News & Information

CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 7/02/15

Tennessee amends its UI law on various subjects

Tennessee has amended its Employment Security Law as follows:

Electronic means. Any notification, notice, decision, or correspondence may be sent to or received by the Department through electronic means if an individual or entity agrees to send or receive such notifications, notices, decisions, or correspondence through electronic means.

Reconsideration. The agency has removed the provision providing that there will be no one-year limitation on the agency representative reconsidering a decision if a claimant is subsequently convicted of a misdemeanor or felony that caused the separation from the employer; provided, however, the employer gives notification of the conviction in a reasonable time to the agency. In addition, the provision stating that any overpayment created as a result of a reconsideration because a claimant is subsequently convicted of a misdemeanor or felony that causes the separation from the employer will be determined to be fraud and the administrator will not waive repayment of the overpaid amounts has been removed.

Offsets. The agency also has removed the provision limiting its right of setoff if the obligation of the debtor was the result of fraud or the claimant debtor’s failure to report earnings, or if it was due to any penalties and interest assessed by the Department on a debt.

Wage and premium report. The agency has revised its requirements for filing wage and premium reports to provide, effective January 1, 2016, that each employer with 10 or more employees, and every person or organization that, as an agent, reports wages on a total of 10 or more employees on behalf of one or more subject employers, must file that portion of the wage and premium report that contains the name, Social Security number, and gross wages of each individual in employment electronically in a format prescribed by the Commissioner.

Note that if an employer with at least 10 but not more than 99 employees, or a person or organization that, as an agent, reports wages on a total of at least 10 but not more than 99 employees on behalf of one or more subject employers, is required to file the wage and premium report electronically, and submits an affidavit to the Commissioner containing a statement made under the penalty of perjury that the employer would suffer an undue hardship by filing the wage and premium report electronically, the Commissioner will allow the employer to file the wage and premium report in a hard copy or paper format. This affidavit must be submitted within the first quarter, beginning January 1, 2016, and annually thereafter.

If IRS regulations are amended or superseded to reduce the threshold number of employees required from 10 employees to a lower number of employees, this law provision will remain consistent with those regulations.

For reports due for the quarter beginning July 1, 2016, and each quarter thereafter, any employer, person, or organization that fails to file electronically will be assessed a penalty of $50 for each month, or portion of a month, the report is past due; however, the total penalty for each report will not exceed $500. Penalties assessed will cease to accrue as soon as the subject employer, person, or organization complies with the requirements to report electronically.

Fees and expenses. Instead of fees, penalties, and interest collected under the Treasury Offset Program, all fees and administrative expenses collected under the offset and repayment provisions set out in the state’s UI law will be deposited in the Unemployment Compensation Fund for use by the Commissioner.

Repayment. Moneys received by the Department in repayment of unemployment benefits and payment of penalties and interest due to fraud and misrepresentation will first be applied to the unemployment benefits received, then to any penalties due, and then to any interest due. Prior to amendment, the provision did not cover the application of this money to penalties.