Unemployment compensation benefits: overpayment assessments: termination: income tax withholding.

Existing law requires the Director of Employment Development to maintain a separate reserve account for each employer, and generally requires the director to credit each reserve account with all the contributions paid on the employer's behalf and to charge against the employer's reserve account unemployment compensation benefits paid to an unemployed individual during any benefit year during his or her base period. Under existing law, certain benefits paid to claimants are not charged to an employer's reserve account, except as provided, if the department rules that specified circumstances exist. This bill would provide that an employer's reserve account is not relieved of charges relating to a benefit overpayment established on or after October 22, 2013, if the department determines that the payment was made because the employer, or an agent of the employer, was at fault for failing to respond timely or adequately to requests of the department for information relating to the individual claim for unemployment compensation benefits, as provided. Existing law permits certain employing units to elect to pay the cost of benefits into the Unemployment Fund in lieu of paying contributions required of employers. Existing law provides that the cost of benefits charged to that employer includes benefits or payments improperly paid. This bill would provide that the cost of benefits charged to an employer under that election include credits of benefit overpayments actually collected by the department, unless the department determines that the payment was made because the entity, or an agent of the entity, was at fault for failing to respond timely or adequately to requests of the department for information relating to the individual claim for unemployment compensation benefits, as provided. This provision would apply to benefit overpayments established on or after October 22, 2013. Existing law requires each employer to report to the department, as specified, the hiring of any employee who works in this state and to whom the employer anticipates paying wages. This bill would additionally require each employer to report the hiring of any employee who previously worked for the employer, but had been separated from such prior employment for at least 60 consecutive days. Existing law allows an employer that is entitled to receive notice of the filing of a new or additional claim for unemployment benefits to submit to the Employment Development Department facts explaining the reasons for the claimant leaving the employer's employ; however, the employer is restricted to providing reasons only from a specified list that the department will use to determine the cause of termination. Existing law also allows a base period employer that is not entitled to receive notice of the filing of a new or additional claim for unemployment benefits, but is entitled to notice of computation, to submit to the department facts explaining the reasons for the claimant leaving the employer's employ; however, the employer is restricted to providing reasons only from a specified list that the department will use to determine the cause of termination. This bill would expand these lists to include as a reason, the claimant leaving the employer's employ for a substantially better job. Existing law allows an employer that is entitled to receive notice of the filing of a primary claim or additional claim for extended unemployment compensation benefits or federal-state extended benefits to submit to the Employment Development Department any facts explaining the reason for the claimant leaving the employer's employ; however, the employer is restricted to providing reasons only from a specified list that the department will use to determine the cause of termination. This bill would expand these lists to include the claimant leaving the employer's employ for reason of a substantially better job or to protect his or her family or himself or herself from domestic violence abuse. Existing law provides that a claim for unemployment compensation benefits may be canceled if the individual has not been deemed ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits, has not been overpaid unemployment compensation benefits, and has not collected unemployment compensation benefits. This bill would, in order to cancel a claim for unemployment compensation benefits, add an additional requirement that the individual request to cancel the claim during the benefit year of that claim or the extended duration period of that claim. Existing law authorizes the Employment Development Department to administer the federal-state unemployment insurance program and provides for the payment of unemployment compensation benefits to eligible individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Federal law requires, on and after October 22, 2013, at the time a state agency determines an erroneous payment from its unemployment insurance fund was made to an individual due to fraud committed by the individual, the assessment of a penalty on the individual in an amount of not less than 15% of the amount of the erroneous payment, and requires that assessment to be deposited into the unemployment insurance fund of the state. Under existing law, if the Director of Employment Development finds that an individual has been overpaid unemployment compensation benefits because he or she, for the purpose of obtaining those benefits, either made a false statement or representation, with actual knowledge of the falsity, or withheld a material fact, the director is required to assess against the individual an amount equal to 30% of the overpayment amount. Existing law requires the assessments collected to be deposited in the Benefit Audit Fund. This bill would instead, for penalty assessments established on and after October 22, 2013, require that overpayment assessment amount to be deposited 50% into the Unemployment Trust Fund and 50% into the Benefit Audit Fund. By depositing additional amounts into the Unemployment Trust Fund in the Unemployment Fund, which is a continuously appropriated special fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Under existing law, if the Director of Employment Development finds that any employer or any employee, officer, or agent of any employer, in submitting facts concerning the termination of a claimant's employment or in submitting a written statement concerning the reasonable assurance of a claimant's reemployment pursuant to specified provisions of unemployment insurance law, willfully makes a false statement of representation or willfully fails to report a material fact concerning that termination or the reasonable assurance of that reemployment, the director must assess a penalty against the employer in an amount not less than 2 nor more than 10 times the weekly benefit amount of that claimant. Existing law requires the penalties to be deposited into the Employment Development Department Contingent Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would instead provide that the penalty be assessed on an employer or agent of the employer, depending on who the director finds was at fault for willfully making a false statement or representation or for willfully failing to report a material fact concerning that termination or the reasonable assurance of that reemployment. The bill would provide that if both the employer and the agent of the employer were at fault, this penalty would be assessed against the employer and another penalty would be assessed against the agent of the employer. This bill would further provide that the additional penalties that are assessed against an agent of the employer be available for the specified purposes upon appropriation by the Legislature for those purposes. Existing law requires employers to withhold income taxes each calendar quarter, file a withholding report, a quarterly return, a report of wages, and pay over the taxes so required to be withheld. Existing law requires employers to remit the total amount of income tax withheld within a specified number of banking days, and uses banking days to determine when a payment is complete. This bill would, under those provisions, on and after January 1, 2013, use business days to measure time instead of banking days, as provided. This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 1088.5 of the Unemployment Insurance Code, proposed by AB 174 and AB 1794, that would become operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are chaptered and become effective January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last.