
federal taxing authority as a payment of income tax.
(3) The secretary shall follow all procedures specified by the
United
States department of labor and the federal internal revenue service
per-
taining to the deducting and withholding of income tax.
(4) Amounts shall be deducted and withheld under this section
only
after amounts are deducted and withheld for any overpayments of
un-
employment compensation, child support obligations, food stamp
over-
issuances or any other amounts required to be deducted and
withheld
under this act.
(f) (1) An individual filing a new claim for unemployment
compen-
sation at the time of filing such claim, shall disclose whether or
not such
individual owes an uncollected overissuance (as defined in
section
13(c)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977) of food stamp coupons.
The
secretary shall notify the state food stamp agency enforcing such
obliga-
tion of any individual who discloses that such individual owes an
uncol-
lected overissuance of food stamps and who is determined to be
eligible
for unemployment compensation.
(2) The secretary shall deduct and withhold from any
unemployment
compensation payable to an individual who owes an uncollected
overis-
suance:
(A) The amount specified by the individual to the secretary to
be
deducted and withheld under this clause;
(B) the amount (if any) determined pursuant to an agreement
sub-
mitted to the state food stamp agency under section 13(c)(3)(A) of
the
Food Stamp Act of 1977; or
(C) any amount otherwise required to be deducted and
withheld
from unemployment compensation pursuant to section 13(c)(3)(B)
of
such act.
(3) Any amount deducted and withheld under this section shall
be
paid by the secretary to the appropriate state food stamp
agency.
(4) Any amount deducted and withheld under subsection (b)
shall for
all purposes be treated as if it were paid to the individual as
unemploy-
ment compensation and paid by such individual to the state food
stamp
agency as repayment of the individual's uncollected
overissuance.
(5) For purposes of this section, the term ``unemployment
compen-
sation'' means any compensation payable under this act
including
amounts payable by the secretary pursuant to an agreement under
any
federal law providing for compensation, assistance, or allowances
with
respect to unemployment.
(6) This section applies only if arrangements have been made
for
reimbursement by the state food stamp agency for the
administrative
costs incurred by the secretary under this section which are
attributable
to the repayment of uncollected overissuances to the state food
stamp
agency.
Sec. 7. K.S.A. 44-716a and K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 44-703,
44-705, 44-
712, 44-717 and 44-718 are hereby repealed.
Sec. 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from
and after its
publication in the statute book.
Approved April 20, 1998
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