§ 781.4. Contributions by employes
Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 43 P.S. LaborEffective: December 20, 2017
Effective: December 20, 2017
43 P.S. § 781.4
§ 781.4. Contributions by employes
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, each employe shall pay contributions at a rate of zero per centum (0.0%) for calendar year 1989 and at a rate as set forth in section 301.71 for each calendar year thereafter of all wages paid for “employment” as defined by the act without regard to the limitation specified in section 4(x)(1) of this act.2
(b) Each employer subject to this act shall be responsible for withholding and shall withhold, in trust, such contributions from the wages of his employes at the time such wages are paid and shall report and transmit such deductions to the department for deposit into the Unemployment Compensation Fund, the Reemployment Fund and the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund pursuant to the allocation prescribed in subsection (e), in accordance with rules and procedures established by the department.
(c) Any employer who is an individual, or any officer or agent of any employer, who violates the trust provision of this section, fails to withhold, hold in trust or fails to transmit to the department all contributions withheld from the wages of his employes in accordance with the rules and procedure established by the department shall be subject to the provisions of clause (2) of subsection (a) of section 301 and sections 308, 308.1, 308.2, 308.3 and 309 of this act.3
(d) This section shall not be deemed to affect or impair the operation of any State statute or ordinance or resolution of a political subdivision which levies or collects any wage tax or similar tax. Contributions made pursuant to this section are not intended to reduce or otherwise affect any tax on wages or similar tax.
(2) During each calendar year from 2013 through 2021, an amount determined by the secretary with the approval of the Governor shall be deposited into the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund. For calendar year 2013, the amount determined under this clause may not exceed forty million dollars ($40,000,000). For calendar year 2014, the amount determined under this clause may not exceed thirty million dollars ($30,000,000). For calendar years 2015 and 2016, the amount determined under this clause for each calendar year may not exceed one hundred ninety million dollars ($190,000,000) adjusted by the increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for the period from May 2013 through January of the calendar year less the amount of Federal administrative funding for the preceding Federal fiscal year. For calendar year 2017, the amount determined under this clause may not exceed fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000). For calendar year 2018, the amount determined under this clause may not exceed thirty million dollars ($30,000,000). For calendar year 2019, the amount determined under this clause may not exceed twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000). For calendar year 2020, the amount determined under this clause may not exceed twenty million dollars ($20,000,000). For calendar year 2021, the amount determined under this clause may not exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000).
(1) The department shall temporarily improve the operations of the unemployment compensation system pending the General Assembly's review of the information required by section 301.9(h) and (i)4 and a special performance audit conducted by the Auditor General. Funding under this clause shall be allocated as follows:
(iii) One million four hundred thousand dollars ($1,400,000) shall be allocated for personnel costs related to appeals under Article V.5
(2) Funding shall be expended in a manner that will result in the operations of the unemployment compensation system remaining at consistent levels for at least nine (9) calendar months following the effective date of this clause.6
(3) The department shall maintain a separate accounting for the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund. The secretary shall provide a report to the chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the Senate and the chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the House of Representatives before the fifteenth day of each month during the period specified in clause (2). The report shall include all of the following:
(g) It is the intention of the General Assembly that the department will end its reliance on transfers to the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund. Funding allocated under subsection (e) is intended to support the operations of the unemployment compensation system and maintain adequate service levels for claimants and employers during the implementation and initial deployment of technological upgrades to the delivery system for unemployment compensation payments. During calendar years 2018 through 2021, the following shall apply to funding transferred to the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund and related matters regarding the fund:
(1) The department shall expend funds for the purposes authorized under section 301.9(c)(1), (3) and (4) to maintain and modernize the operations of the unemployment compensation system during the implementation and initial deployment of technological upgrades to the delivery system for unemployment compensation payments.
(3) A copy of the report required under section 301.9(g) shall be submitted to the chair and minority chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the Senate and the chair and minority chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the House of Representatives. In addition to the information required by section 301.9(g), the report shall include detailed information on the following:
(h) In addition to the amounts allowed under subsection (e), an amount determined by the secretary, with the approval of the Governor, shall be deposited into the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund for costs related to the procurement and implementation of technological upgrades to the delivery system for unemployment compensation benefits, consistent with costs reported to the General Assembly under section 301.9(i)(3). The following shall apply:
(1) For costs incurred in calendar year 2017, the amount determined under this subsection may not exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000). For costs incurred in calendar year 2018, the amount determined under this subsection may not exceed seven million two hundred thousand dollars ($7,200,000). For costs incurred in calendar year 2019, the amount determined under this subsection may not exceed twelve million one hundred thousand dollars ($12,100,000). For costs incurred in calendar year 2020, the amount determined under this subsection may not exceed five million nine hundred thousand dollars ($5,900,000).
(2) Beginning January 1, 2018, the department may deposit into the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund an amount authorized by this subsection for actual costs incurred during calendar year 2017. Each quarter thereafter, the department may deposit an amount equal to actual costs incurred in the prior quarter, subject to the annual limits in clause (1).
(4) A copy of the certification under clause (3) shall be delivered to the chair and minority chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the Senate and the chair and minority chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the House of Representatives within fifteen (15) days of the certification to the Governor.
(5) The department shall implement and deploy the technological upgrades to the delivery system for unemployment compensation benefits in a manner which will result in significant cost savings and end the department's reliance on transfers to the Service and Infrastructure Improvement Fund, while maintaining an adequate level of service for claimants and employers, as follows:
(i) The technological upgrades shall encourage and facilitate the filing of unemployment compensation claims and information required to be provided by employers via the department's publicly accessible Internet website and other electronic means, while maintaining an adequate level of access to other forms of filing for claimants and employers.
(iv) The technological upgrades shall generate operational efficiencies by reducing the need for claimants to contact unemployment compensation service centers via telephone, including augmenting the ability of claimants to amend claim information and submit required information via the department's publicly accessible Internet website or other electronic means without requiring telephone contact with a service center.
(ii) The advisory committee shall meet within 90 days of the effective date of this clause.7
(B) The advisory committee may request information related to the technological upgrades at any time. The department shall provide information requested unless the specific information is determined by the department to be of a proprietary interest or the release of the information is prohibited by law.
(E) The advisory committee shall provide a report, no later than June 30 of each year, to the chair and minority chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the Senate and the chair and minority chair of the Labor and Industry Committee of the House of Representatives. The report shall include the advisory committee's assessment of the progress regarding the implementation and deployment of the technological upgrades, a list of recommendations that the advisory committee has made to the department and whether those recommendations have been accepted. The department shall be provided with a draft copy of the report at least thirty days prior to submission under this clause, and shall be permitted to include its response to the contents of the report. In no event shall the department be allowed to delay the submission of the report by the advisory committee.
Credits
1936, Second Ex.Sess., Dec. 5, P.L. (1937) 2897, art. III, § 301.4, added 1983, July 21, P.L. 68, No. 30, § 12, effective Jan. 1, 1984. Amended 1988, Oct. 19, P.L. 818, No. 109, § 1, effective Jan. 1, 1989; 2012, June 12, P.L. 577, No. 60, § 3, effective Jan. 1, 2013; 2013, July 2, P.L. 195, No. 34, § 1, imd. effective; 2017, April 24, P.L. 1, No. 1, § 2, imd. effective; 2017, Dec. 20, P.L. 1191, No. 60, § 1, imd. effective.
Footnotes
43 P.S. § 781.7.
43 P.S. § 753.
43 P.S. §§ 781, 788, 788.1, 788.2, 788.3 and 789.
43 P.S. § 781.9.
43 P.S. § 821 et seq.
Subsec. (f)(2) was added by 2017, April 24, P.L. 1, No. 1, § 2, imd. effective.
Subsec. (h)(6)(ii) was added by 2017, Dec. 20, P.L. 1191, No. 60, § 1, imd. effective.
43 P.S. § 781.4, PA ST 43 P.S. § 781.4
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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