108.151(3)(a)(a) An employer who elected reimbursement financing may terminate its election as of the close of the 2nd calendar year to which such election applies, or at the close of any subsequent calendar year, by filing a written notice to that effect with the department before the close of such calendar year;
108.151(3)(b)
(b) The department may terminate any election as of the close of any calendar year if the department determines that the employer has failed to make the required reimbursement payments or no longer satisfies the requirements of
sub. (4), or whenever
s. 108.16 (8) applies.
108.151(4)(a)(a) An employer electing reimbursement financing shall file an assurance of reimbursement with the fund's treasurer, payable to the unemployment reserve fund, guaranteeing payment of the required reimbursement together with any interest and any tardy filing fees. The assurance shall be a surety bond, letter of credit, certificate of deposit or any other nonnegotiable instrument of fixed value.
108.151(4)(a)1.
1. The amount of assurance shall be equal to 4% of the employer's payroll for the year immediately preceding the effective date of the election, or the employer's anticipated payroll for the current year, whichever is greater as determined by the department, but the assurance may be in a greater amount at the option of the employer. The amount of the assurance shall be similarly redetermined prior to the beginning of the 3rd year commencing after the year in which it is filed and prior to the beginning of every other year thereafter.
108.151(4)(a)2.
2. Prior to the beginning of each year, an employer electing reimbursement financing shall file an assurance for the 4-year period beginning on January 1 of that year in the amount determined under
subd. 1. An assurance shall remain in force until the liability is released by the fund's treasurer.
108.151(4)(a)3.
3. No assurance may be approved unless the fund's treasurer finds that it gives reasonable assurances that it guarantees payment of reimbursements.
108.151(4)(a)4.
4. Failure of any employer covered by the assurance to pay the full amount of its reimbursement payments when due together with any interest and any tardy filing fees shall render the assurance liable on said assurance to the extent of the assurance, as though the assurance was the employer.
108.151(4)(b)
(b) The fund's treasurer shall issue a receipt to the employer for its deposit of assurance. Any assurances shall be retained by the fund's treasurer in escrow, for the fund, until the employer's liability under its election is terminated, at which time they shall be returned to the employer, less any deductions made under this paragraph. The employer may at any time substitute assurances of equal or greater value. The treasurer may, with 10 days' notice to the employer, liquidate the assurances deposited to the extent necessary to satisfy any delinquent reimbursements together with any interest and any tardy filing fees due. The treasurer shall hold in escrow any cash remaining from the sale of the assurances, without interest. The fund's treasurer shall require the employer within 30 days following any liquidation of deposited assurances to deposit sufficient additional assurances to make whole the employer's deposit at the prior level. Any income from assurances held in escrow shall inure to and be the property of the employer.
108.151(5)(a)(a) For each nonprofit organization which has elected reimbursement financing, pursuant to
sub. (2), the fund's treasurer shall maintain a reimbursement account, as a subaccount of the fund's balancing account.
108.151(5)(b)
(b) The department shall charge the employer's reimbursement account with all regular benefits, and with its share of any extended benefits under
s. 108.141, based on wages paid within each quarter ended while its election is in effect.
108.151(5)(c)
(c) The employer's reimbursement account shall be credited with any reimbursement paid by or for it to the fund, and with any benefit overpayment from the account recovered by the department.
108.151(5)(d)
(d) The employer may at any time make other payments to be credited into its reimbursement account, in anticipation of future benefit charges.
108.151(5)(e)
(e) Whenever the employer's reimbursement account has a positive net balance no reimbursement of the benefits charged thereto shall be required.
108.151(5)(f)
(f) Whenever an employer's reimbursement account has a negative balance as of the close of any calendar month, the fund's treasurer shall promptly bill such employer, at its last-known address, for that portion of its negative balance which has resulted from the net benefits charged to such account within such month. Reimbursement payment shall be due within 20 days thereafter. Any required payment which remains unpaid after its applicable due date is a delinquent payment.
Section 108.22 shall apply for collecting delinquent payments.
108.151(6)
(6) Group reimbursement accounts. If any group of nonprofit organizations who have elected reimbursement financing file a joint request, they shall be treated as if they were one employer for the purposes of this chapter, provided that:
108.151(6)(a)
(a) They shall be so treated for at least the 3 calendar years following their request, unless their election of reimbursement financing is terminated under
sub. (3), but they may discontinue their group arrangement as of the beginning of any subsequent calendar year by filing advance notice with the department. A member of such a group may discontinue its participation in the group and the group shall be dissolved at the beginning of any calendar year after the 3rd year.
108.151(6)(b)
(b) They shall be jointly and severally liable for any required reimbursements together with any interest thereon and any tardy filing fees.
108.151(6)(c)
(c) They shall designate one or more individuals as agent for all members of the group for all fiscal and reporting purposes under this chapter.
108.151(6)(d)
(d) If such a group is discontinued,
par. (a) shall apply to each of its members.
108.16
108.16
Unemployment reserve fund. 108.16(1)
(1) For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter there is established a fund to be known as the "Unemployment Reserve Fund," to be administered by the department without liability on the part of the state beyond the amount of the fund. This fund shall consist of all contributions and moneys paid into and received by the fund pursuant to this chapter and of properties and securities acquired by and through the use of moneys belonging to the fund.
108.16(2)(a)(a) A separate employer's account shall be maintained by the department as to each employer contributing to said fund.
108.16(2)(b)
(b) Each employer's account shall be credited with all its contributions paid into the fund, and shall be charged with all benefits duly paid from the fund to its employees based on their past employment by it, except as otherwise specified in this chapter.
108.16(2)(c)
(c) Any reference in this chapter to eligibility for, or to payment of, benefits "from an employer's account", or any similar reference, shall mean benefits payable or paid from the fund based on past employment by the employer in question.
108.16(2)(d)
(d) The fund shall be mingled and undivided, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to grant to any employer or employee any prior claim or right to any part of the fund.
108.16(2)(e)
(e) Except as provided in
par. (em), benefits to be charged against a given employer's account shall be so charged as of the date shown by the check covering such benefits. Each such check shall be promptly mailed and shall, in determining the experience or status of such account for contribution purposes, be deemed paid on the date shown on the check.
108.16(2)(em)
(em) Benefits improperly charged or credited to an employer's account for any reason other than adjustment of payroll amounts between 2 or more employers' accounts shall, when so identified, be credited to or debited from that employer's account and, where appropriate, recharged to the correct employer's account as of the date of correction. Benefits improperly charged or credited to an employer's account as a result of adjustment of payroll amounts between 2 or more employers' accounts shall be so charged or credited and, where appropriate, recharged as of the date shown by the check covering such benefits. This paragraph shall be used solely in determining the experience or status of accounts for contribution purposes.
108.16(2)(f)
(f) The department shall promptly advise the employer as to benefits charged to its account.
108.16(2)(g)
(g) Whenever the department receives a request of 2 or more partnerships or limited liability companies consisting of the same partners or members to be treated as separate employers prior to October 1 of any year, the department shall apportion the balance in any existing account of the partnerships or limited liability companies among the separate employers on January 1 following the date of receipt of the request in proportion to the payrolls incurred in the businesses operated by each of the employers in the 4 completed calendar quarters ending on the computation date preceding the date of receipt of the request and shall calculate the reserve percentage of each separate employer in accordance with the proportion of the payroll attributable to that employer.
Section 108.18 (2) is not made applicable to the separate employers by reason of such treatment. For purposes of
s. 108.18 (7), the department shall treat the partnerships or limited liability companies as separate employers on November 1 preceding that January 1. For purposes of
s. 108.18 (7) (b) and
(c), the department shall treat the separate employers as existing employers on that January 1.
108.16(2)(h)
(h) Whenever, prior to October 1 of any year, the department receives a written request by all partnerships or limited liability companies consisting of the same partners or members which have elected to be treated as separate employers for the partnerships or limited liability companies to be treated as a single employer, the department shall combine the balances in the existing accounts of the separate employers into a new account on January 1 following the date of receipt of the request and shall calculate the reserve percentage of the single employer in accordance with the combined payroll attributable to each of the separate employers in the 4 completed calendar quarters ending on the computation date preceding that January 1.
Section 108.18 (2) is not made applicable to the single employer by reason of such treatment. For purposes of
s. 108.18 (7), the department shall treat the partnerships or limited liability companies as a single employer on November 1 preceding that January 1. For purposes of
s. 108.18 (7) (b) and
(c), the department shall treat the single employer as an existing employer on that January 1.
108.16(3)
(3) The fund's treasurer shall write off:
108.16(3)(a)
(a) Any overpayment for which the claimant's liability to reimburse the fund is established under
s. 108.22 (8) upon receipt of certification by the department that reasonable efforts have been made to recover the overpayment and that it is uncollectible.
108.16(3)(b)
(b) Any overpayment of benefits that was made under the circumstances described in
s. 108.22 (8) (c), upon certification by the department to that effect.
108.16(4)(a)(a) Consistently with
sub. (5), all contributions payable to the fund shall be paid to the department, and shall promptly be deposited by the department to the credit of the fund, with custodians that the department may from time to time select, who shall hold, release and transfer the fund's cash in a manner approved by the department. Payments from the fund shall be made upon vouchers or drafts authorized by the department, in the manner that the department may from time to time approve or prescribe. Any procedure thus approved or prescribed shall be considered to satisfy, and shall be in lieu of, any and all statutory requirements, for specific appropriation or other formal release by state officers of state moneys prior to their expenditure, which might otherwise be applicable to withdrawals from the fund.
108.16(4)(b)
(b) The department shall designate a treasurer of the unemployment reserve fund, who shall be either a regular salaried employee of the department or the state treasurer and shall serve as treasurer of the fund until a successor designated by the department has assumed the duties of this office.
108.16(4)(c)
(c) The treasurer of the fund shall give a separate bond conditioned upon the faithful performance of these duties pursuant to
s. 19.01 (2), which bond shall be considered likewise conditioned upon the faithful performance by his or her subordinates of their duties, in such amount as may be fixed by the department. All premiums upon the bond required pursuant to this section when furnished by an authorized surety company or by a duly constituted governmental bonding fund shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, be paid from the interest earnings of the fund, but shall not exceed one-fourth of one percent, per year, of the amount of the bond.
108.16(5)(a)(a) All money received for the fund shall promptly upon receipt be deposited to the fund's credit in the "Unemployment Trust Fund" of the United States, in the manner that the secretary of the treasury of the United States, or other authorized custodian of the U.S. unemployment trust fund, may approve, so long as the U.S. unemployment trust fund exists and maintains for this state a separate book account, for the purposes of this chapter, from which no other state or agency can make withdrawals, any other statutory provision to the contrary notwithstanding.
108.16(5)(b)
(b) The department shall requisition from this state's account in the "Unemployment Trust Fund" necessary amounts from time to time, shall hold such amounts consistently with any applicable federal regulations, and shall make withdrawals therefrom solely for benefits and for such other unemployment insurance payments or employment security expenditures as are expressly authorized by this chapter and consistent with any relevant federal requirements.
108.16(5)(c)
(c) While the state has an account in the "Unemployment Trust Fund", public deposit insurance charges on the fund's balances held in banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations and credit unions in this state, the premiums on surety bonds required of the fund's treasurer under this section, and any other expense of administration otherwise payable from the fund's interest earnings, shall be paid from the administrative account.
108.16(6)
(6) The department shall maintain within the fund a "balancing account," to which shall be credited:
108.16(6)(a)
(a) All interest earnings, on moneys belonging to the fund, received by, or duly apportioned to, the fund, as of the close of the quarter in which the interest accrued.
108.16(6)(c)
(c) Any balance credited to an employer's account, if and when the employer ceases to be subject to this chapter, except as provided in
sub. (8).
108.16(6)(e)
(e) The amount of any benefit check duly issued and delivered or mailed to an employee, if the benefit check has not been presented for payment within one year after its date of issue.
108.16(6)(h)
(h) Any amount of solvency contribution or special contribution received for or transferred to the balancing account pursuant to
s. 108.18 (8) to
(9m).
108.16(6)(i)
(i) Any federal reimbursement of benefits paid under any federal unemployment benefit program administered by the department.
108.16(6)(j)
(j) Any federal reimbursement of benefits paid under this chapter, except as this chapter or a federal agreement requires otherwise.
108.16(6m)
(6m) There shall be charged against the fund's balancing account:
108.16(6m)(a)
(a) The benefits thus chargeable under
s. 108.04 (1) (f),
(5),
(7) (h),
(8) (a) or
(13) (c) or
(d),
108.07 (3),
(3r),
(5) (b),
(5m),
(6) or
(8),
108.14 (8n) (e),
108.141 or
108.151 or
sub. (6) (e) or
(7) (a) and
(b).
108.16(6m)(b)
(b) Any benefits paid under any federal unemployment benefit program administered by the department, pending their reimbursement.
108.16(6m)(d)
(d) Any negative balance of a closed employer account, except as provided in
sub. (8).
108.16(6m)(e)
(e) Any overpayment of benefits that is written off under
sub. (3), unless it is chargeable to an employer's account under
s. 108.04 (13).
108.16(7)(a)(a) All benefits shall be paid from the fund. Benefits chargeable to an employer's account shall be so charged, whether or not such account is overdrawn. All other benefits shall be charged to the fund's balancing account.
108.16(7)(b)
(b) Benefit payments made with respect to an employer's account shall be charged directly against the fund's balancing account only when such payments cannot under this chapter be or remain charged against the account of any employer.
108.16(7)(c)
(c) Whenever, as of any computation date, the net overdrafts then charged against an employer's account would, even if reduced by any contributions known or subsequently discovered to be then payable but unpaid to the account, exceed 10% of the employer's annual payroll amount used in determining the employer's reserve percentage as of that computation date, the department shall write off, by charging directly to the fund's balancing account, the amount by which such overdrafts would if thus reduced exceed 10% of the employer's payroll.
108.16(7m)
(7m) The fund's treasurer may write off, by charging to the fund's balancing account, any delinquent contribution, reimbursement in lieu of contribution, tardy payment or filing fee, or interest for which the employer's liability to the fund was established under
s. 108.10, upon receipt of certification by the department that reasonable efforts have been made to recover the delinquency and that the delinquency is uncollectible.
108.16(8)(a)(a) For purposes of this subsection a business is deemed transferred if any asset or any activity of an employer, whether organized or carried on for profit, nonprofit or governmental purposes, is transferred in whole or in part by any means, other than in the ordinary course of business.
108.16(8)(b)
(b) If the business of any employer is transferred, the transferee is deemed a successor for purposes of this chapter, if the department determines that all of the following conditions have been satisfied:
108.16(8)(b)1.
1. The transferee has continued or resumed the business of the transferor, in the same establishment or elsewhere; or the transferee has employed substantially the same employees as those employed by the transferor in connection with the business transferred.
108.16(8)(b)2.
2. The transfer included at least 25% of the transferor's total business as measured by comparing the payroll experience assignable to the portion of the business transferred with the transferor's total payroll experience for the last 4 completed quarters immediately preceding the date of transfer.
108.16(8)(b)4.
4. The department has received a written application from the transferee requesting that it be deemed a successor. Such application must be received by the department on or before the contribution report and payment due date for the first full quarter following the date of transfer.
108.16(8)(c)
(c) Notwithstanding
par. (b), if the business of an employer is transferred, the transferee is deemed a successor for purposes of this chapter if the department determines that all of the following conditions have been satisfied:
108.16(8)(c)1.
1. The transferee is a legal representative or trustee in bankruptcy or receiver or trustee of a person, partnership, limited liability company, association or corporation, or guardian of the estate of a person, or legal representative of a deceased person.
108.16(8)(c)2.
2. The transferee has continued or resumed the business of the transferor, either in the same establishment or elsewhere, or the transferee has employed substantially the same employees as those the transferor had employed in connection with the business transferred.
108.16(8)(cm)
(cm) The filing of a voluntary petition in bankruptcy by an employer or the filing of an involuntary petition in bankruptcy against an employer under
11 USC 1101 to
1330 or the confirmation of a plan under
11 USC 1101 to
1330 does not render the employer filing the petition or against whom the petition is filed a successor under
par. (c).
108.16(8)(d)
(d) Notwithstanding
par. (b), if the business of an employer of a kind specified in
par. (c) 1. is transferred, the transferee is deemed a successor for purposes of this chapter if the transferee would have been a successor under
par. (e) but for the intervening existence of the successor employer under
par. (c).
108.16(8)(e)
(e) Notwithstanding
par. (b), a transferee is deemed a successor for purposes of this chapter, if the department determines that all of the following conditions are satisfied:
108.16(8)(e)1.
1. At the time of business transfer, the transferor and the transferee are owned or controlled in whole or in substantial part, either directly or indirectly by legally enforceable means or otherwise, by the same interest or interests. Without limitation by reason of enumeration, it is presumed unless shown to the contrary that the "same interest or interests" includes the spouse, child or parent of the individual who owned or controlled the business, or any combination of more than one of them.
108.16(8)(e)2.
2. The transferee has continued or resumed the business of the transferor, either in the same establishment or elsewhere; or the transferee has employed substantially the same employees as those the transferor had employed in connection with the business transferred.
108.16(8)(f)
(f) The successor shall take over and continue the transferor's account, including its positive or negative balance and all other aspects of its experience under this chapter, in proportion to the payroll assignable to the transferred business. The liability of the successor shall be proportioned to the extent of the transferred business. The transferor and the successor shall be jointly and severally liable for any amounts owed by the transferor to the fund and to the administrative account at the time of the transfer, but a successor under
par. (c) is not liable for the debts of the transferor except in the case of fraud or malfeasance.
108.16(8)(g)
(g) If not already subject to this chapter, a successor shall become an employer subject to this chapter on the date of the transfer and shall become liable for contributions or payments in lieu of contributions, whichever is applicable, from and after that date, using the contribution rate assigned or assignable to the transferor on the date of transfer.
