SENATE BILL NO. 999
June 25, 2020, Introduced by Senators HOLLIER,
BRINKS, POLEHANKI, GEISS, MOSS, IRWIN, BAYER, CHANG, ALEXANDER, MCCANN,
MCMORROW, WOJNO, ANANICH and SANTANA and referred to the Committee on
Economic and Small Business Development.
A bill to amend 1936 (Ex Sess) PA 1,
entitled
"Michigan employment security act,"
by amending section 46 (MCL 421.46), as amended by 2012 PA 218.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 46. (a) Subject to subsections (d) through (f),
for benefit years beginning before October 1, 2000, "benefit year"
means the period of 52 consecutive calendar weeks beginning the first calendar
week in which an individual files a claim in accordance with section 32 and
meets all of the following conditions:
(1) The individual has
earned 20 credit weeks in the 52 consecutive calendar weeks before the week he
or she files the claim for benefits.
(2) The individual is
unemployed and meets all requirements of section 28 for the week for which he
or she files a claim for benefits.
(3) Except for a
disqualification under section 29 (8) involving a labor dispute during the
individual's most recent period of employment with the most recent employer
with whom the individual earned a credit week, the individual is not
disqualified or subject to disqualification for the week for which he or she
files a claim.
(4) The individual does
not have a benefit year already in effect at the time of the claim.
(b) For benefit years
beginning on or after October 1, 2000, "benefit year" means the
period of 52 consecutive calendar weeks beginning the first calendar week in
which an individual files a claim in accordance with section 32. However, a
benefit year shall not be established unless the individual meets either of the
following conditions:
(1) The total wages paid
to the individual in the base period of the claim equals not less than 1.5
times the wages paid to the individual in the calendar quarter of the base
period in which the individual was paid the highest wages.
(2) The individual was
paid wages in 2 or more calendar quarters of the base period totaling at least
20 times the state average weekly wage as determined by the unemployment
agency.
(c) For benefit years
beginning after October 1, 2000, the state average weekly wage for a calendar
year shall be computed on the basis of the 12 months ending the June 30
preceding that calendar year. A For benefit years beginning on or before May 31, 2020,
a benefit year shall not be established if the individual was not
paid wages of at least the state minimum hourly wage multiplied by 388.06
rounded down to the nearest dollar in at least 1 calendar quarter of the base
period. For benefit years beginning after
May 31, 2020, a benefit year shall not be established if the individual was not
paid wages of at least the state minimum hourly wage multiplied by 128 rounded
down to the nearest dollar in at least 1 calendar quarter of the base period. A
benefit year shall not be established based on base period wages previously
used to establish a benefit year that resulted in the payment of benefits.
However, if a calendar quarter of the base period contains wages that were
previously used to establish a benefit year that resulted in the payment of
benefits, a claimant may establish a benefit year using the wages in the
remaining calendar quarters from among the first 4 of the last 5 completed
calendar quarters, or if a benefit year cannot be established using those
quarters, then by using wages from among the last 4 completed calendar
quarters. A benefit year shall not be established unless, after the beginning
of the immediately preceding benefit year during which the individual received
benefits, the individual worked and received remuneration in an amount equal to
at least 5 times the individual's most recent state weekly benefit rate in
effect during the individual's immediately preceding benefit year. If a
quarterly wage report has not been submitted in a timely manner by the employer
as provided in section 13 for any of the quarters of the base period, or if
wage information is not available for use by the unemployment agency for the
most recent completed calendar quarter, the unemployment agency shall obtain
and use the claimant's statement of wages paid during the calendar quarters for
which the wage reports are missing to establish a benefit year. However, the
claimant's statement of wages shall only be used to establish a benefit year if
the claimant also provides to the unemployment agency documentary or other
evidence of those wages that is satisfactory to the unemployment agency. A
determination based on the claimant's statement of wages paid during any of
these calendar quarters shall be redetermined if the quarterly wage report from
the employer is later received and would result in a change in the claimant's
weekly benefit amount or duration, or both, or if the quarterly wage report
from the employer later becomes available for use by the unemployment agency
and would result in a change in the claimant's benefit amount or duration, or
both. If the redetermination results from the employer's failure to submit the
quarterly wage report in a timely manner, the redetermination shall be
effective as to benefits payable for weeks beginning after the receipt of
information not previously submitted by the employer.
(d) If an individual
files a claim for a 7-day period under section 27(c), his or her benefit year
begins the calendar week containing the first day of that 7-day period.
(e) If all or part of a
claimant's right to benefits during his or her benefit year is canceled under
section 62(b), the benefit year is terminated on the effective date of the
cancellation.
(f) An individual may request a redetermination of his or her benefit rights and cancellation of a previously established benefit year if he or she has not completed a compensable period. Under circumstances described in this subsection, the benefit year begins the first day of the first week in which the request for redetermination of benefit rights is duly filed.