The 2007 Minnesota Legislature made changes to the Unemployment Insurance Law (Laws 2007, Chapter 128). The table below is a summary of some of the law changes and is not a complete list, nor is it the actual wording contained in the 2007 Unemployment Insurance Law 
.
| Law Change |
Effective Date |
| An alternate base period of the last four completed calendar quarters is automatically used if an applicant has insufficient wage credits to establish a benefit account under the regular base period. This alternate base period is only applicable 30 calendar days or more after the end of the last completed quarter, when a wage detail report has been, or should have been, filed for that quarter. |
Applications filed on or after Sept. 30, 2007, but only if the application is filed 30 days or more after the end of the last completed quarter. |
| The protest-affirmation/redetermination process on all tax determinations has been eliminated to make all tax determinations directly appealable to an unemployment law judge. |
Determinations issued on or after September 30, 2007. |
| The lack of use of wage credits in the tourist and recreation industry has been eliminated. Enacted is a “noncharge” provision for employers in the tourist and recreation industry if in active operation less than 15 calendar weeks and the applicant’s wage credits from the employer are less than 600 times the applicable state or federal minimum wage. |
Applies to benefits paid on benefit accounts filed effective September 30, 2007. |
| Allowing employers with five workers or less to pay unemployment taxes annually has been eliminated effective January 1, 2008. |
Effective January 1, 2008 |
| The appeal time period has been changed to 20 calendar days on all determinations, benefit and tax, as well as unemployment law judges’ decisions. It will be 20 calendar days to request reconsideration (currently the time period is 30 calendar days). |
Determinations issued on or after September 30, 2007. |
| Change in the state’s maximum weekly benefit amount will take place the last Sunday in October. |
December 1, 2007 |
| An applicant who, at the beginning of a week, has an outstanding fraud overpayment balance, including any penalties and interest, is ineligible for benefits for that week. |
Applies to all outstanding fraud overpayment balances as of September 30, 2007. |
| Holiday pay will be treated the same as deductible earnings. |
September 30, 2007 |
| There will be no deduction for old age social security benefits if the applicant’s social security claim is effective before the start of the base period. If the applicant’s social security claim is effective after the start of the base period, there will be the current 50 percent offset of the weekly equivalent. |
September 30, 2007 |
| If the Social Security Administration approved the collecting of primary social security disability benefits while the applicant was employed during the base period, there will be no deduction from the applicant’s weekly benefit amount for social security disability benefits. Otherwise, if an applicant can show that he is, in fact, able to work, there will be the current 50 percent offset, the same as currently. |
September 30, 2007 |
| If an applicant quits employment because of the loss of child care for the applicant’s minor child, the applicant will not be disqualified from benefits provided the applicant made a reasonable effort to obtain other child care and requested time off or other accommodation from the employer and no reasonable accommodation was available. Application of this new exception will raise an issue of the applicant’s availability for suitable employment that the Department must determine. |
September 30, 2007 |
| If the appealing party before an unemployment law judge fails to participate in the evidentiary hearing, the unemployment law judge may summarily dismiss the appeal. |
Effective June 25, 2007
(30 days following date of enactment) |
| An applicant who is determined to have collected unemployment benefits fraudulently will be subject to penalty of 40 percent of the amount fraudulently obtained. |
September 30, 2007 |
| The weekly benefit amount based on a high quarter calculation will be frozen at $351 until October 24, 2009. |
September 30, 2007 |
| All employers with 50 or more employees will be required to pay taxes electronically. |
January 1, 2008 |
| All monetary determinations, eligibility determinations, and separation determinations that result in an overpayment must set out the amount of the overpayment and the requirement that the overpaid benefits be repaid. (Nonfraud overpayment determinations are eliminated as a separate document.) |
September 30, 2007 |
| 55 percent (currently 25 percent of earnings or $50, whichever is higher) of part-time earnings will be deductible from otherwise payable benefits. |
September 30, 2007 |
| There will be no deduction for earnings from service in the National Guard or the United States military reserve. |
Effective 5/27/07
(The Sunday following the date of enactment). |
| An unemployment law judge’s decision or order that results in an overpayment of unemployment benefits must set out the amount of the overpayment and the requirement that the overpaid benefits be repaid. Nonfraud overpayment determinations are eliminated as a separate document. |
Applies to all decisions issued on or after September 30, 2007. |
| Interest on fraud overpayments is mandatory, and applies to all outstanding fraud overpayment balances as of September 30, 2007. If this was not set out in the determination, then interest will be assessed beginning 30 calendar days after notification to the applicant that interest will be assessed. |
Effective September 30, 2007 to all outstanding fraud overpayment balances on that date. |
| Fraud overpayment balances, including interest and penalties, will expire 15 years after the date of the determination. |
Effective September 30, 2007 and applicable to all overpayments existing as of that date. |
| The imposition of an administrative penalty on an employer has been expanded to include if the employer’s false statement or representation or failure to disclose information causes an overpayment of unemployment benefits to an applicant. The penalty is $500 or 50 percent of the overpaid unemployment benefits, whichever is greater. |
Assessments made on or after September 30, 2007. |
| Every determination or appeal decision must indicate the day of the week and date that the determination or unemployment law judge decision is final and no longer subject to appeal. |
September 30, 2007 |
| Wage detail reports must include the number of employees employed during the payroll period that includes the 12th of each calendar month. |
September 30, 2007 |
| Continued requests for unemployment benefits may be done weekly, or biweekly, at the Department’s discretion. |
September 30, 2007 |
| Clarifying language is added providing that public authorities responsible for child support have access to all unemployment insurance data necessary for their responsibilities. |
September 30, 2007 |
| The statute now makes it clear that each employer must notify the Department by electronic transmission, within 30 calendar days, of any change in legal entity or the transfer, sale, or acquisition of a business. |
September 30, 2007 |
| It is now in the statute that an employer that has terminated business regains its previous tax account, with the experience rating history of that account, under certain conditions. |
September 30, 2007 |
| Employers who wish to contest an applicant's eligibility for
benefits must explicitly state their reason for "raising an issue.” Simply stating "we protest the payment of benefits" without giving a reason for the protest will not be considered as raising an issue. |
September 30, 2007 |
