1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1
2 2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
2
3 HOUSE BILL 3596 By: Hill
3
4
4
5
5
6 AS INTRODUCED
6
7 An Act relating to labor; amending 40 O.S. 2021,
7 Sections 1-201, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 360,
8 O.S.L. 2022, 1-218, 1-223, as amended by Section 7,
8 Chapter 360, O.S.L. 2022, 1-224, as amended by
9 Section 8, Chapter 360, O.S.L. 2022, 3, Chapter 287,
9 O.S.L. 2022, 2-104, 2-106, as amended by Section 2,
10 Chapter 287, O.S.L. 2022, and 2-603,(40 O.S. Supp.
10 2023, Sections 1-201, 1-223, 1-224, 1-231 and 2-106),
11 which relate to the Employment Security Act of 1980;
11 modifying definition; adding certain compensation as
12 qualifiers for amount of payment; modifying
12 percentages based on conditional factors; modifying
13 definitions; modifying time limit for maximum benefit
13 duration; modifying maximum weekly benefit amount;
14 reducing percentages for maximum benefit amount;
14 clarifying time limit for appeal; repealing 40 O.S.
15 2021, Section 3-201, which relates to employers; and
15 providing an effective date.
16
16
17
17
18
18
19 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
19
20 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 40 O.S. 2021, Section 1-201, as
20
21 amended by Section 1, Chapter 360, O.S.L. 2022 (40 O.S. Supp. 2023,
21
22 Section 1-201), is amended to read as follows:
22
23 Section 1-201. GENERAL DEFINITIONS. As used in the Employment
23
24 Security Act of 1980:
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 1
 1 1. "Additional initial claim" means a claim application which
1
2 reactivates a claim during an existing benefit year and certifies to
2
3 a period of employment which occurred subsequent to the date of the
3
4 filing of the last initial, additional, or reopened claim;
4
5 2. "Alternative base period" means the most recent four (4)
5
6 completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of
6
7 an individual's benefit year. In the event that an individual's
7
8 claim uses an alternative base period to meet the wage requirement
8
9 under Section 2-207 of this title, this alternative base period
9
10 shall be substituted for base period for all other purposes under
10
11 the Employment Security Act of 1980;
11
12 3. "Assigned tax rate" means the tax rate assigned to an
12
13 employer pursuant to Section 3-110.1 of this title when the employer
13
14 does not have sufficient experience history to meet the At-Risk Rule
14
15 set out in paragraph 3 of Section 3-110.1 of this title;
15
16 4. "Base period" means the first four (4) of the last five (5)
16
17 completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of
17
18 an individual's benefit year;
18
19 5. "Benefit year" with respect to any individual means the one-
19
20 year period beginning with the first day of the first week with
20
21 respect to which the individual first files a valid claim for
21
22 benefits and thereafter the one-year period beginning with the first
22
23 day of the first week with respect to which the individual next
23
24 files a valid claim for benefits after the termination of his or her
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 2
 1 last preceding benefit year. Any claim for benefits shall be deemed
1
2 a valid claim for the purpose of this section if the individual has
2
3 been paid the wages for insured work required under the Employment
3
4 Security Act of 1980;
4
5 6. "Benefit wages" means the taxable wages earned by a claimant
5
6 during the claimant's base period which are not in excess of the
6
7 current maximum weekly benefit amount, as determined under Section
7
8 2-104 of this title, multiplied by the maximum number of weeks for
8
9 which benefits could be paid to any individual (now twenty-six (26)
9
10 weeks) pursuant to Section 2-106 of this title, multiplied by three
10
11 (3); provided, however, no wages shall be included as benefit wages
11
12 unless and until the claimant has been paid benefits for five (5)
12
13 weeks in one (1) benefit year;
13
14 7. "Benefits" means the money payments payable to an individual
14
15 as provided in the Employment Security Act of 1980 with respect to
15
16 his or her unemployment, including extended benefits. The federal
16
17 share of such extended benefits shall not be construed as benefits
17
18 for the purposes of computing contribution rates under the
18
19 Employment Security Act of 1980;
19
20 8. "Calendar quarter" means the period of three (3) consecutive
20
21 calendar months ending on March 31, June 30, September 30, or
21
22 December 31, or the equivalent thereof as the Commission may by
22
23 regulation prescribe;
23
24
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 3
 1 9. "Client" shall have the same meaning as provided in
1
2 paragraph 1 of Section 600.2 of this title;
2
3 10. "Coemployer" shall have the same meaning as provided in
3
4 paragraph 2 of Section 600.2 of this title;
4
5 11. "Coemployment relationship" shall have the same meaning as
5
6 provided in paragraph 3 of Section 600.2 of this title;
6
7 12. "Commission" means the Oklahoma Employment Security
7
8 Commission;
8
9 13. "Commissioner" means a member of the Commission;
9
10 14. "Continued claim series" means an uninterrupted series of
10
11 weekly claims filed by a claimant during the benefit year;
11
12 15. "Contributions" means the money payments, including taxes
12
13 and reimbursements, required by the Employment Security Act of 1980
13
14 to be paid into the Unemployment Compensation Fund by an employer;
14
15 16. "Covered employee" shall have the same meaning as provided
15
16 in paragraph 5 of Section 600.2 of this title;
16
17 17. "Digital portal filing" means electronic communication
17
18 through the agency digital portal;
18
19 18. "Earned tax rate" means the tax rate calculated for an
19
20 employer with sufficient experience history to meet the At-Risk Rule
20
21 set out in paragraph 3 of Section 3-110.1 of this title, with the
21
22 tax rate calculated pursuant to the provisions of Section 3-101 et
22
23 seq. of this title;
23
24
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 4
 1 19. "Electronic e-filing" means filing by email or fax to
1
2 email;
2
3 20. "Eligibility period" of an individual for extended benefits
3
4 means the period consisting of the weeks in his or her benefit year,
4
5 as defined by the Employment Security Act of 1980, which begin in an
5
6 extended benefit period and, if his or her benefit year ends within
6
7 such extended benefit period, any weeks thereafter which begin in
7
8 such extended benefit period;
8
9 21. "Employer" shall have the same meaning as provided in
9
10 Section 1-208 of this title;
10
11 22. "Employing unit" means any individual or type of
11
12 organization, including any partnership, association, trust, estate,
12
13 joint stock company, insurance company, limited liability company or
13
14 corporation, whether domestic or foreign, or the receiver, trustee
14
15 in bankruptcy, trustee or successor thereof, or the legal
15
16 representative of a deceased person, which has or subsequent to
16
17 January 1, 1936, had in its employ one or more individuals
17
18 performing services for it within this state;
18
19 23. "Employment" shall have the same meaning as provided in
19
20 Section 1-210 of this title;
20
21 24. "Employment office" means a free public employment office
21
22 or branch thereof operated by this or any other state as a part of a
22
23 state-controlled system of public employment offices or by a federal
23
24
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 5
 1 agency charged with the administration of an unemployment
1
2 compensation program or free public employment offices;
2
3 25. "Employment Security Administration Fund" means the fund
3
4 established in Section 4-602 of this title from which administration
4
5 expenses under the Employment Security Act of 1980 shall be paid;
5
6 26. "Exhaustee" shall have the same meaning as provided in
6
7 Section 2-712 of this title;
7
8 27. "Experience period" means the most recent twelve (12)
8
9 consecutive completed calendar quarters occurring before July 1 of
9
10 the year immediately preceding the year for which the employer's
10
11 contribution rate is being calculated;
11
12 28. "Extended base period" means the four (4) quarters prior to
12
13 the claimant's base period. These four (4) quarters may be
13
14 substituted for base period quarters on a quarter-by-quarter basis
14
15 to establish a valid claim regardless of whether the wages have been
15
16 used to establish a prior claim, except any wages earned that would
16
17 render the Commission out of compliance with applicable federal law
17
18 shall be excluded if used in a prior claim;
18
19 29. "Extended benefit period" shall have the same meaning as
19
20 provided in Section 2-703 of this title;
20
21 30. "File", "files", or "filed" shall have the same meaning as
21
22 provided in Section 1-224 of this title;
22
23 31. "Mail", "mails", "mailed", or "mailing" means communication
23
24 sent by a postal service with sufficient postage;
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 6
 1 32. "Foreign limited liability company" shall be defined by the
1
2 provisions of the Oklahoma Limited Liability Company Act;
2
3 33. "Fund" means the Unemployment Compensation Fund established
3
4 in Section 3-601 of this title;
4
5 34. "Hospital" means any hospital required to be licensed under
5
6 the Oklahoma Public Health Code, Section 1-101 et seq. of Title 63
6
7 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and includes state mental hospitals and
7
8 any other mental hospital or institution;
8
9 35. "Initial claim" means a new claim application submitted by
9
10 a claimant to establish a benefit year for unemployment insurance
10
11 benefits;
11
12 36. "Institution of higher education" shall have the same
12
13 meaning as provided in Section 1-214 of this title;
13
14 37. "Insured work" means employment for employers as defined by
14
15 the Employment Security Act of 1980;
15
16 38. "Lessor employing unit" means any independently established
16
17 business entity which engages in the business of providing leased
17
18 employees to any other employer, individual, organization,
18
19 partnership, corporation, or other legal entity, referred to herein
19
20 as a client lessee;
20
21 39. "Limited liability company" shall be defined by the
21
22 provisions of the Oklahoma Limited Liability Company Act;
22
23 40. "Probationary period" means a period of time set forth in
23
24 an established probationary plan, which applies to all employees or
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 7
 1 a specific group of employees, and does not exceed ninety (90)
1
2 calendar days from the first day a new employee begins work;
2
3 41. "Professional Employer Organization" or "PEO" means an
3
4 organization that is subject to the Oklahoma Professional Employer
4
5 Organization Recognition and Registration Act and which meets the
5
6 definition set out in paragraph 9 of Section 600.2 of this title;
6
7 42. "Rate of insured employment" shall have the same meaning as
7
8 provided in Section 2-708 of this title;
8
9 43. "Regular benefits" means benefits payable to an individual
9
10 under the Employment Security Act of 1980, or under any other state
10
11 law including dependents' allowances and benefits payable to federal
11
12 civilian employees;
12
13 44. "Reopened claim" means a claim application which
13
14 reactivates a claim during an existing benefit year when a claimant
14
15 stopped filing for benefits before his or her claim was exhausted,
15
16 but in which there occurred no intervening employment from the date
16
17 of the filing of the last initial, additional, or reopened claim;
17
18 45. "State" includes, in addition to the states of the United
18
19 States of America, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
19
20 Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands;
20
21 46. "State law" means the unemployment insurance law of any
21
22 state, approved by the Secretary of Labor of the United States under
22
23 Section 3304 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954;
23
24
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 8
 1 47. "Supplemental unemployment benefit plan" means a plan that
1
2 provides for an employer to make payments to its employees during a
2
3 permanent or temporary layoff that will supplement unemployment
3
4 benefits received by the employees. The purpose of a supplemental
4
5 unemployment benefit plan is to allow an employer to sustain the
5
6 purchasing power of its employees or former employees during a
6
7 layoff;
7
8 48. "Taxable wages" means the wages paid to an individual with
8
9 respect to employment during a calendar year for services covered by
9
10 the Employment Security Act of 1980 or other state unemployment
10
11 compensation acts which shall equal the applicable percentage of the
11
12 state's average annual wage for the second preceding calendar year
12
13 as determined by the Commission, rounded to the nearest multiple of
13
14 One Hundred Dollars ($100.00);
14
15 49. "Wages" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section
15
16 1-218 of this title;
16
17 50. "Wages paid" means wages actually paid to the worker;
17
18 provided, however, that in the event of any distribution of an
18
19 employer's assets through insolvency, receivership, composition,
19
20 assignment for the benefit of creditors, or termination of business,
20
21 wages earned but not actually paid shall be considered as paid; and
21
22 51. "Week" means such period of seven (7) consecutive days, as
22
23 the Commission may by regulation prescribe.
23
24
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 9
 1 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 40 O.S. 2021, Section 1-218, is
1
2 amended to read as follows:
2
3 Section 1-218. WAGES.
3
4 "Wages" means all remuneration for services from whatever
4
5 source, including commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all
5
6 remuneration in any medium other than cash, and includes dismissal
6
7 payments which the employer is required by law or contract to make.
7
8 Gratuities customarily received by an individual in the course of
8
9 work from persons other than the employing unit shall be treated as
9
10 wages received from the employing unit. The reasonable cash value
10
11 of remuneration in any medium other than cash, and the reasonable
11
12 amount of gratuities, shall be estimated and determined in
12
13 accordance with rules prescribed by the Oklahoma Employment Security
13
14 Commission. If the Internal Revenue Code, at 26 USCA, Section 1 et
14
15 seq., provides that a payment made by an employer to an employee is
15
16 considered to be wages, that payment shall also be considered wages
16
17 by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission for the purposes of
17
18 this act. The term wages shall not include:
18
19 1. The amount of any payment, with respect to services
19
20 performed to or on behalf of an individual in its employ under a
20
21 plan or system established by an employing unit which makes
21
22 provision for individuals in its employ generally, or for a class or
22
23 classes of such individuals, including any amount paid by an
23
24
24
Req. No. 8863 Page 10
 1 employing unit for insurance or annuities, or into a fund to provide
1
2 for any such payment, on account of:
2
3 a. retirement, other than employee contributions or
3
4 deferrals