130th Ohio General Assembly
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Sub. S. B. No. 92As Passed by the House
As Passed by the House

125th General Assembly
Regular Session
2003-2004
Sub. S. B. No. 92


SENATORS Nein, Armbruster, Carey, Austria, Mumper, Roberts, White, Harris

REPRESENTATIVES Schmidt, Flowers, Otterman, Chandler, Clancy, Domenick, C. Evans, Hoops, McGregor, Niehaus, Price, Raussen, Schlichter, Seitz, J. Stewart, Ujvagi, Yates



A BILL
To amend sections 3121.898, 3121.899, 4141.01, 4141.281, and 4141.29 of the Revised Code, and to amend Section 3 of S.B. 99 of the 124th General Assembly to modify limitations on the use of new hire reports under the Child Support Law, to change unemployment compensation eligibility requirements when unemployment is caused by a major disaster, to modify the authority of reviewing courts with respect to unemployment compensation appeals, to delay the implementation of specified unemployment compensation application requirements for a year and to declare an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3121.898, 3121.899, 4141.01, 4141.281, and 4141.29 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3121.898.  The department of job and family services shall use the new hire reports it receives to for any of the following purposes set forth in 42 U.S.C. 653a, as amended, including:
(A) To locate individuals for the purposes of establishing paternity; and for establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support orders being administered by child support enforcement agencies in this state; and to detect fraud in any program administered by the department.
(B) To verify eligibility for any of the following programs:
(1) Any Title IV-A program as defined in section 5101.80 of the Revised Code;
(2) The medicaid program authorized by Chapter 5111. of the Revised Code;
(3) The unemployment compensation program authorized by Chapter 4141. of the Revised Code;
(4) The food stamp program authorized by section 5101.54 of the Revised Code;
(5) Any other program authorized in 42 U.S.C. 1320b-7(b), as amended.
(C) The administration of the employment security program under the director of job and family services.
Sec. 3121.899.  (A) The new hire reports filed with the department of job and family services pursuant to section 3121.891 of the Revised Code shall not be considered public records for purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code. The director of job and family services may adopt rules under section 3125.51 of the Revised Code governing access to, and use and disclosure of, information contained in the new hire reports. The
(B) The department of job and family services may disclose information in the new hire reports to all of the following:
(1) Any child support enforcement agency and any agent of the department or under contract with a child support enforcement agency that is under contract with the department for the purposes listed in division (A) of section 3121.898 of the Revised Code. The department may submit to the bureau of workers' compensation a copy of any new hire report it receives;
(2) Any county department of job and family services and any agent under contract with a county department of job and family services for the purposes listed in division (B) of section 3121.898 of the Revised Code;
(3) Employees of the department of job and family services and any agent under contract with the department of job and family services for the purposes listed in divisions (B) and (C) of section 3121.898 of the Revised Code;
(4) The administrator of workers' compensation for the purpose of administering the workers' compensation system pursuant to Chapters 4121., 4123., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4141.01.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(A)(1) "Employer" means the state, its instrumentalities, its political subdivisions and their instrumentalities, and any individual or type of organization including any partnership, limited liability company, association, trust, estate, joint-stock company, insurance company, or corporation, whether domestic or foreign, or the receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee, or the successor thereof, or the legal representative of a deceased person who subsequent to December 31, 1971, or in the case of political subdivisions or their instrumentalities, subsequent to December 31, 1973:
(a) Had in employment at least one individual, or in the case of a nonprofit organization, subsequent to December 31, 1973, had not less than four individuals in employment for some portion of a day in each of twenty different calendar weeks, in either the current or the preceding calendar year whether or not the same individual was in employment in each such day; or
(b) Except for a nonprofit organization, had paid for service in employment wages of fifteen hundred dollars or more in any calendar quarter in either the current or preceding calendar year; or
(c) Had paid, subsequent to December 31, 1977, for employment in domestic service in a local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority, cash remuneration of one thousand dollars or more in any calendar quarter in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar year, or had paid subsequent to December 31, 1977, for employment in domestic service in a private home cash remuneration of one thousand dollars in any calendar quarter in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar year:
(i) For the purposes of divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this section, there shall not be taken into account any wages paid to, or employment of, an individual performing domestic service as described in this division.
(ii) An employer under this division shall not be an employer with respect to wages paid for any services other than domestic service unless the employer is also found to be an employer under division (A)(1)(a), (b), or (d) of this section.
(d) As a farm operator or a crew leader subsequent to December 31, 1977, had in employment individuals in agricultural labor; and
(i) During any calendar quarter in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar year, paid cash remuneration of twenty thousand dollars or more for the agricultural labor; or
(ii) Had at least ten individuals in employment in agricultural labor, not including agricultural workers who are aliens admitted to the United States to perform agricultural labor pursuant to sections 214(e) and 101(a)(15)(H) of the "Immigration and Nationality Act," 66 Stat. 163, 8 U.S.C.A. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), for some portion of a day in each of the twenty different calendar weeks, in either the current or preceding calendar year whether or not the same individual was in employment in each day; or
(e) Is not otherwise an employer as defined under division (A)(1)(a) or (b) of this section; and
(i) For which, within either the current or preceding calendar year, service, except for domestic service in a private home not covered under division (A)(1)(c) of this section, is or was performed with respect to which such employer is liable for any federal tax against which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment fund;
(ii) Which, as a condition for approval of this chapter for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 84 Stat. 713, 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311, is required, pursuant to such act to be an employer under this chapter; or
(iii) Who became an employer by election under division (A)(4) or (5) of this section and for the duration of such election; or
(f) In the case of the state, its instrumentalities, its political subdivisions, and their instrumentalities, had in employment, as defined in division (B)(2)(a) of this section, at least one individual;
(g) For the purposes of division (A)(1)(a) of this section, if any week includes both the thirty-first day of December and the first day of January, the days of that week before the first day of January shall be considered one calendar week and the days beginning the first day of January another week.
(2) Each individual employed to perform or to assist in performing the work of any agent or employee of an employer is employed by such employer for all the purposes of this chapter, whether such individual was hired or paid directly by such employer or by such agent or employee, provided the employer had actual or constructive knowledge of the work. All individuals performing services for an employer of any person in this state who maintains two or more establishments within this state are employed by a single employer for the purposes of this chapter.
(3) An employer subject to this chapter within any calendar year is subject to this chapter during the whole of such year and during the next succeeding calendar year.
(4) An employer not otherwise subject to this chapter who files with the director of job and family services a written election to become an employer subject to this chapter for not less than two calendar years shall, with the written approval of such election by the director, become an employer subject to this chapter to the same extent as all other employers as of the date stated in such approval, and shall cease to be subject to this chapter as of the first day of January of any calendar year subsequent to such two calendar years only if at least thirty days prior to such first day of January the employer has filed with the director a written notice to that effect.
(5) Any employer for whom services that do not constitute employment are performed may file with the director a written election that all such services performed by individuals in the employer's employ in one or more distinct establishments or places of business shall be deemed to constitute employment for all the purposes of this chapter, for not less than two calendar years. Upon written approval of the election by the director, such services shall be deemed to constitute employment subject to this chapter from and after the date stated in such approval. Such services shall cease to be employment subject to this chapter as of the first day of January of any calendar year subsequent to such two calendar years only if at least thirty days prior to such first day of January such employer has filed with the director a written notice to that effect.
(B)(1) "Employment" means service performed by an individual for remuneration under any contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied, including service performed in interstate commerce and service performed by an officer of a corporation, without regard to whether such service is executive, managerial, or manual in nature, and without regard to whether such officer is a stockholder or a member of the board of directors of the corporation, unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the director that such individual has been and will continue to be free from direction or control over the performance of such service, both under a contract of service and in fact. The director shall adopt rules to define "direction or control."
(2) "Employment" includes:
(a) Service performed after December 31, 1977, by an individual in the employ of the state or any of its instrumentalities, or any political subdivision thereof or any of its instrumentalities or any instrumentality of more than one of the foregoing or any instrumentality of any of the foregoing and one or more other states or political subdivisions and without regard to divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this section, provided that such service is excluded from employment as defined in the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183, 26 U.S.C.A. 3301, 3306(c)(7) and is not excluded under division (B)(3) of this section; or the services of employees covered by voluntary election, as provided under divisions (A)(4) and (5) of this section;
(b) Service performed after December 31, 1971, by an individual in the employ of a religious, charitable, educational, or other organization which is excluded from the term "employment" as defined in the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 84 Stat. 713, 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311, solely by reason of section 26 U.S.C.A. 3306(c)(8) of that act and is not excluded under division (B)(3) of this section;
(c) Domestic service performed after December 31, 1977, for an employer, as provided in division (A)(1)(c) of this section;
(d) Agricultural labor performed after December 31, 1977, for a farm operator or a crew leader, as provided in division (A)(1)(d) of this section;
(e) Service not covered under division (B)(1) of this section which is performed after December 31, 1971:
(i) As an agent-driver or commission-driver engaged in distributing meat products, vegetable products, fruit products, bakery products, beverages other than milk, laundry, or dry-cleaning services, for the individual's employer or principal;
(ii) As a traveling or city salesperson, other than as an agent-driver or commission-driver, engaged on a full-time basis in the solicitation on behalf of and in the transmission to the salesperson's employer or principal except for sideline sales activities on behalf of some other person of orders from wholesalers, retailers, contractors, or operators of hotels, restaurants, or other similar establishments for merchandise for resale, or supplies for use in their business operations, provided that for the purposes of this division (B)(2)(e)(ii) of this section, the services shall be deemed employment if the contract of service contemplates that substantially all of the services are to be performed personally by the individual and that the individual does not have a substantial investment in facilities used in connection with the performance of the services other than in facilities for transportation, and the services are not in the nature of a single transaction that is not a part of a continuing relationship with the person for whom the services are performed.
(f) An individual's entire service performed within or both within and without the state if:
(i) The service is localized in this state.
(ii) The service is not localized in any state, but some of the service is performed in this state and either the base of operations, or if there is no base of operations then the place from which such service is directed or controlled, is in this state or the base of operations or place from which such service is directed or controlled is not in any state in which some part of the service is performed but the individual's residence is in this state.
(g) Service not covered under division (B)(2)(f)(ii) of this section and performed entirely without this state, with respect to no part of which contributions are required and paid under an unemployment compensation law of any other state, the Virgin Islands, Canada, or of the United States, if the individual performing such service is a resident of this state and the director approves the election of the employer for whom such services are performed; or, if the individual is not a resident of this state but the place from which the service is directed or controlled is in this state, the entire services of such individual shall be deemed to be employment subject to this chapter, provided service is deemed to be localized within this state if the service is performed entirely within this state or if the service is performed both within and without this state but the service performed without this state is incidental to the individual's service within the state, for example, is temporary or transitory in nature or consists of isolated transactions;
(h) Service of an individual who is a citizen of the United States, performed outside the United States except in Canada after December 31, 1971, or the Virgin Islands, after December 31, 1971, and before the first day of January of the year following that in which the United States secretary of labor approves the Virgin Islands law for the first time, in the employ of an American employer, other than service which is "employment" under divisions (B)(2)(f) and (g) of this section or similar provisions of another state's law, if:
(i) The employer's principal place of business in the United States is located in this state;
(ii) The employer has no place of business in the United States, but the employer is an individual who is a resident of this state; or the employer is a corporation which is organized under the laws of this state, or the employer is a partnership or a trust and the number of partners or trustees who are residents of this state is greater than the number who are residents of any other state; or
(iii) None of the criteria of divisions (B)(2)(f)(i) and (ii) of this section is met but the employer has elected coverage in this state or the employer having failed to elect coverage in any state, the individual has filed a claim for benefits, based on such service, under this chapter.
(i) For the purposes of division (B)(2)(h) of this section, the term "American employer" means an employer who is an individual who is a resident of the United States; or a partnership, if two-thirds or more of the partners are residents of the United States; or a trust, if all of the trustees are residents of the United States; or a corporation organized under the laws of the United States or of any state, provided the term "United States" includes the states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provisions of divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section, service, except for domestic service in a private home not covered under division (A)(1)(c) of this section, with respect to which a tax is required to be paid under any federal law imposing a tax against which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment fund, or service, except for domestic service in a private home not covered under division (A)(1)(c) of this section, which, as a condition for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 84 Stat. 713, 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311, is required to be covered under this chapter.
(k) Construction services performed by any individual under a construction contract, as defined in section 4141.39 of the Revised Code, if the director determines that the employer for whom services are performed has the right to direct or control the performance of the services and that the individuals who perform the services receive remuneration for the services performed. The director shall presume that the employer for whom services are performed has the right to direct or control the performance of the services if ten or more of the following criteria apply:
(i) The employer directs or controls the manner or method by which instructions are given to the individual performing services;
(ii) The employer requires particular training for the individual performing services;
(iii) Services performed by the individual are integrated into the regular functioning of the employer;
(iv) The employer requires that services be provided by a particular individual;
(v) The employer hires, supervises, or pays the wages of the individual performing services;
(vi) A continuing relationship between the employer and the individual performing services exists which contemplates continuing or recurring work, even if not full-time work;
(vii) The employer requires the individual to perform services during established hours;
(viii) The employer requires that the individual performing services be devoted on a full-time basis to the business of the employer;
(ix) The employer requires the individual to perform services on the employer's premises;
(x) The employer requires the individual performing services to follow the order of work established by the employer;
(xi) The employer requires the individual performing services to make oral or written reports of progress;
(xii) The employer makes payment to the individual for services on a regular basis, such as hourly, weekly, or monthly;
(xiii) The employer pays expenses for the individual performing services;
(xiv) The employer furnishes the tools and materials for use by the individual to perform services;
(xv) The individual performing services has not invested in the facilities used to perform services;
(xvi) The individual performing services does not realize a profit or suffer a loss as a result of the performance of the services;
(xvii) The individual performing services is not performing services for more than two employers simultaneously;
(xviii) The individual performing services does not make the services available to the general public;
(xix) The employer has a right to discharge the individual performing services;
(xx) The individual performing services has the right to end the individual's relationship with the employer without incurring liability pursuant to an employment contract or agreement.
(3) "Employment" does not include the following services if they are found not subject to the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 84 Stat. 713 (1970), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311, and if the services are not required to be included under division (B)(2)(j) of this section:
(a) Service performed after December 31, 1977, in agricultural labor, except as provided in division (A)(1)(d) of this section;
(b) Domestic service performed after December 31, 1977, in a private home, local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority except as provided in division (A)(1)(c) of this section;
(c) Service performed after December 31, 1977, for this state or a political subdivision as described in division (B)(2)(a) of this section when performed:
(i) As a publicly elected official;
(ii) As a member of a legislative body, or a member of the judiciary;
(iii) As a military member of the Ohio national guard;
(iv) As an employee, not in the classified service as defined in section 124.11 of the Revised Code, serving on a temporary basis in case of fire, storm, snow, earthquake, flood, or similar emergency;
(v) In a position which, under or pursuant to law, is designated as a major nontenured policymaking or advisory position, not in the classified service of the state, or a policymaking or advisory position the performance of the duties of which ordinarily does not require more than eight hours per week.
(d) In the employ of any governmental unit or instrumentality of the United States;
(e) Service performed after December 31, 1971:
(i) Service in the employ of an educational institution or institution of higher education, including those operated by the state or a political subdivision, if such service is performed by a student who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes at the educational institution or institution of higher education; or
(ii) By an individual who is enrolled at a nonprofit or public educational institution which normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a regularly organized body of students in attendance at the place where its educational activities are carried on as a student in a full-time program, taken for credit at the institution, which combines academic instruction with work experience, if the service is an integral part of the program, and the institution has so certified to the employer, provided that this subdivision shall not apply to service performed in a program established for or on behalf of an employer or group of employers;
(f) Service performed by an individual in the employ of the individual's son, daughter, or spouse and service performed by a child under the age of eighteen in the employ of the child's father or mother;
(g) Service performed for one or more principals by an individual who is compensated on a commission basis, who in the performance of the work is master of the individual's own time and efforts, and whose remuneration is wholly dependent on the amount of effort the individual chooses to expend, and which service is not subject to the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311. Service performed after December 31, 1971:
(i) By an individual for an employer as an insurance agent or as an insurance solicitor, if all this service is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission;
(ii) As a home worker performing work, according to specifications furnished by the employer for whom the services are performed, on materials or goods furnished by such employer which are required to be returned to the employer or to a person designated for that purpose.
(h) Service performed after December 31, 1971:
(i) In the employ of a church or convention or association of churches, or in an organization which is operated primarily for religious purposes and which is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches;
(ii) By a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in the exercise of the individual's ministry or by a member of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by such order; or
(iii) In a facility conducted for the purpose of carrying out a program of rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury, or providing remunerative work for individuals who because of their impaired physical or mental capacity cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market, by an individual receiving such rehabilitation or remunerative work;
(i) Service performed after June 30, 1939, with respect to which unemployment compensation is payable under the "Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act," 52 Stat. 1094 (1938), 45 U.S.C. 351;
(j) Service performed by an individual in the employ of any organization exempt from income tax under section 501 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," if the remuneration for such service does not exceed fifty dollars in any calendar quarter, or if such service is in connection with the collection of dues or premiums for a fraternal beneficial society, order, or association and is performed away from the home office or is ritualistic service in connection with any such society, order, or association;
(k) Casual labor not in the course of an employer's trade or business; incidental service performed by an officer, appraiser, or member of a finance committee of a bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or savings association when the remuneration for such incidental service exclusive of the amount paid or allotted for directors' fees does not exceed sixty dollars per calendar quarter is casual labor;
(l) Service performed in the employ of a voluntary employees' beneficial association providing for the payment of life, sickness, accident, or other benefits to the members of such association or their dependents or their designated beneficiaries, if admission to a membership in such association is limited to individuals who are officers or employees of a municipal or public corporation, of a political subdivision of the state, or of the United States and no part of the net earnings of such association inures, other than through such payments, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual;
(m) Service performed by an individual in the employ of a foreign government, including service as a consular or other officer or employee or of a nondiplomatic representative;
(n) Service performed in the employ of an instrumentality wholly owned by a foreign government if the service is of a character similar to that performed in foreign countries by employees of the United States or of an instrumentality thereof and if the director finds that the secretary of state of the United States has certified to the secretary of the treasury of the United States that the foreign government, with respect to whose instrumentality exemption is claimed, grants an equivalent exemption with respect to similar service performed in the foreign country by employees of the United States and of instrumentalities thereof;
(o) Service with respect to which unemployment compensation is payable under an unemployment compensation system established by an act of congress;
(p) Service performed as a student nurse in the employ of a hospital or a nurses' training school by an individual who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes in a nurses' training school chartered or approved pursuant to state law, and service performed as an intern in the employ of a hospital by an individual who has completed a four years' course in a medical school chartered or approved pursuant to state law;
(q) Service performed by an individual under the age of eighteen in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent delivery or distribution;
(r) Service performed in the employ of the United States or an instrumentality of the United States immune under the constitution Constitution of the United States from the contributions imposed by this chapter, except that to the extent that congress permits states to require any instrumentalities of the United States to make payments into an unemployment fund under a state unemployment compensation act, this chapter shall be applicable to such instrumentalities and to services performed for such instrumentalities in the same manner, to the same extent, and on the same terms as to all other employers, individuals, and services, provided that if this state is not certified for any year by the proper agency of the United States under section 3304 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," the payments required of such instrumentalities with respect to such year shall be refunded by the director from the fund in the same manner and within the same period as is provided in division (E) of section 4141.09 of the Revised Code with respect to contributions erroneously collected;
(s) Service performed by an individual as a member of a band or orchestra, provided such service does not represent the principal occupation of such individual, and which service is not subject to or required to be covered for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311. Service performed after December 31, 1971, for a nonprofit organization, this state or its instrumentalities, or a political subdivision or its instrumentalities, as part of an unemployment work-relief or work-training program assisted or financed in whole or in part by any federal agency or an agency of a state or political subdivision thereof, by an individual receiving the work-relief or work-training.
(t) Service performed in the employ of a day camp whose camping season does not exceed twelve weeks in any calendar year, and which service is not subject to the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311. Service performed after December 31, 1971:
(i) In the employ of a hospital, if the service is performed by a patient of the hospital, as defined in division (W) of this section;
(ii) For a prison or other correctional institution by an inmate of the prison or correctional institution;
(iii) Service performed after December 31, 1977, by an inmate of a custodial institution operated by the state, a political subdivision, or a nonprofit organization.
(u) Service that is performed by a nonresident alien individual for the period the individual temporarily is present in the United States as a nonimmigrant under division (F), (J), (M), or (Q) of section 101(a)(15) of the "Immigration and Nationality Act," 66 Stat. 163, 8 U.S.C.A. 1101, as amended, that is excluded under section 3306(c)(19) of the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311.
(v) Notwithstanding any other provisions of division (B)(3) of this section, services that are excluded under divisions (B)(3)(g), (j), (k), and (l) of this section shall not be excluded from employment when performed for a nonprofit organization, as defined in division (X) of this section, or for this state or its instrumentalities, or for a political subdivision or its instrumentalities;
(w) Service that is performed by an individual working as an election official or election worker if the amount of remuneration received by the individual during the calendar year for services as an election official or election worker is less than one thousand dollars;
(x) Service performed for an elementary or secondary school that is operated primarily for religious purposes, that is described in subsection 501(c)(3) and exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C.A. 501;
(y) Service performed by a person committed to a penal institution.
(4) If the services performed during one half or more of any pay period by an employee for the person employing that employee constitute employment, all the services of such employee for such period shall be deemed to be employment; but if the services performed during more than one half of any such pay period by an employee for the person employing that employee do not constitute employment, then none of the services of such employee for such period shall be deemed to be employment. As used in division (B)(4) of this section, "pay period" means a period, of not more than thirty-one consecutive days, for which payment of remuneration is ordinarily made to the employee by the person employing that employee. Division (B)(4) of this section does not apply to services performed in a pay period by an employee for the person employing that employee, if any of such service is excepted by division (B)(3)(o) of this section.
(C) "Benefits" means money payments payable to an individual who has established benefit rights, as provided in this chapter, for loss of remuneration due to the individual's unemployment.
(D) "Benefit rights" means the weekly benefit amount and the maximum benefit amount that may become payable to an individual within the individual's benefit year as determined by the director.
(E) "Claim for benefits" means a claim for waiting period or benefits for a designated week.
(F) "Additional claim" means the first claim for benefits filed following any separation from employment during a benefit year; "continued claim" means any claim other than the first claim for benefits and other than an additional claim.
(G)(1) "Wages" means remuneration paid to an employee by each of the employee's employers with respect to employment; except that wages shall not include that part of remuneration paid during any calendar year to an individual by an employer or such employer's predecessor in interest in the same business or enterprise, which in any calendar year is in excess of eight thousand two hundred fifty dollars on and after January 1, 1992; eight thousand five hundred dollars on and after January 1, 1993; eight thousand seven hundred fifty dollars on and after January 1, 1994; and nine thousand dollars on and after January 1, 1995. Remuneration in excess of such amounts shall be deemed wages subject to contribution to the same extent that such remuneration is defined as wages under the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 84 Stat. 714 (1970), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311, as amended. The remuneration paid an employee by an employer with respect to employment in another state, upon which contributions were required and paid by such employer under the unemployment compensation act of such other state, shall be included as a part of remuneration in computing the amount specified in this division.
(2) Notwithstanding division (G)(1) of this section, if, as of the computation date for any calendar year, the director determines that the level of the unemployment compensation fund is sixty per cent or more below the minimum safe level as defined in section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, then, effective the first day of January of the following calendar year, wages subject to this chapter shall not include that part of remuneration paid during any calendar year to an individual by an employer or such employer's predecessor in interest in the same business or enterprise which is in excess of nine thousand dollars. The increase in the dollar amount of wages subject to this chapter under this division shall remain in effect from the date of the director's determination pursuant to division (G)(2) of this section and thereafter notwithstanding the fact that the level in the fund may subsequently become less than sixty per cent below the minimum safe level.
(H)(1) "Remuneration" means all compensation for personal services, including commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all compensation in any medium other than cash, except that in the case of agricultural or domestic service, "remuneration" includes only cash remuneration. Gratuities customarily received by an individual in the course of the individual's employment from persons other than the individual's employer and which are accounted for by such individual to the individual's employer are taxable wages.
The reasonable cash value of compensation paid in any medium other than cash shall be estimated and determined in accordance with rules prescribed by the director, provided that "remuneration" does not include:
(a) Payments as provided in divisions (b)(2) to (b)(16) of section 3306 of the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 84 Stat. 713, 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311, as amended;
(b) The payment by an employer, without deduction from the remuneration of the individual in the employer's employ, of the tax imposed upon an individual in the employer's employ under section 3101 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," with respect to services performed after October 1, 1941.
(2) "Cash remuneration" means all remuneration paid in cash, including commissions and bonuses, but not including the cash value of all compensation in any medium other than cash.
(I) "Interested party" means the director and any party to whom notice of a determination of an application for benefit rights or a claim for benefits is required to be given under section 4141.28 of the Revised Code.
(J) "Annual payroll" means the total amount of wages subject to contributions during a twelve-month period ending with the last day of the second calendar quarter of any calendar year.
(K) "Average annual payroll" means the average of the last three annual payrolls of an employer, provided that if, as of any computation date, the employer has had less than three annual payrolls in such three-year period, such average shall be based on the annual payrolls which the employer has had as of such date.
(L)(1) "Contributions" means the money payments to the state unemployment compensation fund required of employers by section 4141.25 of the Revised Code and of the state and any of its political subdivisions electing to pay contributions under section 4141.242 of the Revised Code. Employers paying contributions shall be described as "contributory employers."
(2) "Payments in lieu of contributions" means the money payments to the state unemployment compensation fund required of reimbursing employers under sections 4141.241 and 4141.242 of the Revised Code.
(M) An individual is "totally unemployed" in any week during which the individual performs no services and with respect to such week no remuneration is payable to the individual.
(N) An individual is "partially unemployed" in any week if, due to involuntary loss of work, the total remuneration payable to the individual for such week is less than the individual's weekly benefit amount.
(O) "Week" means the calendar week ending at midnight Saturday unless an equivalent week of seven consecutive calendar days is prescribed by the director.
(1) "Qualifying week" means any calendar week in an individual's base period with respect to which the individual earns or is paid remuneration in employment subject to this chapter. A calendar week with respect to which an individual earns remuneration but for which payment was not made within the base period, when necessary to qualify for benefit rights, may be considered to be a qualifying week. The number of qualifying weeks which may be established in a calendar quarter shall not exceed the number of calendar weeks in the quarter.
(2) "Average weekly wage" means the amount obtained by dividing an individual's total remuneration for all qualifying weeks during the base period by the number of such qualifying weeks, provided that if the computation results in an amount that is not a multiple of one dollar, such amount shall be rounded to the next lower multiple of one dollar.
(P) "Weekly benefit amount" means the amount of benefits an individual would be entitled to receive for one week of total unemployment.
(Q)(1) "Base period" means the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an individual's benefit year, except as provided in division (Q)(2) of this section.
(2) If an individual does not have sufficient qualifying weeks and wages in the base period to qualify for benefit rights, the individual's base period shall be the four most recently completed calendar quarters preceding the first day of the individual's benefit year. Such base period shall be known as the "alternate base period." If information as to weeks and wages for the most recent quarter of the alternate base period is not available to the director from the regular quarterly reports of wage information, which are systematically accessible, the director may, consistent with the provisions of section 4141.28 of the Revised Code, base the determination of eligibility for benefits on the affidavit of the claimant with respect to weeks and wages for that calendar quarter. The claimant shall furnish payroll documentation, where available, in support of the affidavit. The determination based upon the alternate base period as it relates to the claimant's benefit rights, shall be amended when the quarterly report of wage information from the employer is timely received and that information causes a change in the determination. As provided in division (B) of section 4141.28 of the Revised Code, any benefits paid and charged to an employer's account, based upon a claimant's affidavit, shall be adjusted effective as of the beginning of the claimant's benefit year. No calendar quarter in a base period or alternate base period shall be used to establish a subsequent benefit year.
(3) The "base period" of a combined wage claim, as described in division (H) of section 4141.43 of the Revised Code, shall be the base period prescribed by the law of the state in which the claim is allowed.
(4) For purposes of determining the weeks that comprise a completed calendar quarter under this division, only those weeks ending at midnight Saturday within the calendar quarter shall be utilized.
(R)(1) "Benefit year" with respect to an individual means the fifty-two week period beginning with the first day of that week with respect to which the individual first files a valid application for determination of benefit rights, and thereafter the fifty-two week period beginning with the first day of that week with respect to which the individual next files a valid application for determination of benefit rights after the termination of the individual's last preceding benefit year, except that the application shall not be considered valid unless the individual has had employment in six weeks that is subject to this chapter or the unemployment compensation act of another state, or the United States, and has, since the beginning of the individual's previous benefit year, in the employment earned three times the average weekly wage determined for the previous benefit year. The "benefit year" of a combined wage claim, as described in division (H) of section 4141.43 of the Revised Code, shall be the benefit year prescribed by the law of the state in which the claim is allowed. Any application for determination of benefit rights made in accordance with section 4141.28 of the Revised Code is valid if the individual filing such application is unemployed, has been employed by an employer or employers subject to this chapter in at least twenty qualifying weeks within the individual's base period, and has earned or been paid remuneration at an average weekly wage of not less than twenty-seven and one-half per cent of the statewide average weekly wage for such weeks. For purposes of determining whether an individual has had sufficient employment since the beginning of the individual's previous benefit year to file a valid application, "employment" means the performance of services for which remuneration is payable.
(2) Effective for benefit years beginning on and after December 28, 2003 26, 2004, any application for determination of benefit rights made in accordance with section 4141.28 of the Revised Code is valid if the individual satisfies the criteria described in division (R)(1) of this section, and if the reason for the individual's separation from employment is not disqualifying pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 4141.29 or section 4141.291 of the Revised Code. A disqualification imposed pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 4141.29 or section 4141.291 of the Revised Code must be removed as provided in those sections as a requirement of establishing a valid application for benefit years beginning on and after December 28, 2003 26, 2004.
(3) The statewide average weekly wage shall be calculated by the director once a year based on the twelve-month period ending the thirtieth day of June, as set forth in division (B)(3) of section 4141.30 of the Revised Code, rounded down to the nearest dollar. Increases or decreases in the amount of remuneration required to have been earned or paid in order for individuals to have filed valid applications shall become effective on Sunday of the calendar week in which the first day of January occurs that follows the twelve-month period ending the thirtieth day of June upon which the calculation of the statewide average weekly wage was based.
(4) As used in this division, an individual is "unemployed" if, with respect to the calendar week in which such application is filed, the individual is "partially unemployed" or "totally unemployed" as defined in this section or if, prior to filing the application, the individual was separated from the individual's most recent work for any reason which terminated the individual's employee-employer relationship, or was laid off indefinitely or for a definite period of seven or more days.
(S) "Calendar quarter" means the period of three consecutive calendar months ending on the thirty-first day of March, the thirtieth day of June, the thirtieth day of September, and the thirty-first day of December, or the equivalent thereof as the director prescribes by rule.
(T) "Computation date" means the first day of the third calendar quarter of any calendar year.
(U) "Contribution period" means the calendar year beginning on the first day of January of any year.
(V) "Agricultural labor," for the purpose of this division, means any service performed prior to January 1, 1972, which was agricultural labor as defined in this division prior to that date, and service performed after December 31, 1971:
(1) On a farm, in the employ of any person, in connection with cultivating the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry, and fur-bearing animals and wildlife;
(2) In the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of a farm in connection with the operation, management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of such farm and its tools and equipment, or in salvaging timber or clearing land of brush and other debris left by hurricane, if the major part of such service is performed on a farm;
(3) In connection with the production or harvesting of any commodity defined as an agricultural commodity in section 15 (g) of the "Agricultural Marketing Act," 46 Stat. 1550 (1931), 12 U.S.C. 1141j, as amended, or in connection with the ginning of cotton, or in connection with the operation or maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways, not owned or operated for profit, used exclusively for supplying and storing water for farming purposes;
(4) In the employ of the operator of a farm in handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, grading, storing, or delivering to storage or to market or to a carrier for transportation to market, in its unmanufactured state, any agricultural or horticultural commodity, but only if the operator produced more than one half of the commodity with respect to which such service is performed;
(5) In the employ of a group of operators of farms, or a cooperative organization of which the operators are members, in the performance of service described in division (V)(4) of this section, but only if the operators produced more than one-half of the commodity with respect to which the service is performed;
(6) Divisions (V)(4) and (5) of this section shall not be deemed to be applicable with respect to service performed:
(a) In connection with commercial canning or commercial freezing or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption; or
(b) On a farm operated for profit if the service is not in the course of the employer's trade or business.
As used in division (V) of this section, "farm" includes stock, dairy, poultry, fruit, fur-bearing animal, and truck farms, plantations, ranches, nurseries, ranges, greenhouses, or other similar structures used primarily for the raising of agricultural or horticultural commodities and orchards.
(W) "Hospital" means an institution which has been registered or licensed by the Ohio department of health as a hospital.
(X) "Nonprofit organization" means an organization, or group of organizations, described in section 501(c)(3) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," and exempt from income tax under section 501(a) of that code.
(Y) "Institution of higher education" means a public or nonprofit educational institution which:
(1) Admits as regular students only individuals having a certificate of graduation from a high school, or the recognized equivalent;
(2) Is legally authorized in this state to provide a program of education beyond high school; and
(3) Provides an educational program for which it awards a bachelor's or higher degree, or provides a program which is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree, a program of post-graduate or post-doctoral studies, or a program of training to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.
For the purposes of this division, all colleges and universities in this state are institutions of higher education.
(Z) For the purposes of this chapter, "states" includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
(AA) "Alien" means, for the purposes of division (A)(1)(d) of this section, an individual who is an alien admitted to the United States to perform service in agricultural labor pursuant to sections 214 (c) and 101 (a)(15)(H) of the "Immigration and Nationality Act," 66 Stat. 163, 8 U.S.C.A. 1101.
(BB)(1) "Crew leader" means an individual who furnishes individuals to perform agricultural labor for any other employer or farm operator, and:
(a) Pays, either on the individual's own behalf or on behalf of the other employer or farm operator, the individuals so furnished by the individual for the service in agricultural labor performed by them;
(b) Has not entered into a written agreement with the other employer or farm operator under which the agricultural worker is designated as in the employ of the other employer or farm operator.
(2) For the purposes of this chapter, any individual who is a member of a crew furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any other employer or farm operator shall be treated as an employee of the crew leader if:
(a) The crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration under the "Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act of 1963," 90 Stat. 2668, 7 U.S.C. 2041; or
(b) Substantially all the members of the crew operate or maintain tractors, mechanized harvesting or crop-dusting equipment, or any other mechanized equipment, which is provided by the crew leader; and
(c) If the individual is not in the employment of the other employer or farm operator within the meaning of division (B)(1) of this section.
(3) For the purposes of this division, any individual who is furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any other employer or farm operator and who is not treated as in the employment of the crew leader under division (BB)(2) of this section shall be treated as the employee of the other employer or farm operator and not of the crew leader. The other employer or farm operator shall be treated as having paid cash remuneration to the individual in an amount equal to the amount of cash remuneration paid to the individual by the crew leader, either on the crew leader's own behalf or on behalf of the other employer or farm operator, for the service in agricultural labor performed for the other employer or farm operator.
(CC) "Educational institution" means an institution other than an institution of higher education as defined in division (Y) of this section which:
(1) Offers participants, trainees, or students an organized course of study or training designed to transfer to them knowledge, skills, information, doctrines, attitudes, or abilities from, by, or under the guidance of an instructor or teacher; and
(2) Is approved, chartered, or issued a permit to operate as a school by the state board of education or other government agency that is authorized within the state to approve, charter, or issue a permit for the operation of a school.
For the purposes of this division, the courses of study or training which the institution offers may be academic, technical, trade, or preparation for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.
Sec. 4141.281. 
APPEALS
(A) APPEAL FILED
Any party notified of a determination of benefit rights or a claim for benefits determination may appeal within twenty-one calendar days after the written determination was sent to the party or within an extended period as provided under division (D)(9) of this section.
(B) REDETERMINATION
Within twenty-one days after receipt of the appeal, the director of job and family services shall issue a redetermination or transfer the appeal to the unemployment compensation review commission. A redetermination under this section is appealable in the same manner as an initial determination by the director.
(C) REVIEW COMMISSION
(1) JURISDICTION
The commission shall provide an opportunity for a fair hearing to the interested parties of appeals over which the commission has jurisdiction. The commission has jurisdiction over an appeal on transfer or on direct appeal to the commission. If the commission concludes that a pending appeal does not warrant a hearing, the commission may remand the appeal to the director for redetermination. The commission retains jurisdiction until the appeal is remanded to the director or a final decision is issued and appealed to court, or the time to request a review or to appeal a decision of a hearing officer or the commission is expired.
(2) CONDUCT OF HEARINGS
Hearings before the commission are held at the hearing officer level and the review level. Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, initial hearings involving claims for compensation and other unemployment compensation issues are conducted at the hearing officer level by hearing officers appointed by the commission. Hearings at the review level are conducted by hearing officers appointed by the commission, by members of the commission acting either individually or collectively, and by members of the commission and hearing officers acting jointly. In all hearings conducted at the review level, the commission shall designate the hearing officer or officers who are to conduct the hearing. When the term "hearing officer" is used in reference to hearings conducted at the review level, the term includes members of the commission. All decisions issued at the review level are issued by the commission.
Provisions contained in the remainder of this paragraph apply to hearings at both the hearing officer level and the review level. The principles of due process in administrative hearings shall be applied to all hearings conducted under the authority of the commission. In conducting hearings, all hearing officers shall control the conduct of the hearing, exclude irrelevant or cumulative evidence, and give weight to the kind of evidence on which reasonably prudent persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs. Hearing officers have an affirmative duty to question parties and witnesses in order to ascertain the relevant facts and to fully and fairly develop the record. Hearing officers are not bound by common law or statutory rules of evidence or by technical or formal rules of procedure. No person shall impose upon the claimant or the employer any burden of proof as is required in a court of law. The proceedings at hearings shall be recorded by mechanical means or otherwise as may be prescribed by the commission. In the absence of further proceedings, the record need not be transcribed. After considering all of the evidence, a hearing officer shall issue a written decision that sets forth the facts as the hearing officer finds them to be, cites the applicable law, and gives the reasoning for the decision.
(3) HEARING OFFICER LEVEL
When an appeal is transferred to the commission by the director, the commission shall notify all interested parties of the time and place of the hearing and assign the appeal for a hearing by a hearing officer. The hearings shall be de novo, except that the director's file pertaining to a case shall be included in the record to be considered.
Following a hearing, the hearing officer shall affirm, modify, or reverse the determination of the director in the manner that appears just and proper. The hearing officer's written decision shall be sent to all interested parties. The decision shall state the right of an interested party to request a review by the commission.
A request for review shall be filed within twenty-one days after the decision was sent to the party, or within an extended period as provided under division (D)(9) of this section. The hearing officer's decision shall become final unless a request for review is filed and allowed or the commission removes the appeal to itself within twenty-one days after the hearing officer's decision is sent.
(4) REVIEW LEVEL
At the review level, the commission may affirm, modify, or reverse previous determinations by the director or at the hearing officer level. At the review level, the commission may affirm, modify, or reverse a hearing officer's decision or remand the decision to the hearing officer level for further hearing. The commission shall consider an appeal at the review level under the following circumstances: when an appeal is required to be heard initially at the review level under this chapter; when the commission on its own motion removes an appeal to itself within twenty-one days after the hearing officer's decision is sent; when the assigned hearing officer refers an appeal to the commission before the hearing officer's decision is sent; or when an interested party files a request for review with the commission within twenty-one days after the hearing officer's decision is sent.
(5) COMMISSION EXAMINATION
The commission shall consider a request for review by an interested party, including the reasons for the request. The commission may adopt rules prescribing the methods for requesting a review. The commission may allow or disallow the request for review. The disallowance of a request for review constitutes a final decision by the commission.
(6) REVIEW PROCEDURE
If the commission allows a request for review, the commission shall notify all interested parties of that fact and provide a reasonable period of time, as the commission defines by rule, in which interested parties may file a response. After that period of time, the commission, based on the record before it, may do one of the following: affirm the decision of the hearing officer; provide for the appeal to be heard or reheard at the hearing officer or review level; provide for the appeal to be heard at the review level as a potential precedential decision; or provide for the decision to be rewritten without further hearing at the review level. When a further hearing is provided or the decision is rewritten, the commission may affirm, modify, or reverse the previous decision.
(7) NOTICES
The commission shall send written notice to all interested parties when it orders an appeal to be heard or reheard. The notice shall include the reasons for the hearing or rehearing.
(8) PRECEDENTIAL
An appeal the commission identifies as potentially precedential shall be heard at the review level. In the notice for that type of hearing, the commission shall notify the director, all interested parties, and any other parties, as the commission determines appropriate, that the appeal is designated as potentially precedential. After the hearing, parties shall be given the opportunity to submit briefs on the issue or issues involved. The commission may designate a decision as precedential after issuing the decision or at any point in the appeal process, even if the commission does not initially identify the appeal as potentially precedential.
(9) MASS APPEALS
When the commission determines that it has five appeals pending that have common facts or common issues, the commission may transfer the appeals to the review level on its own motion to be heard as a mass appeal, including appeals from claimants separated due to a labor dispute, on the condition that there are fewer than twenty-five claimants involved.
To facilitate a mass hearing, the commission may allow an authorized agent to accept notice of hearing on behalf of claimants. An authorized agent may waive this notice of hearing and also the sending of decisions to individual claimants represented by the agent.
(D) SPECIAL PROVISIONS
(1) TIMELINESS OF APPEALS
The date of the mailing provided by the director or the commission is sufficient evidence upon which to conclude that a determination, redetermination, or decision was sent to the party on that date. Appeals may be filed with the director, commission, with an employee of another state or federal agency charged with the duty of accepting claims, or with the unemployment insurance commission of Canada. Any timely written notice by an interested party indicating a desire to appeal shall be accepted.
The director, commission, or authorized agent must receive the appeal within the specified appeal period in order for the appeal to be deemed timely filed, except that: if the United States postal service is used as the means of delivery, the enclosing envelope must have a postmark date or postal meter postmark that is on or before the last day of the specified appeal period; and where the postmark is illegible or missing, the appeal is timely filed if received not later than the end of the fifth calendar day following the last day of the specified appeal period.
The director and the commission may adopt rules pertaining to alternate methods of filing appeals under this section.
(2) WAIVER
Interested parties may waive, in writing, a hearing at either the hearing officer or review level. If the parties waive a hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a decision based on the evidence of record.
(3) TELEPHONE HEARINGS
Hearing officers may conduct hearings at either the hearing officer or review level in person or by telephone. The commission shall adopt rules that designate the circumstances under which hearing officers may conduct a hearing by telephone or grant a party to the hearing the opportunity to object to a hearing by telephone. An interested party whose hearing would be by telephone may elect to have an in-person hearing, provided that the party agrees to have the hearing at the time and place the commission determines pursuant to rule.
(4) EVENING HEARINGS
Where a party requests that a hearing at either the hearing officer or review level be scheduled in the evening because the party is employed during the day, the commission shall schedule the hearing during hours that the party is not employed. If a conflict concerning a request for an evening hearing and an in-person hearing arises, the commission shall schedule the hearing by telephone during evening hours.
(5) NO APPEARANCE -- APPELLANT
For hearings at either the hearing officer or review level, if the appealing party fails to appear at the hearing, the hearing officer shall dismiss the appeal. The commission shall vacate the dismissal upon a showing that written notice of the hearing was not sent to that party's last known address, or good cause for the appellant's failure to appear is shown to the commission within fourteen days after the hearing date.
If the commission finds that the appealing party's reason for failing to appear does not constitute good cause for failing to appear, the commission shall send written notice of that finding, and the appealing party may request a hearing to present testimony on the issue of good cause for failing to appear. The appealing party shall file a request for a hearing on the issue of good cause for failing to appear within ten days after the commission sends written notice indicating a finding of no good cause for failing to appear.
(6) NO APPEARANCE -- APPELLEE
For hearings at either the hearing officer or review level, if the appellee fails to appear at the hearing, the hearing officer shall proceed with the hearing and shall issue a decision based on the evidence of record. The commission shall vacate the decision upon a showing that written notice of the hearing was not sent to the appellee's last known address, or good cause for the appellee's failure to appear is shown to the commission within fourteen days after the hearing date.
(7) AGENT
Any appeal or request for review may be executed on behalf of any party or any group of claimants by an agent.
(8) COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL
No finding of fact or law, decision, or order of the director, hearing officer, or the commission, or a reviewing court under this section or section 4141.28 of the Revised Code shall be given collateral estoppel or res judicata effect in any separate or subsequent judicial, administrative, or arbitration proceeding, other than a proceeding arising under this chapter.
(9) EXTENSION OF APPEAL PERIODS
The time for filing an appeal or a request for review under this section or a court appeal under section 4141.282 of the Revised Code shall be extended in the manner described in the following four sentences. When the last day of an appeal period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the appeal period is extended to the next work day after the Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. When an interested party provides certified medical evidence stating that the interested party's physical condition or mental capacity prevented the interested party from filing an appeal or request for review under this section within the appropriate twenty-one-day period, the appeal period is extended to twenty-one days after the end of the physical or mental condition, and the appeal or request for review is considered timely filed if filed within that extended period. When an interested party provides evidence, which evidence may consist of testimony from the interested party, that is sufficient to establish that the party did not actually receive the determination or decision within the applicable appeal period under this section, and the director or the commission finds that the interested party did not actually receive the determination or decision within the applicable appeal period, then the appeal period is extended to twenty-one days after the interested party actually receives the determination or decision. When an interested party provides evidence, which evidence may consist of testimony from the interested party, that is sufficient to establish that the party did not actually receive a decision within the thirty-day appeal period provided in section 4141.282 of the Revised Code, and a court of common pleas finds that the interested party did not actually receive the decision within that thirty-day appeal period, then the appeal period is extended to thirty days after the interested party actually receives the decision.
Sec. 4141.29.  Each eligible individual shall receive benefits as compensation for loss of remuneration due to involuntary total or partial unemployment in the amounts and subject to the conditions stipulated in this chapter.
(A) No individual is entitled to a waiting period or benefits for any week unless the individual:
(1) Has filed a valid application for determination of benefit rights in accordance with section 4141.28 of the Revised Code;
(2) Has made a claim for benefits in accordance with section 4141.28 of the Revised Code;
(3) Has registered at an employment office or other registration place maintained or designated by the director of job and family services. Registration shall be made in accordance with the time limits, frequency, and manner prescribed by the director.
(4)(a)(i) Is able to work and available for suitable work and, except as provided in division (A)(4)(a)(ii) of this section, is actively seeking suitable work either in a locality in which the individual has earned wages subject to this chapter during the individual's base period, or if the individual leaves that locality, then in a locality where suitable work normally is performed.
(ii) The director may waive the requirement that a claimant be actively seeking work when the director finds that an either of the following is true:
(I) The individual's unemployment is directly attributable to a major disaster declared by the president of the United States pursuant to the "Disaster Relief Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 143, 42 U.S.C. 5121, and the employer whose operation was adversely affected by the disaster, requests a waiver from the director for the individual to be exempt from the requirement to actively seek suitable work;
(II) The individual has been laid off and the employer who laid the individual off has notified the director within ten days after the layoff, that work is expected to be available for the individual within a specified number of days not to exceed forty-five calendar days following the last day the individual worked. In the event the individual is not recalled within the specified period, this waiver shall cease to be operative with respect to that layoff.
(b) The individual shall be instructed as to the efforts that the individual must make in the search for suitable work, except where the active search for work requirement has been waived under division (A)(4)(a) of this section, and shall keep a record of where and when the individual has sought work in complying with those instructions and, upon request, shall produce that record for examination by the director.
(c) An individual who is attending a training course approved by the director meets the requirement of this division, if attendance was recommended by the director and the individual is regularly attending the course and is making satisfactory progress. An individual also meets the requirements of this division if the individual is participating and advancing in a training program, as defined in division (P) of section 5709.61 of the Revised Code, and if an enterprise, defined in division (B) of section 5709.61 of the Revised Code, is paying all or part of the cost of the individual's participation in the training program with the intention of hiring the individual for employment as a new employee, as defined in division (L) of section 5709.61 of the Revised Code, for at least ninety days after the individual's completion of the training program.
(d) An individual who becomes unemployed while attending a regularly established school and whose base period qualifying weeks were earned in whole or in part while attending that school, meets the availability and active search for work requirements of division (A)(4)(a) of this section if the individual regularly attends the school during weeks with respect to which the individual claims unemployment benefits and makes self available on any shift of hours for suitable employment with the individual's most recent employer or any other employer in the individual's base period, or for any other suitable employment to which the individual is directed, under this chapter.
(e) The director shall adopt any rules that the director deems necessary for the administration of division (A)(4) of this section.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, no otherwise eligible individual shall be denied benefits for any week because the individual is in training approved under section 236(a)(1) of the "Trade Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 1978, 19 U.S.C.A. 2296, nor shall that individual be denied benefits by reason of leaving work to enter such training, provided the work left is not suitable employment, or because of the application to any week in training of provisions in this chapter, or any applicable federal unemployment compensation law, relating to availability for work, active search for work, or refusal to accept work.
For the purposes of division (A)(4)(f) of this section, "suitable employment" means with respect to an individual, work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the individual's past adversely affected employment, as defined for the purposes of the "Trade Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 1978, 19 U.S.C.A. 2101, and wages for such work at not less than eighty per cent of the individual's average weekly wage as determined for the purposes of that federal act.
(5) Is unable to obtain suitable work. An individual who is provided temporary work assignments by the individual's employer under agreed terms and conditions of employment, and who is required pursuant to those terms and conditions to inquire with the individual's employer for available work assignments upon the conclusion of each work assignment, is not considered unable to obtain suitable employment if suitable work assignments are available with the employer but the individual fails to contact the employer to inquire about work assignments.
(6) Participates in reemployment services, such as job search assistance services, if the individual has been determined to be likely to exhaust benefits under this chapter, including compensation payable pursuant to 5 U.S.C.A. Chapter 85, other than extended compensation, and needs reemployment services pursuant to the profiling system established by the director under division (K) of this section, unless the director determines that:
(a) The individual has completed such services; or
(b) There is justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to participate in such services.
(B) An individual suffering total or partial unemployment is eligible for benefits for unemployment occurring subsequent to a waiting period of one week and no benefits shall be payable during this required waiting period, but no except when the unemployment during this waiting period is directly attributable to a major disaster declared by the president of the United States pursuant to the "Disaster Relief Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 143, 42 U.S.C. 5121. Not more than one week of waiting period shall be required of any such individual in any benefit year in order to establish the individual's eligibility for total or partial unemployment benefits.
(C) The waiting period for total or partial unemployment shall commence on the first day of the first week with respect to which the individual first files a claim for benefits at an employment office or other place of registration maintained or designated by the director or on the first day of the first week with respect to which the individual has otherwise filed a claim for benefits in accordance with the rules of the department of job and family services, provided such claim is allowed by the director.
(D) Notwithstanding division (A) of this section, no individual may serve a waiting period or be paid benefits under the following conditions:
(1) For any week with respect to which the director finds that:
(a) The individual's unemployment was due to a labor dispute other than a lockout at any factory, establishment, or other premises located in this or any other state and owned or operated by the employer by which the individual is or was last employed; and for so long as the individual's unemployment is due to such labor dispute. No individual shall be disqualified under this provision if either of the following applies:
(i) The individual's employment was with such employer at any factory, establishment, or premises located in this state, owned or operated by such employer, other than the factory, establishment, or premises at which the labor dispute exists, if it is shown that the individual is not financing, participating in, or directly interested in such labor dispute;
(ii) The individual's employment was with an employer not involved in the labor dispute but whose place of business was located within the same premises as the employer engaged in the dispute, unless the individual's employer is a wholly owned subsidiary of the employer engaged in the dispute, or unless the individual actively participates in or voluntarily stops work because of such dispute. If it is established that the claimant was laid off for an indefinite period and not recalled to work prior to the dispute, or was separated by the employer prior to the dispute for reasons other than the labor dispute, or that the individual obtained a bona fide job with another employer while the dispute was still in progress, such labor dispute shall not render the employee ineligible for benefits.
(b) The individual has been given a disciplinary layoff for misconduct in connection with the individual's work.
(2) For the duration of the individual's unemployment if the director finds that:
(a) The individual quit work without just cause or has been discharged for just cause in connection with the individual's work, provided division (D)(2) of this section does not apply to the separation of a person under any of the following circumstances:
(i) Separation from employment for the purpose of entering the armed forces of the United States if the individual makes application to enter, or is inducted into the armed forces within thirty days after such separation;
(ii) Separation from employment pursuant to a labor-management contract or agreement, or pursuant to an established employer plan, program, or policy, which permits the employee, because of lack of work, to accept a separation from employment;
(iii) The individual has left employment to accept a recall from a prior employer or, except as provided in division (D)(2)(a)(iv) of this section, to accept other employment as provided under section 4141.291 of the Revised Code, or left or was separated from employment that was concurrent employment at the time of the most recent separation or within six weeks prior to the most recent separation where the remuneration, hours, or other conditions of such concurrent employment were substantially less favorable than the individual's most recent employment and where such employment, if offered as new work, would be considered not suitable under the provisions of divisions (E) and (F) of this section. Any benefits that would otherwise be chargeable to the account of the employer from whom an individual has left employment or was separated from employment that was concurrent employment under conditions described in division (D)(2)(a)(iii) of this section, shall instead be charged to the mutualized account created by division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, except that any benefits chargeable to the account of a reimbursing employer under division (D)(2)(a)(iii) of this section shall be charged to the account of the reimbursing employer and not to the mutualized account, except as provided in division (D)(2) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code.
(iv) When an individual has been issued a definite layoff date by the individual's employer and before the layoff date, the individual quits to accept other employment, the provisions of division (D)(2)(a)(iii) of this section apply and no disqualification shall be imposed under division (D) of this section. However, if the individual fails to meet the employment and earnings requirements of division (A)(2) of section 4141.291 of the Revised Code, then the individual, pursuant to division (A)(5) of this section, shall be ineligible for benefits for any week of unemployment that occurs prior to the layoff date.
(b) The individual has refused without good cause to accept an offer of suitable work when made by an employer either in person or to the individual's last known address, or has refused or failed to investigate a referral to suitable work when directed to do so by a local employment office of this state or another state, provided that this division shall not cause a disqualification for a waiting week or benefits under the following circumstances:
(i) When work is offered by the individual's employer and the individual is not required to accept the offer pursuant to the terms of the labor-management contract or agreement; or
(ii) When the individual is attending a vocational training course pursuant to division (A)(4) of this section except, in the event of a refusal to accept an offer of suitable work or a refusal or failure to investigate a referral, benefits thereafter paid to such individual shall not be charged to the account of any employer and, except as provided in division (B)(1)(b) of section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, shall be charged to the mutualized account as provided in division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code.
(c) Such individual quit work to marry or because of marital, parental, filial, or other domestic obligations.
(d) The individual has knowingly made a false statement or representation or knowingly failed to report any material fact with the object of obtaining benefits to which the individual is not entitled.
(e) The individual became unemployed by reason of commitment to any correctional institution.
(f) The individual became unemployed because of dishonesty in connection with the individual's most recent or any base period work. Remuneration earned in such work shall be excluded from the individual's total base period remuneration and qualifying weeks that otherwise would be credited to the individual for such work in the individual's base period shall not be credited for the purpose of determining the total benefits to which the individual is eligible and the weekly benefit amount to be paid under section 4141.30 of the Revised Code. Such excluded remuneration and noncredited qualifying weeks shall be excluded from the calculation of the maximum amount to be charged, under division (D) of section 4141.24 and section 4141.33 of the Revised Code, against the accounts of the individual's base period employers. In addition, no benefits shall thereafter be paid to the individual based upon such excluded remuneration or noncredited qualifying weeks.
For purposes of division (D)(2)(f) of this section, "dishonesty" means the commission of substantive theft, fraud, or deceitful acts.
(E) No individual otherwise qualified to receive benefits shall lose the right to benefits by reason of a refusal to accept new work if:
(1) As a condition of being so employed the individual would be required to join a company union, or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization, or would be denied the right to retain membership in and observe the lawful rules of any such organization.
(2) The position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute.
(3) The work is at an unreasonable distance from the individual's residence, having regard to the character of the work the individual has been accustomed to do, and travel to the place of work involves expenses substantially greater than that required for the individual's former work, unless the expense is provided for.
(4) The remuneration, hours, or other conditions of the work offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality.
(F) Subject to the special exceptions contained in division (A)(4)(f) of this section and section 4141.301 of the Revised Code, in determining whether any work is suitable for a claimant in the administration of this chapter, the director, in addition to the determination required under division (E) of this section, shall consider the degree of risk to the claimant's health, safety, and morals, the individual's physical fitness for the work, the individual's prior training and experience, the length of the individual's unemployment, the distance of the available work from the individual's residence, and the individual's prospects for obtaining local work.
(G) The "duration of unemployment" as used in this section means the full period of unemployment next ensuing after a separation from any base period or subsequent work and until an individual has become reemployed in employment subject to this chapter, or the unemployment compensation act of another state, or of the United States, and until such individual has worked six weeks and for those weeks has earned or been paid remuneration equal to six times an average weekly wage of not less than: eighty-five dollars and ten cents per week beginning on June 26, 1990; and beginning on and after January 1, 1992, twenty-seven and one-half per cent of the statewide average weekly wage as computed each first day of January under division (B)(3) of section 4141.30 of the Revised Code, rounded down to the nearest dollar, except for purposes of division (D)(2)(c) of this section, such term means the full period of unemployment next ensuing after a separation from such work and until such individual has become reemployed subject to the terms set forth above, and has earned wages equal to one-half of the individual's average weekly wage or sixty dollars, whichever is less.
(H) If a claimant is disqualified under division (D)(2)(a), (c), or (e) of this section or found to be qualified under the exceptions provided in division (D)(2)(a)(i), (iii), or (iv) of this section or division (A)(2) of section 4141.291 of the Revised Code, then benefits that may become payable to such claimant, which are chargeable to the account of the employer from whom the individual was separated under such conditions, shall be charged to the mutualized account provided in section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, provided that no charge shall be made to the mutualized account for benefits chargeable to a reimbursing employer, except as provided in division (D)(2) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code. In the case of a reimbursing employer, the director shall refund or credit to the account of the reimbursing employer any over-paid benefits that are recovered under division (B) of section 4141.35 of the Revised Code.
(I)(1) Benefits based on service in employment as provided in divisions (B)(2)(a) and (b) of section 4141.01 of the Revised Code shall be payable in the same amount, on the same terms, and subject to the same conditions as benefits payable on the basis of other service subject to this chapter; except that after December 31, 1977:
(a) Benefits based on service in an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity in an institution of higher education, as defined in division (Y) of section 4141.01 of the Revised Code; or for an educational institution as defined in division (CC) of section 4141.01 of the Revised Code, shall not be paid to any individual for any week of unemployment that begins during the period between two successive academic years or terms, or during a similar period between two regular but not successive terms or during a period of paid sabbatical leave provided for in the individual's contract, if the individual performs such services in the first of those academic years or terms and has a contract or a reasonable assurance that the individual will perform services in any such capacity for any such institution in the second of those academic years or terms.
(b) Benefits based on service for an educational institution or an institution of higher education in other than an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity, shall not be paid to any individual for any week of unemployment which begins during the period between two successive academic years or terms of the employing educational institution or institution of higher education, provided the individual performed those services for the educational institution or institution of higher education during the first such academic year or term and, there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform those services for any educational institution or institution of higher education in the second of such academic years or terms.
If compensation is denied to any individual for any week under division (I)(1)(b) of this section and the individual was not offered an opportunity to perform those services for an institution of higher education or for an educational institution for the second of such academic years or terms, the individual is entitled to a retroactive payment of compensation for each week for which the individual timely filed a claim for compensation and for which compensation was denied solely by reason of division (I)(1)(b) of this section. An application for retroactive benefits shall be timely filed if received by the director or the director's deputy within or prior to the end of the fourth full calendar week after the end of the period for which benefits were denied because of reasonable assurance of employment. The provision for the payment of retroactive benefits under division (I)(1)(b) of this section is applicable to weeks of unemployment beginning on and after November 18, 1983. The provisions under division (I)(1)(b) of this section shall be retroactive to September 5, 1982, only if, as a condition for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 to 3311, the United States secretary of labor determines that retroactivity is required by federal law.
(c) With respect to weeks of unemployment beginning after December 31, 1977, benefits shall be denied to any individual for any week which commences during an established and customary vacation period or holiday recess, if the individual performs any services described in divisions (I)(1)(a) and (b) of this section in the period immediately before the vacation period or holiday recess, and there is a reasonable assurance that the individual will perform any such services in the period immediately following the vacation period or holiday recess.
(d) With respect to any services described in division (I)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of this section, benefits payable on the basis of services in any such capacity shall be denied as specified in division (I)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of this section to any individual who performs such services in an educational institution or institution of higher education while in the employ of an educational service agency. For this purpose, the term "educational service agency" means a governmental agency or governmental entity that is established and operated exclusively for the purpose of providing services to one or more educational institutions or one or more institutions of higher education.
(e) Any individual employed by a public school district or a county board of mental retardation shall be notified by the thirtieth day of April each year if the individual is not to be reemployed the following academic year.
(2) No disqualification will be imposed, between academic years or terms or during a vacation period or holiday recess under this division, unless the director or the director's deputy has received a statement in writing from the educational institution or institution of higher education that the claimant has a contract for, or a reasonable assurance of, reemployment for the ensuing academic year or term.
(3) If an individual has employment with an educational institution or an institution of higher education and employment with a noneducational employer, during the base period of the individual's benefit year, then the individual may become eligible for benefits during the between-term, or vacation or holiday recess, disqualification period, based on employment performed for the noneducational employer, provided that the employment is sufficient to qualify the individual for benefit rights separately from the benefit rights based on school employment. The weekly benefit amount and maximum benefits payable during a disqualification period shall be computed based solely on the nonschool employment.
(J) Benefits shall not be paid on the basis of employment performed by an alien, unless the alien had been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence at the time the services were performed, was lawfully present for purposes of performing the services, or was otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the time the services were performed, under section 212(d)(5) of the "Immigration and Nationality Act," 66 Stat. 163, 8 U.S.C.A. 1101:
(1) Any data or information required of individuals applying for benefits to determine whether benefits are not payable to them because of their alien status shall be uniformly required from all applicants for benefits.
(2) In the case of an individual whose application for benefits would otherwise be approved, no determination that benefits to the individual are not payable because of the individual's alien status shall be made except upon a preponderance of the evidence that the individual had not, in fact, been lawfully admitted to the United States.
(K) The director shall establish and utilize a system of profiling all new claimants under this chapter that:
(1) Identifies which claimants will be likely to exhaust regular compensation and will need job search assistance services to make a successful transition to new employment;
(2) Refers claimants identified pursuant to division (K)(1) of this section to reemployment services, such as job search assistance services, available under any state or federal law;
(3) Collects follow-up information relating to the services received by such claimants and the employment outcomes for such claimant's subsequent to receiving such services and utilizes such information in making identifications pursuant to division (K)(1) of this section; and
(4) Meets such other requirements as the United States secretary of labor determines are appropriate.
Section 2. That existing sections 3121.898, 3121.899, 4141.01, 4141.281, and 4141.29 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. That Section 3 of S.B. 99 of the 124th General Assembly be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3. Notwithstanding division (R)(2) of section 4141.01 of the Revised Code as amended by this act S.B. 99 of the 124th General Assembly, the Director of Job and Family Services may specify that the provisions of that division are applicable for the determination of benefit rights involving benefit years beginning on or before December 28, 2003 26, 2004, if the Director determines that the technological systems necessary to effect the purposes of that division are operational and sufficiently adequate to assure no interruption in the discharge of the duties of the Director and the Department of Job and Family Services under Chapter 4141. of the Revised Code.
Section 4. That existing Section 3 of S.B. 99 of the 124th General Assembly is hereby repealed.
Section 5. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The reason for this necessity is that timely financial provision during times of unemployment is critically important to the citizens of Ohio. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.
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