APPROVED CHAPTER
JULY 12, 2021 456
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE
_____
S.P. 507 - L.D. 1564
An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Unemployment Compensation
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§17, ¶B, as amended by PL 1991, c. 548, Pt. D, §2,
is further amended to read:
B. An individual, including corporate officers, is considered "partially unemployed"
in any week of less than full-time work if the individual's wages payable from any
source for such week are not $5 $100 or more in excess of the weekly benefit amount
the individual would be entitled to receive if totally unemployed and eligible, except
that remuneration payable or received as holiday pay is not considered wages for the
purpose of this subsection and except that any amounts received from the Federal
Government by members of the National Guard and organized reserve, including base
pay and allowances, or any amounts received as a volunteer firefighter, a volunteer
emergency medical services person or as an elected member of the Legislature, are not
considered wages for the purpose of this subsection. On the first Sunday of June 2022
and each first Sunday of June thereafter, the excess earnings cap then in effect must be
increased by the increase, if any, in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living
must be measured by the percentage increase, if any, as of December of the previous
year over the level as of December of the year preceding that year in the Consumer
Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast
Region, or its successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the amount of the excess
earnings cap rounded up to the nearest dollar.
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§17, ¶C, as amended by PL 1979, c. 515, §5, is
further amended to read:
C. An individual's week of unemployment shall be deemed to commence commences
only after his the individual's registration at an employment office, except as the
commission commissioner may by regulation rule otherwise prescribe.
Sec. 3. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§19, as amended by PL 2017, c. 117, §3, is further
amended to read:
Page 1 - 130LR0454(07)
 19. Wages. "Wages" means all remuneration for personal services, including
commissions, bonuses, severance or terminal pay, gratuities and the cash value of all
remuneration in any medium other than cash. The reasonable cash value of remuneration
in any medium other than cash must be estimated and determined in accordance with
regulations rules prescribed by the commission commissioner, except that:
A. For purposes of section 1221, the term "wages" does not include remuneration that
exceeds the first $12,000 that is paid in a calendar year to an individual by an employer
or the employer's predecessor for employment during any calendar year, unless that
remuneration is subject to a tax under a federal law imposing a tax against which credit
may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment fund. The
wages of an individual for employment with an employer are subject to this exception
whether earned in this State or any other state when the employer-employee
relationship is between the same legal entities;
B. For purposes of section 1191, subsection 2, section 1192, subsection 5 and section
1221, the term "wages" does not include:
(1) The amount of any payment, including any amount paid by an employer for
insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment, made to,
or on behalf of, an employee or any of the employee's dependents under a plan or
system established by an employer that makes provision for the employer's
employees generally, or for the employer's employees generally and their
dependents, or for a class or classes of the employer's employees, or for a class or
classes of the employer's employees and their dependents, on account of:
(a) Sickness or accident disability, but, in the case of payments made to an
employee or any of the employee's dependents, this subparagraph excludes
from the term "wages" only payments that are received under a workers'
compensation law;
(b) Medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or
accident disability; or
(c) Death;
(1-A) Any payment on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical or
hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, made
by an employer or a 3rd party to, or on behalf of, an employee after the expiration
of 6 calendar months following the last calendar month in which the employee
worked for that employer;
(2) The payment by an employing unit, without deduction from the remuneration
of the employee, of the tax imposed upon an employee under section 3101 of the
Federal Insurance Contributions Act, as amended, with respect to service
performed after July 26, 1940, with respect to remuneration paid to an employee
for domestic service in a private home of the employer or for agricultural labor;
(3) The amount of any payment, other than vacation or sick pay, to an individual
after the month in which the individual attains the age of 62, if the individual did
not perform services for the employing unit in the period for which such payment
is made and is not expected to perform service in the future for the payment; or
Page 2 - 130LR0454(07)
 (4) The amount of any nominal fee or stipend to a volunteer whose service is
excluded from the definition of employment pursuant to subsection 11, paragraph
F, subparagraph (35);
C. With respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 1, 1978,
wages for insured work includes wages paid for previously uncovered services. For the
purposes of this paragraph, the term "previously uncovered services" means services:
(1) That were not employment as defined in subsection 11, and were not services
covered pursuant to section 1222, at any time during the one-year period ending
December 31, 1975; and
(2) That:
(a) Are agricultural labor, as defined in subsection 11, paragraph A‑2 or
domestic service as defined in subsection 11, paragraph A‑3; or
(b) Are services performed by an employee of this State or a political
subdivision thereof, or any of their instrumentalities as provided in subsection
11, paragraph A‑1, subparagraph (1), or by an employee of a nonprofit
educational institution that is not an institution of higher education, as provided
in subsection 11, paragraph F, subparagraph (17), division (i);
except to the extent that assistance under Title II of the Emergency Jobs and
Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974 was paid on the basis of such services;
D. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to include as wages any payment that
is not included as wages under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, 26 United States
Code, Section 3306(b)(5) and (r), as amended, as of January 1, 1985; and
E. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to exclude from wages any
remuneration that is:
(1) Taxable under any federal law that imposes a tax against which credit may be
taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment fund; or
(2) Required to be covered under this chapter as a condition for full tax credit
against the tax imposed by the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
Sec. 4. 26 MRSA §1043, sub-§20 is amended to read:
20. Week. "Week" means such period or periods of 7 calendar days as the commission
commissioner may by regulation rule prescribe. The commission commissioner may, by
regulation rule, prescribe that a week shall be is deemed to be "in," "within" or "during" a
benefit year which that includes any part of such week.
Sec. 5. 26 MRSA §1050, as amended by PL 1979, c. 579, §8 and c. 651, §§9 and
47, is further amended to read:
§1050. Constitutionality
If at any time the provisions of this chapter requiring the payment of contributions and
benefits have been held invalid under the Constitution of this State Maine by the Supreme
Judicial Court of this State or under the United States Constitution by the Supreme Court
of the United States in such manner that any person or concern required to pay contributions
under this chapter might secure a similar decision, or that the tax imposed by Title IX of
Page 3 - 130LR0454(07)
the federal Social Security Act, as amended, or any other federal tax against which
contributions under this chapter may be credited has been amended or repealed by Congress
or has been held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, with the result
that no portion of the contributions required by this chapter may be credited against such
federal tax, the Governor shall forthwith publicly so proclaim and upon the date of such
proclamation the provisions of this chapter requiring the payment of contributions and
benefits shall must be suspended. The commissioner shall thereupon requisition from the
Unemployment Trust Fund all moneys therein standing to his the commissioner's credit
and shall direct the Treasurer of State to deposit such moneys, together with any other
moneys in the fund, as a special fund in any banks or public depositories in this State in
which general funds of the State may be deposited, and to hold such moneys for such
disposition as the Legislature shall may prescribe. The commissioner shall thereupon
refund, as the Legislature shall may prescribe, without interest and in accordance with
regulations rules prescribed by the commission commissioner, to each person or concern
by whom contributions have been paid, their pro rata share of the total contributions paid
under this chapter. Any interest or earnings of the fund shall must be available to the
commissioner to pay for the costs of making such refunds. When the commissioner shall
have has executed the duties prescribed and performed such other acts as are incidental to
the termination of his the commissioner's duties under this chapter, the Governor shall by
proclamation declare that this chapter shall cease ceases to be operative.
Sec. 6. 26 MRSA §1051, sub-§5, as amended by PL 1997, c. 293, §4, is further
amended to read:
5. Refusal to repay erroneous payments; waiver of repayment. If, after due notice,
any person refuses to repay amounts erroneously paid to that person as unemployment
benefits, the amounts due from that person are collectible in the manner provided in
subsection 6 or in the discretion of the commission commissioner or the commissioner's
designee, the amount erroneously paid to such person may be deducted from any future
benefits payable to that person under this chapter; provided except that there is no recovery
of payments from any person who, in the judgment of at least 2 commission members the
commissioner or the commissioner's designee, is without fault and where when, in the
judgment of the commission commissioner or the commissioner's designee, such recovery
would defeat the purpose of benefits otherwise authorized or would be against equity and
good conscience. No recovery may be attempted until the determination of an erroneous
payment is final as to law and fact and the individual has been notified of the opportunity
for a waiver under this subsection.
Sec. 7. 26 MRSA §1051, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 464, §4, is amended to
read:
9. Interest on overpayments. Benefit payments owed to the commissioner bear
interest at the rate of 1.0% per month or per fraction of a month. Except as provided in this
subsection, interest accrues on any balance that remains unpaid one year after the first of
the month following the date the determination establishing the benefit overpayment
becomes final until payment plus accrued interest is received by the bureau. If the A benefit
overpayment was established in a determination rendered under section 1193, subsection
6, accrues interest accrues at the rate of 1.0% per month or per fraction of a month from
the first of the month following the date the determination establishing the benefit
overpayment becomes final until payment plus accrued interest is received by the bureau.
Page 4 - 130LR0454(07)
 Sec. 8. 26 MRSA §1082, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1995, c. 560, Pt. G, §11, is
further amended to read:
1. Powers and duties of the commissioner. Except as otherwise provided, it is the
duty of the Commissioner of Labor commissioner to administer this chapter, through an
organization to be known as the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. The
commissioner may employ persons, make expenditures, require reports, make
investigations and take other actions the commissioner determines necessary or suitable to
that end. The commissioner is responsible and possesses the necessary authority for the
operation and management of the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. The
commissioner shall determine methods of operational procedures in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter. The commissioner may adopt rules in accordance with the
Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375, to achieve this purpose, except
rules pertaining to unemployment insurance as provided in subsection 2. The
commissioner may adopt rules with respect to a self-employment assistance program as
provided in section 1197. The commissioner shall determine methods of operational
procedures in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and by the Maine
Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375. The commissioner shall make
recommendations for amendments to this chapter that the commissioner determines proper.
When the commissioner believes that a change in contribution or benefit rates is necessary
to protect the solvency of the fund, the commissioner shall promptly inform the Governor
and the Legislature and make recommendations with respect to the change in rates.
Sec. 9. 26 MRSA §1082, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. O, §3 and
affected by Pt. X, §2, is further amended to read:
2. Powers and duties. In addition to other powers and duties provided in this chapter,
the commission, by majority vote and with the advice of the commissioner, may adopt or
rescind rules with respect to unemployment insurance in accordance with the Maine
Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375. The commission may require reports,
make investigations and undertake other activities necessary to carry out the duties of the
commission. Each member of the commission is entitled to access to any information,
memoranda, reports or statistical data that is in the possession of or that has been prepared
by a division of the Department of Labor and that relates to the administration of this
chapter.
Sec. 10. 26 MRSA §1082, sub-§13, as amended by PL 2015, c. 39, §1, is further
amended to read:
13. Filing payroll reports; penalty. The commission commissioner may prescribe
rules for the filing of payroll reports for the employing units in the State. Each employing
unit shall submit a quarterly payroll report by electronic submission or on forms prescribed
by the bureau. These quarterly reports are due in the office of the bureau, or of any duly
constituted agent of the bureau, on or before the last day of the month following the close
of the calendar quarter for which the reports relate. The failure on the part of any employing
unit to file the payroll reports within this time frame renders the employing unit liable for
a penalty of $25 or 10% of the tax due, whichever is greater.
In the case of executive, administrative and professional employees, and outside sales
representatives, as defined in Part 541 of the Rules and Regulations promulgated under the
federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended as of June 30, 1971, the
Page 5 - 130LR0454(07)
commissioner, upon the request of an employer of those individuals, may approve an
alternative method for obtaining from that employer necessary wage information relative
to those employees.
Sec. 11. 26 MRSA §1162, as repealed and replaced by PL 1979, c. 579, §19 and c.
651, §§20 and 47, is amended to read:
§1162. Withdrawals
Moneys shall must be requisitioned from the state's State's account in the
Unemployment Trust Fund solely for the payment of benefits and for the payment of
refunds pursuant to section 1043, subsection 11, paragraph F, subparagraph (2) and section
1225 in accordance with regulations rules prescribed by the commission commissioner.
The commissioner shall from time to time requisition from the Unemployment Trust Fund
the amounts, not exceeding the amounts standing to this state's State's account therein, as
he deems the commissioner considers necessary for the payment of the benefits and refunds
for a reasonable future period. Upon receipt thereof the Treasurer of State shall deposit the
moneys in the benefit account and warrants shall must be issued for the payment of benefits
and refunds solely from the benefit account. All warrants issued for the payment of benefits
and refunds shall must bear the signature of the commissioner or his the commissioner's
duly authorized agent for that purpose. When so signed and delivered to the payee, the
warrants shall become a check against a designated bank or trust company acting as a
depository of the State Government. The commiss