July 16, 2014, Introduced by Senator BRANDENBURG and referred to the Committee on Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing.
A bill to amend 1936 (Ex Sess) PA 1, entitled
"Michigan employment security act,"
by amending section 13m (MCL 421.13m), as amended by 2012 PA 219.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 13m. (1) A professional employer organization that has
not previously filed shall file a report with the agency in
accordance with R 421.121 and R 421.190 of the Michigan
administrative code for a determination of its status as a liable
employing unit and employer under this act. A PEO determined to be
a liable employer shall complete an electronic employer
registration in the manner approved by the agency to register its
employer liability.
(2) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a PEO that is a
liable employer shall use the following method for reporting wages
and paying unemployment contributions under this act:
(a) The PEO shall comply with all requirements of this act
that apply to a contributing employer. The PEO shall file a single
quarterly wage report and unemployment contribution report and pay
contributions of its client employers based on the account
information of each client employer. The unemployment agency shall
convert a reimbursing employer to a contributing employer beginning
with the calendar quarter in which the employer becomes a client
employer of a PEO. The PEO shall file reports required under R
421.121 of the Michigan administrative code and make contribution
payments by electronic reporting and payment methods approved by
the agency. The PEO shall notify the agency within 30 days after
any employer becomes its client employer and within 30 days after
any client employer discontinues its association with the PEO. All
of the following apply to a rate calculation for client employers
of the PEO:
(i) For a client employer that is a contributing employer and
was
a client employer of the a
PEO on the date that the PEO changed
to
the reporting method provided in this subdivision,on or before
January 1, 2014, the following rates apply:
(A)
Except as provided in sub-subparagraphs (B) and (C), ifIf
the
client employer reported no employees or no payroll to the
agency
for 8 or more calendar quarters or, beginning January 1,
2014,
for 12 or more calendar quarters,did
not report any payroll
under its unemployment account number or reported payroll with zero
dollars under its unemployment account number to the agency for the
8 calendar quarters ending December 31, 2013, the client employer's
unemployment tax rate for 2014 will be the new employer tax rate
and any prior unemployment tax rate for the client employer will
not be resumed.
(B)
If the client employer was a client employer of the PEO
for
less than 8 calendar quarters or, beginning January 1, 2014,
for
less than 12 calendar quarters, the client employer's
unemployment
tax rate will be based on the client employer's prior
account
and experience.
(B)(C) If the client employer's account has been
terminated
for more than 1 year or if the client employer never previously
registered with the agency, the client shall be separately
registered using a method approved by the agency within 30 days
after the employer becomes a client employer of the PEO. The client
employer shall be assigned the new employer unemployment tax rate.
(C) If the client employer does not qualify for the new
employer rate under subparagraph (A) or (B), the client employer's
unemployment tax rate for 2014 shall be as provided in section 19.
(ii) A business entity that is a contributing An employer
and
that
becomes a client employer of the PEO on
or after January 1,
2014 shall initially retain its existing unemployment tax rate or
establish a new rate as provided in section 19.
(b) A PEO that is a liable employer and that was operating in
this state before January 1, 2011 may elect and use the reporting
method in subdivision (a) before January 1, 2014, but shall report
using the method in subdivision (a) on and after January 1, 2014.
(3) A PEO that is a liable employer is the employer for
purposes of claims management and hearings under this act on behalf
of the client employer.
(4) A PEO that reports under subsection (2)(a) shall confirm
the mailing address of the client employer, which may be stated as
that of the PEO or of the client employer. The PEO shall disclose
the business address of the client employer, which shall be the
physical address of the client employer, to the agency.
(5) Either the PEO that reports under subsection (2)(a) or the
PEO's client employers, but not both, shall file a quarterly wage
detail report electronically, and shall file a quarterly
contribution payment in a manner approved by the agency. If a
client entity of a PEO leases some of its employees from the PEO
but retains the remainder of its employees, the leased employees
shall be reported by the PEO under the client entity's unemployment
insurance agency account number and the retained employees shall be
reported by the client entity under an agency-assigned subaccount
number of the client entity's account number.
(6) The agency shall issue a FUTA certification in accordance
with the internal revenue code of 1986, 26 USC 1 to 9834, and
regulations, rulings, instructions, and directives of the internal
revenue service.
(7) The requirements of this section do not preclude the
agency from enforcing any provision of this act based on any act or
omission by a PEO that occurred before January 1, 2011.
(8) As used in this section, "professional employer
organization" or "PEO" means that term as defined in R
421.190(1)(d) of the Michigan administrative code.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act is curative and shall
be applied retroactively. The amendatory act expresses the original
intent of the legislature as to the method for calculating the
unemployment tax rate for a client employer of a PEO for the 2014
tax year.