SF 3471

Subdivision 1.

General rule.

Unemployment benefits paid to an applicant,
including extendeddeleted text begin , additional,deleted text end and shared work benefits, will be used in computing
the future tax rate of a taxpaying base period employer or charged to the reimbursable
account of a base period nonprofit or government employer that has elected to be liable for
reimbursements except as provided in subdivisions 2 and 3. The amount of unemployment
benefits used in computing the future tax rate of taxpaying employers or charged to the
reimbursable account of a nonprofit or government employer that has elected to be liable
for reimbursements is the same percentage of the total amount of unemployment benefits
paid as the percentage of wage credits from the employer is of the total amount of wage
credits from all the applicant's base period employers.

In making computations under this subdivision, the amount of wage credits, if not a
whole dollar, must be computed to the nearest whole dollar.

Subd. 3.

Payments that delay unemployment benefits.

(a) An applicant is not
eligible to receive unemployment benefits for any week with respect to which the applicant
is receiving, has received, or has filed for payment, equal to or in excess of the applicant's
weekly unemployment benefit amount, in the form of:

(1) vacation pay paid upon temporary, indefinite, or seasonal separation. This clause
does not apply to new text begin (i) new text end vacation pay paid upon a permanent separation from employmentnew text begin , or
(ii) vacation pay paid from a vacation fund administered by a union or a third party not
under the control of the employernew text end ;

(2) severance pay, bonus pay, sick pay, and any other payments, except earnings
under subdivision 5, and back pay under subdivision 6, paid by an employer because of,
upon, or after separation from employment, but only if the payment is considered wages at
the time of payment under section 268.035, subdivision 29; or

(3) pension, retirement, or annuity payments from any plan contributed to by a base
period employer including the United States government, except Social Security benefits
that are provided for in subdivision 4. The base period employer is considered to have
contributed to the plan if the contribution is excluded from the definition of wages under
section 268.035, subdivision 29, clause (1).

An applicant is not considered to have received the lump sum payment if the
applicant immediately deposits that payment in a qualified pension plan or account.

(b) This subdivision applies to all the weeks of payment. Payments under paragraph
(a), clauses (1) and (2), are applied to the period immediately following the last day
of employment deleted text begin anddeleted text end new text begin .new text end The number of weeks of paymentdeleted text begin , for purposes of those clauses,deleted text end
is determined as follows:

(1) if the payments are made periodically, the total of the payments to be received is
divided by the applicant's last level of regular weekly pay from the employer; or

(2) if the payment is made in a lump sum, that sum is divided by the applicant's last
level of regular weekly pay from the employer.

(c) If the payment is less than the applicant's weekly unemployment benefit amount,
unemployment benefits are reduced by the amount of the payment. If the computation
of reduced unemployment benefits is not a whole dollar, it is rounded down to the next
lower whole dollar.

Subd. 16.

Actively seeking suitable employment defined.

(a) "Actively seeking
suitable employment" means those reasonable, diligent efforts an individual in similar
circumstances would make if genuinely interested in obtaining suitable employment under
the existing conditions in the labor market area. Limiting the search to positions that are
not available or are above the applicant's training, experience, and qualifications is not
"actively seeking suitable employment."

(b) To be considered "actively seeking suitable employment" an applicant must,
when reasonable, contact those employers from whom the applicant was laid off because
of lack of work and request suitable employment.

(c) If reasonable prospects of suitable employment in the applicant's usual or
customary occupation do not exist, the applicant must actively seek other suitable
employment to be considered "actively seeking suitable employment." This applies to an
applicant who is seasonally unemployed.

(d) An applicant who is seeking employment only through a union is deleted text begin notdeleted text end new text begin considerednew text end
actively seeking suitable employment deleted text begin unlessdeleted text end new text begin ifnew text end the applicant is in an occupation where
deleted text begin it is required by union rule that all thedeleted text end hiring in that locality is done through the
union deleted text begin or that all members aredeleted text end new text begin . If the applicant is a union member who is new text end restricted
to obtaining employment among signatory contractors in the construction industrynew text begin ,
seeking employment only with those signatory contractors is considered actively seeking
employmentnew text end . The applicant must be a union member in good standing, registered with
the union for employment, and in compliance with other union rules to be considered
"actively seeking suitable employment."

Subdivision 1.

Additional unemployment benefits; when available.

Additional
unemployment benefits are available if:

(1) new text begin a county had a total unemployment rate for the prior 12-calendar month period of
at least 1.8 times the state average unemployment rate for the prior 12-calendar month
period and the state average unemployment rate for the same 12-calendar month period
was at least 4.6 percent. The commissioner must calculate the applicable unemployment
rates within 30 calendar days following the end of the month. Once it has been calculated
that the total unemployment rate in a county equals or exceeds 1.8 times the state average
unemployment rate for the prior 12-calendar month period, the additional benefits are
available beginning the Sunday following the date of calculation and continuing for a
minimum of 13 calendar weeks; or
new text end

new text begin (2) (i) new text end at a facility that had 100 or more employees, the employer reduced operations,
resulting within a one-month period in the layoff of 50 percent or more of the facility's
work force, including reductions caused as a result of a major natural disaster declared by
the president;

deleted text begin (2)deleted text end new text begin (ii) new text end the employer has no expressed plan to resume operations that would lead to
the reemployment of those employees in the immediate future; and

deleted text begin (3)deleted text end new text begin (iii) new text end the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the county that the facility
is located was ten percent or more during the month of the reduction or any of the three
months before or after the month of the reduction.

Subd. 2.

Payment deleted text begin of unemployment benefitsdeleted text end new text begin from trust fund; effect on
employernew text end .

Additional unemployment benefits are payable from the trust fund.new text begin Additional
unemployment benefits paid will not be used in computing the experience rating of a
taxpaying employer nor charged to the reimbursing account of a nonprofit or government
employer.
new text end

Subd. 3.

Eligibility conditions.

An applicant is eligible to receive additional
unemployment benefits for any week during the applicant's benefit year if:

(1) new text begin for any week during which benefits are available under subdivision 1, clause (1):
new text end

new text begin (i) the applicant resides in a county that meets the requirements of subdivision 1,
clause (1), and resided in that county each week that regular unemployment benefits
were paid;
new text end

new text begin (ii) the applicant meets the same eligibility requirements that are required for regular
unemployment benefits under section 268.069; and
new text end

new text begin (iii) the applicant has exhausted regular unemployment benefits under section
268.07, is not entitled to receive extended unemployment benefits under section 268.115,
and is not entitled to receive unemployment benefits under any other state or federal
law for that week; or
new text end

new text begin (2) new text end the applicant was laid off from employment as a result of a reduction under
subdivision 1new text begin , clause (2),new text end or was laid off because of lack of work from that employer
during the three-month period before, or the three-month period after, the month of the
reduction under subdivision 1new text begin , clause (2)new text end ;

deleted text begin (2)deleted text end new text begin (3) new text end the applicant meets the new text begin same new text end eligibility requirements new text begin that are required for
regular unemployment benefits new text end under section ;

deleted text begin (3) deleted text end deleted text begin the applicant is not ineligible under section 268.095 because of a quit or a
discharge;
deleted text end

(4) the applicant has exhausted regular unemployment benefits under section 268.07,
is not entitled to receive extended unemployment benefits under section 268.115, and
is not entitled to receive unemployment benefits under any other state or federal law
for that week; and

(5) a majority of the applicant's wage credits were from the employer that had a
reduction in operations under subdivision 1new text begin , clause (2)new text end .

Subdivision 1.

Use of data.

(a) Except as provided by this section, data gathered
from any person under the administration of the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Law
are private data on individuals or nonpublic data not on individuals as defined in section
13.02, subdivisions 9 and 12, and may not be disclosed except according to a district court
order or section 13.05. A subpoena is not considered a district court order. These data
may be disseminated to and used by the following agencies without the consent of the
subject of the data:

(1) state and federal agencies specifically authorized access to the data by state
or federal law;

(2) any agency of any other state or any federal agency charged with the
administration of an unemployment insurance program;

(3) any agency responsible for the maintenance of a system of public employment
offices for the purpose of assisting individuals in obtaining employment;

(4) the public authority responsible for child support in Minnesota or any other
state in accordance with section 256.978;

(5) human rights agencies within Minnesota that have enforcement powers;

(6) the Department of Revenue to the extent necessary for its duties under Minnesota
laws;

(7) public and private agencies responsible for administering publicly financed
assistance programs for the purpose of monitoring the eligibility of the program's
recipients;

(8) the Department of Labor and Industry and the Division of Insurance Fraud
Prevention in the Department of Commerce for uses consistent with the administration of
their duties under Minnesota law;

(9) local and state welfare agencies for monitoring the eligibility of the data subject
for assistance programs, or for any employment or training program administered by those
agencies, whether alone, in combination with another welfare agency, or in conjunction
with the department or to monitor and evaluate the statewide Minnesota family investment
program by providing data on recipients and former recipients of food stamps or food
support, cash assistance under chapter 256, 256D, 256J, or 256K, child care assistance
under chapter 119B, or medical programs under chapter 256B, 256D, or 256L;

(10) local and state welfare agencies for the purpose of identifying employment,
wages, and other information to assist in the collection of an overpayment debt in an
assistance program;

(11) local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies for the purpose of ascertaining
the last known address and employment location of an individual who is the subject of
a criminal investigation;

(12) the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has access to data on
specific individuals and specific employers provided the specific individual or specific
employer is the subject of an investigation by that agency;

(13) the Department of Health for the purposes of epidemiologic investigations; and

(14) the Department of Corrections for the purpose of new text begin preconfinement and
new text end postconfinement employment tracking of deleted text begin individuals who had been committed to the
custody of the commissioner of correctionsdeleted text end new text begin committed offenders for the purpose of case
planningnew text end .

(b) Data on individuals and employers that are collected, maintained, or used by
the department in an investigation under section 268.182 are confidential as to data
on individuals and protected nonpublic data not on individuals as defined in section
13.02, subdivisions 3 and 13, and must not be disclosed except under statute or district
court order or to a party named in a criminal proceeding, administrative or judicial, for
preparation of a defense.

(c) Data gathered by the department in the administration of the Minnesota
unemployment insurance program must not be made the subject or the basis for any
suit in any civil proceedings, administrative or judicial, unless the action is initiated by
the department.