Budget Amendment ID: FY2019-S4-743

ECO 743

Contribution Rate Relief for High-Turnover and Seasonal Employers

Messrs. Moore, Rodrigues, Lesser, Humason, Fattman, Feeney, Tarr and Welch, Ms. L'Italien, Messrs. Collins, O'Connor, Ross and Cyr moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section ____ the following section:-

“SECTION _____.  The second sentence of subsection (a) of section 189A of chapter 149, as so appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the beginning the following words:- “Except as provided in subsection (f),”;

and further by inserting after subsection (e) the following subsection:-

(f) Notwithstanding the contribution rates set forth in subsection (a), the contribution rate for high-turnover and seasonal employers shall be computed by multiplying the wages the employer paid any such employee by 1.7 per cent. For purposes of this subsection, “high-turnover employer” means an employer whose ratio of total W-2 Forms to average weekly employee headcount in the immediately preceding calendar year was at least 3 to 1, or 200%, using the formula (total W-2s/average weekly employee headcount*100) – 100; “Seasonal employer” means an employer that employs workers who perform services on a seasonal basis as defined by the U.S. Secretary of Labor, including, but not limited to workers covered by 29 CFR 500.20(s)(1), and retail workers employed exclusively during holiday seasons, but who in no case are hired into positions for which the customary annual employment exceeds six months. Employers as defined in this subsection may recalculate and remit their quarterly employer medical assistance contribution assessment using the reduced contribution rate of 1.7 percent. Employers shall include with their payment an attestation, in such form as may be required by the department of unemployment assistance, that they qualify as employers under this subsection; and may, upon request by the department, be required to provide substantiating documentation.”