As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 321

2025-2026

Representative Peterson

To amend sections 4141.01, 4141.09, 4141.13, 4141.23, 4141.231, 4141.24, 4141.25, 4141.26, 4141.27, 4141.36, 4141.39, 5726.31, 5733.121, 5736.081, 5747.12, and 5751.081 and to enact section 4141.252 of the Revised Code to increase the taxable wage base under the Unemployment Compensation Law and require a contributory employer's employees to pay a contribution when the employer has a negative account balance in the Unemployment Compensation Fund.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 4141.01, 4141.09, 4141.13, 4141.23, 4141.231, 4141.24, 4141.25, 4141.26, 4141.27, 4141.36, 4141.39, 5726.31, 5733.121, 5736.081, 5747.12, and 5751.081 be amended and section 4141.252 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

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, Indian tribes, 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 1184(c) and 1101(a)(15)(H) of the "Immigration and Nationality Act," 66 Stat. 163, 189, 8 U.S.C.A. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), 1184(c), 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, and Indian tribes, had in employment, as defined in divisions (B)(2)(a) and (B)(2)(l) 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.

(6) "Employer" does not include a franchisor with respect to the franchisor's relationship with a franchisee or an employee of a franchisee, unless the franchisor agrees to assume that role in writing or a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the franchisor exercises a type or degree of control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees that is not customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting the franchisor's trademark, brand, or both. For purposes of this division, "franchisor" and "franchisee" have the same meanings as in 16 C.F.R. 436.1.

(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) Subject to division (B)(2)(m) of this section, 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 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.

(l) Service performed by an individual in the employ of an Indian tribe as defined by section 4(e) of the "Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act," 88 Stat. 2204 (1975), 25 U.S.C.A. 450b(e), including any subdivision, subsidiary, or business enterprise wholly owned by an Indian tribe provided that the service is excluded from employment as defined in the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301 and 3306(c)(7) and is not excluded under division (B)(3) of this section.

(m) Service performed by an individual for or on behalf of a motor carrier transporting property as an operator of a vehicle or vessel, unless all of the following factors apply to the individual and the motor carrier has not elected to consider the individual's service as employment:

(i) The individual owns the vehicle or vessel that is used in performing the services for or on behalf of the carrier, or the individual leases the vehicle or vessel under a bona fide lease agreement that is not a temporary replacement lease agreement. For purposes of this division, a bona fide lease agreement does not include an agreement between the individual and the motor carrier transporting property for which, or on whose behalf, the individual provides services.

(ii) The individual is responsible for supplying the necessary personal services to operate the vehicle or vessel used to provide the service.

(iii) The compensation paid to the individual is based on factors related to work performed, including on a mileage-based rate or a percentage of any schedule of rates, and not solely on the basis of the hours or time expended.

(iv) The individual substantially controls the means and manner of performing the services, in conformance with regulatory requirements and specifications of the shipper.

(v) The individual enters into a written contract with the carrier for whom the individual is performing the services that describes the relationship between the individual and the carrier to be that of an independent contractor and not that of an employee.

(vi) The individual is responsible for substantially all of the principal operating costs of the vehicle or vessel and equipment used to provide the services, including maintenance, fuel, repairs, supplies, vehicle or vessel insurance, and personal expenses, except that the individual may be paid by the carrier the carrier's fuel surcharge and incidental costs, including tolls, permits, and lumper fees.

(vii) The individual is responsible for any economic loss or economic gain from the arrangement with the carrier.

(viii) The individual is not performing services described in 26 U.S.C. 3306(c)(7) or (8).

(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 disability 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 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.

(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 or for Indian tribes;

(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.

(z) Service performed for an Indian tribe as described in division (B)(2)(l) of this section when performed in any of the following manners:

(i) As a publicly elected official;

(ii) As a member of an Indian tribal council;

(iii) As a member of a legislative or judiciary body;

(iv) In a position which, pursuant to Indian tribal law, is designated as a major nontenured policymaking or advisory position, or a policymaking or advisory position where the performance of the duties ordinarily does not require more than eight hours of time per week;

(v) As an employee serving on a temporary basis in the case of a fire, storm, snow, earthquake, flood, or similar emergency.

(aa) Service performed after December 31, 1971, for a nonprofit organization, this state or its instrumentalities, a political subdivision or its instrumentalities, or an Indian tribe 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.

(bb) Participation in a learn to earn program as defined in section 4141.293 of the Revised Code.

(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) "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 nine thousand dollars on and after January 1, 1995; nine thousand five hundred dollars on and after January 1, 2018; and nine thousand dollars on and after January 1, 2020; and nine thousand five hundred dollars on and after January 1, 2026. 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.

(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)(20) 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, and of employees by section 4141.252 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 26, 2004, but before July 1, 2022, 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 26, 2004, but before July 1, 2022. Effective for benefit years beginning on and after July 1, 2022, 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. A disqualification imposed pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 4141.29 or section 4141.291 of the Revised Code does not affect the validity of an application.

(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, including an educational institution operated by an Indian tribe, 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 or by the Indian tribe 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, including an educational institution operated by an Indian tribe, 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 director of education and workforce, other government agency, or Indian tribe 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.

(DD) "Cost savings day" means any unpaid day off from work in which employees continue to accrue employee benefits which have a determinable value including, but not limited to, vacation, pension contribution, sick time, and life and health insurance.

(EE) "Motor carrier" has the same meaning as in section 4923.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4141.09. (A) There is hereby created an unemployment compensation fund to be administered by the state without liability on the part of the state beyond the amounts paid into the fund and earned by the fund. The unemployment compensation fund shall consist of all employer contributions, payments in lieu of contributions described in sections 4141.241 and 4141.242 of the Revised Code, employee contributions described in section 4141.252 of the Revised Code, reimbursements of the federal share of extended benefits described in section 4141.301 of the Revised Code, collected under sections 4141.01 to 4141.56 of the Revised Code, and the amount required under division (A)(4) of section 4141.35 of the Revised Code, together with all interest earned upon any moneys deposited with the secretary of the treasury of the United States to the credit of the account of this state in the unemployment trust fund established and maintained pursuant to section 904 of the "Social Security Act," any property or securities acquired through the use of moneys belonging to the fund, and all earnings of such property or securities. The unemployment compensation fund shall be used to pay benefits, shared work compensation as defined in section 4141.50 of the Revised Code, and refunds as provided by such sections and for no other purpose.

(B) The treasurer of state shall be the custodian of the unemployment compensation fund and shall administer such fund in accordance with the directions of the director of job and family services. All disbursements therefrom shall be paid by the treasurer of state on warrants drawn by the director. Such warrants may have the signature of the director printed thereon and that of a deputy or other employee of the director charged with the duty of keeping the account of the unemployment compensation fund and with the preparation of warrants for the payment of benefits to the persons entitled thereto. Moneys in the clearing and benefit accounts shall not be commingled with other state funds, except as provided in division (C) of this section, but shall be maintained in separate accounts on the books of the depositary bank. Such money shall be secured by the depositary bank to the same extent and in the same manner as required by sections 135.01 to 135.21 of the Revised Code; and collateral pledged for this purpose shall be kept separate and distinct from any collateral pledged to secure other funds of this state. All sums recovered for losses sustained by the unemployment compensation fund shall be deposited therein. The treasurer of state shall be liable on the treasurer's official bond for the faithful performance of the treasurer's duties in connection with the unemployment compensation fund, such liability to exist in addition to any liability upon any separate bond.

(C) The treasurer of state shall maintain within the unemployment compensation fund three separate accounts which shall be a clearing account, a trust fund account, and a benefit account. All moneys payable to the unemployment compensation fund, upon receipt by the director, shall be forwarded to the treasurer of state, who shall immediately deposit them in the clearing account. Refunds of contributions, or payments in lieu of contributions, payable pursuant to division (E) of this section may be paid from the clearing account upon warrants signed by a deputy or other employee of the director charged with the duty of keeping the record of the clearing account and with the preparation of warrants for the payment of refunds to persons entitled thereto. After clearance thereof, all moneys in the clearing account shall be deposited with the secretary of the treasury of the United States to the credit of the account of this state in the unemployment trust fund established and maintained pursuant to section 904 of the "Social Security Act," in accordance with requirements of the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," 53 Stat. 183 (1939), 26 U.S.C.A. 3301, 3304(a)(3), any law in this state relating to the deposit, administration, release, or disbursement of moneys in the possession or custody of this state to the contrary notwithstanding. The benefit account shall consist of all moneys requisitioned from this state's account in the unemployment trust fund. Federal funds may be deposited, at the director's discretion, into the benefit account. Any funds deposited into the benefit account shall be disbursed solely for payment of benefits under a federal program administered by this state and for no other purpose. Moneys in the clearing and benefit accounts may be deposited by the treasurer of state, under the direction of the director, in any bank or public depositary in which general funds of the state may be deposited, but no public deposit insurance charge or premium shall be paid out of the fund.

(D) Moneys shall be requisitioned from this state's account in the unemployment trust fund solely for the payment of benefits and in accordance with regulations prescribed by the director. The director shall requisition from the unemployment trust fund such amounts, not exceeding the amount standing to this state's account therein, as are deemed necessary for the payment of benefits for a reasonable future period. Upon receipt thereof, the treasurer of state shall deposit such moneys in the benefit account. Expenditures of such money in the benefit account and refunds from the clearing account shall not require specific appropriations or other formal release by state officers of money in their custody. Any balance of moneys requisitioned from the unemployment trust fund which remains unclaimed or unpaid in the benefit account after the expiration of the period for which such sums were requisitioned shall either be deducted from estimates for and may be utilized for the payment of benefits during succeeding periods, or, in the discretion of the director, shall be redeposited with the secretary of the treasury of the United States to the credit of this state's account in the unemployment trust fund, as provided in division (C) of this section. Unclaimed or unpaid federal funds redeposited with the secretary of the treasury of the United States shall be credited to the appropriate federal account.

(E) No claim for an adjustment or a refund on an employer contribution, payment in lieu of contributions, employee contribution, interest, or forfeiture alleged to have been erroneously or illegally assessed or collected, or alleged to have been collected without authority, and no claim for an adjustment or a refund of any sum alleged to have been excessive or in any manner wrongfully collected shall be allowed unless an application, in writing, therefor is made within four years from the date on which such payment was made. If the director determines that such employer contribution, payment in lieu of contributions, employee contribution, interest, or forfeiture, or any portion thereof, was erroneously collected, the director shall allow such employer to make an adjustment thereof without interest in connection with subsequent contribution payments, or payments in lieu of contributions, by the employer, or the director may refund said amount, without interest, from the clearing account of the unemployment compensation fund, except as provided in division (B) of section 4141.11 of the Revised Code. For like cause and within the same period, adjustment or refund may be so made on the director's own initiative. An overpayment of contribution, payment in lieu of contributions, interest, or forfeiture for which an employer has not made application for refund prior to the date of sale of the employer's business shall accrue to the employer's successor in interest.

With respect to any employee contributions that were erroneously collected, if the employee on whose behalf the employer collected the contribution under section 4141.252 of the Revised Code is employed by the employer on the date the employer applies for an adjustment or refund under this section, the employer may request either an adjustment or a refund. If such an employee is not employed by the employer on the application date, the employer shall only request a refund of the employee contribution. The employer shall pay any refund of employee contributions directly to the employee on whose behalf the employee contribution was collected.

An application for an adjustment or a refund, or any portion thereof, that is rejected is binding upon the employer unless, within thirty days after the mailing of a written notice of rejection to the employer's last known address, or, in the absence of mailing of such notice, within thirty days after the delivery of such notice, the employer files an application for a review and redetermination setting forth the reasons therefor. The director shall promptly examine the application for review and redetermination, and if a review is granted, the employer shall be promptly notified thereof, and shall be granted an opportunity for a prompt hearing.

(F) If the director finds that contributions have been paid to the director in error, and that such contributions should have been paid to a department of another state or of the United States charged with the administration of an unemployment compensation law, the director may upon request by such department or upon the director's own initiative transfer to such department the amount of such contributions, less any benefits paid to claimants whose wages were the basis for such contributions. The director may request and receive from such department any contributions or adjusted contributions paid in error to such department which should have been paid to the director.

(G) In accordance with section 303(c)(3) of the Social Security Act, and section 3304(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 for continuing certification of Ohio unemployment compensation laws for administrative grants and for tax credits, any interest required to be paid on advances under Title XII of the Social Security Act shall be paid in a timely manner and shall not be paid, directly or indirectly, by an equivalent reduction in the Ohio unemployment taxes or otherwise, by the state from amounts in the unemployment compensation fund.

(H) The treasurer of state, under the direction of the director and in accordance with the "Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990," 104 Stat. 1061, 31 U.S.C.A. 335, 6503, shall deposit amounts of interest earned by the state on funds in the benefit account established pursuant to division (C) of this section into the unemployment trust fund.

(I) The treasurer of state, under the direction of the director, shall deposit federal funds received by the director for training and administration and for payment of benefits, job search, relocation, transportation, and subsistence allowances pursuant to the "Trade Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 1978, 19 U.S.C.A. 2101, as amended; the "North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act," 107 Stat. 2057 (1993), 19 U.S.C.A. 3301, as amended; and the "Trade Act of 2002," 116 Stat. 993, 19 U.S.C.A. 3801, as amended, into the Trade Act training and administration account, which is hereby created for the purpose of making payments specified under those acts. The treasurer of state, under the direction of the director, may transfer funds from the Trade Act training and administration account to the benefit account for the purpose of making any payments directly to claimants for benefits, job search, relocation, transportation, and subsistence allowances, as specified by those acts.

Sec. 4141.13. (A) In addition to all other duties imposed on the director of job and family services and powers granted by this chapter, the director may:

(1) Adopt and enforce reasonable rules relative to the exercise of the director's powers and authority, and proper rules to govern the director's proceedings and to regulate the mode and manner of all investigations and hearings;

(2) Prescribe the time, place, and manner of making claims for benefits under such sections, the kind and character of notices required thereunder, the procedure for investigating, hearing, and deciding claims, the nature and extent of the proofs and evidence and the method of furnishing and taking such proofs and evidence to establish the right to benefits, and the method and time within which adjudication and awards shall be made;

(3) Adopt rules with respect to the collection, maintenance, and disbursement of the unemployment and administrative funds;

(4) Amend and modify any of the director's rules from time to time in such respects as the director finds necessary or desirable;

(5) Authorize a designee to hold or undertake an investigation, inquiry, or hearing that the director is authorized to hold or undertake. An order of a designee authorized pursuant to this section is the order of the director.

(6) Appoint advisors or advisory employment committees, by local districts or by industries, who shall, without compensation but with reimbursements for necessary expenses, assist the director in the execution of the director's duties;

(7) Require all employers, including employers not otherwise subject to this chapter, to furnish to the director information concerning the amount of wages paid, the number of employees employed and the regularity of their employment, the number of employees hired, laid off, and discharged from time to time and the reasons therefor and the numbers that quit voluntarily, and other and further information respecting any other facts required for the proper administration of this chapter;

(8) Classify generally industries, businesses, occupations, and employments, and employers individually, as to the hazard of unemployment in each business, industry, occupation, or employment, and as to the particular hazard of each employer, having special reference to the conditions of regularity and irregularity of the employment provided by such employer and of the fluctuations in payrolls of such employer;

(9) Determine the contribution rates upon employers subject to this chapter, and provide for the levy and collection of the contributions from such employers;

(10) In accordance with section 4141.252 of the Revised Code, provide for the collection of employee contributions from contributory employers;

(11) Receive, hear, and decide claims for unemployment benefits, and provide for the payment of such claims as are allowed;

(11)(12) Promote the regularization of employment and the prevention of unemployment;

(12)(13) Encourage and assist in the adoption of practical methods of vocational training, retraining, and vocational guidance;

(13)(14) Investigate, recommend, and advise and assist in the establishment and operation by municipal corporations, counties, school districts, and the state of prosperity reserves of public work to be prosecuted in times of business depression and unemployment;

(14)(15) Promote the re-employment of unemployed workers throughout the state in any other way that may be feasible, and take all appropriate steps within the director's means to reduce and prevent unemployment;

(15)(16) Carry on and publish the results of any investigations and research that the director deems relevant;

(16)(17) Make such reports to the proper agency of the United States created by the "Social Security Act" as that agency requires, and comply with such provisions as the agency finds necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports;

(17)(18) Make available upon request to any agency of the United States charged with the administration of public works or assistance through public employment the name, address, ordinary occupation, and employment status of each recipient of unemployment benefits under this chapter, and a statement of such recipient's rights to further benefits under this chapter;

(18)(19) Make such investigations, secure and transmit such information, make available such services and facilities, and exercise such of the other powers provided by this section with respect to the administration of this chapter, as the director deems necessary or appropriate to facilitate the administration of the unemployment compensation law or public employment service laws of this state and of other states and the United States, and in like manner accept and utilize information, services, and facilities made available to this state by the agency charged with the administration of any such other unemployment compensation or public employment service laws;

(19)(20) Enter into or cooperate in arrangements whereby facilities and services provided under the unemployment compensation law of Canada may be utilized for the taking of claims and the payment of benefits under the unemployment compensation law of this state or under a similar law of Canada;

(20)(21) Transfer surplus computers and computer equipment directly to a chartered public school within the state, notwithstanding sections 125.12 to 125.14 of the Revised Code. The computers and computer equipment may be repaired or refurbished prior to the transfer, and the public school may be charged a service fee not to exceed the direct cost of repair or refurbishing.

(B)(1) The director shall do all of the following:

(a) Develop a written strategic staffing plan to be implemented whenever there is a substantial increase or a substantial decrease in the number of inquiries or claims for benefits and review the plan in accordance with division (B)(3) of this section;

(b) Create, in a single place on the web site maintained by the director, a list of all of the points of contact through which an applicant for or a recipient of benefits under this chapter or an employer may submit inquiries related to this chapter;

(c) Adopt rules creating a uniform process through which an applicant for or a recipient of benefits under this chapter or an employer may submit a complaint related to the service the applicant, recipient, or employer received.

(2) The director shall include all of the following in the plan required under division (B)(1)(a) of this section:

(a) An explanation of how, if at all, the director will utilize employees employed by the director who do not ordinarily perform services related to unemployment compensation;

(b) An explanation of how, if at all, the director will utilize employees employed by other state agencies;

(c) An explanation of how, if at all, the director will utilize employees provided by private entities.

(3) For purposes of division (B)(1)(a) of this section, the director shall develop the initial plan required under that division and, not later than the date that is six months after the first meeting of the unemployment compensation modernization and improvement council, provide it to the council, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the governor. The director shall review the plan at least once a year. If, after reviewing the plan, the director determines that the plan should be revised, the director shall revise the plan. After each review of the plan required under this division, the director shall provide the most recent version of the plan to the council, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the governor. The director shall post the most recent version of the plan on a publicly viewable web site maintained by the director.

Sec. 4141.23. (A) Contributions Employer contributions shall accrue and become payable by each employer for each calendar year or other period as prescribed by this chapter. Such contributions become due and shall be paid by each employer to the director of job and family services for the unemployment compensation fund in accordance with such regulations as the director prescribes, and . Employer contributions shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the remuneration of individuals in the employer's employ.

In the payment of any employer contributions, a fractional part of a dollar may be disregarded unless it amounts to fifty cents or more, in which case it may be increased to the next higher dollar.

(B)(1) Any contribution or payment in lieu of contribution, due from an employer on or before December 31, 1992, shall, if not paid when due, bear interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum. In such computation any fraction of a month shall be considered as a full month.

(2) Any contribution, payment in lieu of contribution, interest, forfeiture, or fine due from an employer on or after January 1, 1993, and any employee contribution due from an employer on or after the effective date of this amendment shall, if not paid when due, bear interest at the annual rate of fourteen per cent compounded monthly on the aggregate receivable balance due. In such computation any fraction of a month shall be considered as a full month.

(C) The director may waive the interest assessed under division (B)(2) of this section if the employer meets all of the following conditions within thirty days after the date the director mails or delivers the notice of assessment of interest:

(1) Provides to the director a written request for a waiver of interest clearly demonstrating that the employer's failure to timely pay contributions, payments in lieu of contributions, interest, forfeiture, and fines was a result of circumstances beyond the control of the employer or the employer's agent, except that negligence on the part of the employer or the employer's agent shall not be considered beyond the control of the employer or the employer's agent;

(2) Furnishes to the director all quarterly reports required under section 4141.20 of the Revised Code;

(3) Pays in full all contributions, payments in lieu of contributions, interest, forfeiture, and fines for each quarter for which such payments are due.

The director shall deny an employer's request for a waiver of interest after finding that the employer's failure to timely furnish reports or make payments as required under this chapter was due to an attempt to evade payment.

(D) Any contribution, interest, forfeiture, or fine required to be paid under this chapter by any employer shall, if not paid when due, become a lien upon the real and personal property of such employer. Upon failure of such employer to pay the contributions, interest, forfeiture, or fine required to be paid under this chapter, the director shall file notice of such lien, for which there shall be no charge, in the office of the county recorder of the county in which it is ascertained that such employer owns real estate or personal property. The director shall notify the employer by mail of the lien. The absence of proof that the notice was sent does not affect the validity of the lien. Such lien shall not be valid as against the claim of any mortgagee, pledgee, purchaser, judgment creditor, or other lienholder of record at the time such notice is filed.

If the employer acquires real or personal property after notice of lien is filed, such lien shall not be valid as against the claim of any mortgagee, pledgee, subsequent bona fide purchaser for value, judgment creditor, or other lienholder of record to such after-acquired property, unless the notice of lien is refiled after such property was acquired by the employer and before the competing lien attached to such after-acquired property or before the conveyance to such subsequent bona fide purchaser for value.

Such a notice shall be recorded in the county recorder's official records and indexed in the direct and reverse indexes under the name of the employer. When such unpaid contributions, interest, forfeiture, or fines have been paid, the employer may record with the county recorder of the county in which such notice of lien has been filed and recorded, notice of such payment, and the notice of payment shall be recorded in the county recorder's official records and indexed in the direct and reverse indexes. For recording the notice of payment, the county recorder shall charge and receive from the employer a base fee of two dollars for services and a housing trust fund fee of two dollars pursuant to section 317.36 of the Revised Code.

(E) Notwithstanding other provisions in this section, the director may reduce, in whole or in part, the amount of interest, forfeiture, or fines required to be paid under this chapter if the director determines that the reduction is in the best interest of the unemployment compensation fund.

(F) Assessment of employer contributions and employee contributions shall not be made after four years from the date on which such contributions became payable, and no action in court for the collection of contributions without assessment of such contributions shall be begun after the expiration of five years from the date such contributions became payable. In case of a false or fraudulent report or of a willful attempt in any manner to evade contributions, such contributions may be assessed or a proceeding in court for the collection of such contributions may be begun without assessment at any time. When the assessment of employer contributions or employee contributions has been made within such four-year period provided, action in court to collect such contributions may be begun within, but not later than, six years after such assessment.

(G) In the event of a distribution of an employer's assets, pursuant to an order of any court under the law of this state, including any receivership, assignment for benefit of creditors, adjudicated insolvency, or similar proceedings, employer contributions, employee contributions, interest, forfeiture, or fine then or thereafter due have the same priority as provided by law for the payment of taxes due the state and shall be paid out of the trust fund in the same manner as provided for other claims for unpaid taxes due the state.

(H) If the attorney general finds after investigation that any claim for delinquent employer or employee contributions, interest, forfeitures, or fines owing to the director is uncollectible, in whole or in part, the attorney general shall recommend to the director the cancellation of such claim or any part thereof. The director may thereupon effect such cancellation.

Sec. 4141.231. (A) If the director of job and family services determines that an employer is liable for unemployment compensation employer contributions or payments in lieu of contributions, employee contributions, interest, forfeitures, or fines totaling an amount that exceeds one thousand dollars which remain due and unpaid for thirty days or more and no part of the amount due is the subject of an appeal under this chapter, the director may certify this determination to the director of budget and management. If the director of budget and management, upon receipt of the director of job and family services' determination, determines that the employer is a person who has provided goods or services to this state for which amounts are to be approved for payment pursuant to section 126.07 of the Revised Code, the director of budget and management shall, in approving payments to the person under that section, withhold from amounts otherwise payable to the person, the amount of unemployment compensation employer contributions or, employee contributions, payments in lieu of contributions, interest, forfeitures, or fines due and unpaid as certified by the director of job and family services, and shall approve for payment to the director of job and family services, the amount withheld.

(B) The director of job and family services shall deposit amounts received under division (A) of this section into the clearing account established pursuant to division (C) of section 4141.09 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4141.24. (A)(1) The director of job and family services shall maintain a separate account for each employer and, except as otherwise provided in division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code respecting mutualized contributions, shall credit such employer's account with all the contributions, or payments in lieu of contributions, which the employer has paid on the employer's own behalf.

(2) If, as of the computation date, a contributory employer's account shows a negative balance computed as provided in division (A)(3) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, less any employer contributions due and unpaid on such date, which negative balance is in excess of the limitations imposed by divisions (A)(2)(a), (b), and (c) of this section and if the employer's account is otherwise eligible for the transfer, then before the employer's contribution rate is computed for the next succeeding contribution period, an amount equal to the amount of the excess eligible for transfer shall be permanently transferred from the account of such employer and charged to the mutualized account provided in division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code.

(a) If as of any computation date, a contributory employer's account shows a negative balance in excess of ten per cent of the employer's average annual payroll, then before the employer's contribution rate is computed for the next succeeding contribution period, an amount equal to the amount of the excess shall be transferred from the account as provided in this division. No contributory employer's account may have any excess transferred pursuant to division (A)(2)(a) of this section, unless the employer's account has shown a positive balance for at least two consecutive computation dates prior to the computation date with respect to which the transfer is proposed. Each time a transfer is made pursuant to division (A)(2)(a) of this section, the employer's account is ineligible for any additional transfers under that division, until the account shows a positive balance for at least two consecutive computation dates subsequent to the computation date of which the most recent transfer occurs pursuant to division (A)(2)(a), (b), or (c) of this section.

(b) If at the next computation date after the computation date at which a transfer from the account occurs pursuant to division (A)(2)(a) of this section, a contributory employer's account shows a negative balance in excess of fifteen per cent of the employer's average annual payroll, then before the employer's contribution rate is computed for the next succeeding contribution period an amount equal to the amount of the excess shall be permanently transferred from the account as provided in this division.

(c) If at the next computation date subsequent to the computation date at which a transfer from a contributory employer's account occurs pursuant to division (A)(2)(b) of this section, the employer's account shows a negative balance in excess of twenty per cent of the employer's average annual payroll, then before the employer's contribution rate is computed for the next succeeding contribution period, an amount equal to the amount of the excess shall be permanently transferred from the account as provided in this division.

(d) If no transfer occurs pursuant to division (A)(2)(b) or (c) of this section, the employer's account is ineligible for any additional transfers under division (A)(2) of this section until the account requalifies for a transfer pursuant to division (A)(2)(a) of this section.

(B) Any employer may make voluntary payments in addition to the contributions required under this chapter, in accordance with rules established by the director. Such payments shall be included in the employer's account as of the computation date, provided they are received by the director by the thirty-first day of December following such computation date. Such voluntary payment, when accepted from an employer, will not be refunded in whole or in part. In determining whether an employer's account has a positive balance on two consecutive computation dates and is eligible for transfers under division (A)(2) of this section, the director shall exclude any voluntary payments made subsequent to the last transfer made under division (A)(2) of this section.

(C) All contributions to the fund shall be pooled and available to pay benefits to any individual entitled to benefits irrespective of the source of such contributions.

(D)(1) For the purposes of this section and sections 4141.241 and 4141.242 of the Revised Code, an employer's account shall be charged only for benefits based on remuneration paid by such employer. Benefits paid to an eligible individual shall be charged against the account of each employer within the claimant's base period in the proportion to which wages attributable to each employer of the claimant bears to the claimant's total base period wages. Charges to the account of a base period employer with whom the claimant is employed part-time at the time the claimant's application for a determination of benefits rights is filed shall be charged to the mutualized account when all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The claimant also worked part-time for the employer during the base period of the claim.

(b) The claimant is unemployed due to loss of other employment.

(c) The employer is not a reimbursing employer under section 4141.241 or 4141.242 of the Revised Code.

(2) Notwithstanding division (D)(1) of this section, charges to the account of any employer, including any reimbursing employer, shall be charged to the mutualized account if it finally is determined by a court on appeal that the employer's account is not chargeable for the benefits.

(3)(a) Any benefits paid to a claimant under section 4141.28 of the Revised Code prior to a final determination of the claimant's right to the benefits shall be charged to the employer's account as provided in division (D)(1) of this section, provided that if there is no final determination of the claim by the subsequent thirtieth day of June, the employer's account shall be credited with the total amount of benefits that has been paid prior to that date, based on the determination that has not become final. The total amount credited to the employer's account shall be charged to a suspense account, which shall be maintained as a separate bookkeeping account and administered as a part of this section, and shall not be used in determining the account balance of the employer for the purpose of computing the employer's contribution rate under section 4141.25 of the Revised Code.

(b) If it is finally determined that the claimant is entitled to all or a part of the benefits in dispute, the suspense account shall be credited and the appropriate employer's account charged with the benefits. If it is finally determined that the claimant is not entitled to all or any portion of the benefits in dispute, the benefits shall be credited to the suspense account and, except as provided in division (D)(3)(d) of this section, a corresponding charge made to the mutualized account established in division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, provided that, except as otherwise provided in this section, if benefits are chargeable to an employer or group of employers who is required or elects to make payments to the fund in lieu of contributions under section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, the benefits shall be charged to the employer's account in the manner provided in division (D)(1) of this section and division (B) of section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, and no part of the benefits may be charged to the suspense account provided in this division.

(c) Except as provided in division (D)(3)(d) of this section, to the extent that benefits that have been paid to a claimant and charged to the employer's account are found not to be due the claimant and are recovered by the director as provided in section 4141.35 of the Revised Code, they shall be credited to the employer's account.

(d)(i) An employer's account shall not be credited for amounts recovered by the director pursuant to division (D)(3)(c) of this section, and the mutualized account established in division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code shall not be charged pursuant to division (D)(3)(b) of this section, for benefits that have been paid to a claimant and are subsequently found not to be due to the claimant, if it is determined by the director, on or after October 21, 2013, that both of the following have occurred:

(I) The benefits were paid because the claimant's employer, or any employee, officer, or agent of that employer, failed to respond timely or adequately to a request for information regarding a determination of benefit rights or claims for benefits under section 4141.28 of the Revised Code.

(II) The claimant's employer, or any employee, officer, or agent of that employer, on behalf of the employer, previously established a pattern of failing to respond timely or adequately within the same calendar year period pursuant to division (D)(3)(d)(ii)(III) of this section.

(ii) For purposes of division (D)(3)(d) of this section:

(I) A response is considered "timely" if the response is received by the director within the time provided under section 4141.28 of the Revised Code.

(II) A response is considered "adequate" if the employer or employee, officer, or agent of that employer provided answers to all questions raised by the director pursuant to section 4141.28 of the Revised Code or participated in a fact-finding interview if requested by the director.

(III) A "pattern of failing" is established after the third instance of benefits being paid because the claimant's employer, or any employee, officer, or agent of that employer, on behalf of the employer, failed to respond timely or adequately to a request for information regarding a determination of benefit rights or claims for benefits under section 4141.28 of the Revised Code within a calendar year period.

(e) If the mutualized account established in division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code is not charged for benefits credited to a suspense account pursuant to division (D)(3)(d) of this section, a corresponding charge shall be made to the account of the employer whose failure to timely or adequately respond to a request for information caused the erroneous payment.

(f) The appeal provisions of sections 4141.281 and 4141.282 of the Revised Code shall apply to all determinations issued under division (D)(3)(d) of this section.

(4) The director shall notify each employer at least once each month of the benefits charged to the employer's account since the last preceding notice; except that for the purposes of sections 4141.241 and 4141.242 of the Revised Code which provides the billing of employers on a payment in lieu of a contribution basis, the director may prescribe a quarterly or less frequent notice of benefits charged to the employer's account. Such notice will show a summary of the amount of benefits paid which were charged to the employer's account. This notice shall not be deemed a determination of the claimant's eligibility for benefits. Any employer so notified, however, may file within fifteen days after the mailing date of the notice, an exception to charges appearing on the notice on the grounds that such charges are not in accordance with this section. The director shall promptly examine the exception to such charges and shall notify the employer of the director's decision thereon, which decision shall become final unless appealed to the unemployment compensation review commission in the manner provided in section 4141.26 of the Revised Code. For the purposes of this division, an exception is considered timely filed when it has been received as provided in division (D)(1) of section 4141.281 of the Revised Code.

(E) The director shall terminate and close the account of any contributory employer who has been subject to this chapter if the enterprise for which the account was established is no longer in operation and it has had no payroll and its account has not been chargeable with benefits for a period of five consecutive years. The amount of any positive balance, computed as provided in division (A)(3) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, in an account closed and terminated as provided in this section shall be credited to the mutualized account as provided in division (B)(2)(b) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code. The amount of any negative balance, computed as provided in division (A)(3) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, in an account closed and terminated as provided in this section shall be charged to the mutualized account as provided in division (B)(1)(b) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code. The amount of any positive balance or negative balance, credited or charged to the mutualized account after the termination and closing of an employer's account, shall not thereafter be considered in determining the contribution rate of such employer. The closing of an employer's account as provided in this division shall not relieve such employer from liability for any unpaid contributions or payment in lieu of contributions which are due for periods prior to such closing.

If the director finds that a contributory employer's business is closed solely because of the entrance of one or more of the owners, officers, or partners, or the majority stockholder, into the armed forces of the United States, or any of its allies, or of the United Nations after July 1, 1950, such employer's account shall not be terminated and if the business is resumed within two years after the discharge or release of such persons from active duty in the armed forces, the employer's experience shall be deemed to have been continuous throughout such period. The reserve ratio of any such employer shall be the total employer contributions paid by such employer minus all benefits, including benefits paid to any individual during the period such employer was in the armed forces, based upon wages paid by the employer prior to the employer's entrance into the armed forces divided by the average of the employer's annual payrolls for the three most recent years during the whole of which the employer has been in business.

(F) If an employer transfers all of its trade or business to another employer or person, the acquiring employer or person shall be the successor in interest to the transferring employer and shall assume the resources and liabilities of such transferring employer's account, and continue the payment of all contributions, or payments in lieu of contributions, due under this chapter.

If an employer or person acquires substantially all, or a clearly segregable and identifiable portion of an employer's trade or business, then upon the director's approval of a properly completed application for successorship, the employer or person acquiring the trade or business, or portion thereof, shall be the successor in interest. The director by rule may prescribe procedures for effecting transfers of experience as provided for in this section.

(G) Notwithstanding sections 4141.09, 4141.23, 4141.24, 4141.241, 4141.242, 4141.25, 4141.26, and 4141.27 of the Revised Code, both of the following apply regarding assignment of rates and transfers of experience:

(1) If an employer transfers its trade or business, or a portion thereof, to another employer and, at the time of the transfer, both employers are under substantially common ownership, management, or control, then the unemployment experience attributable to the transferred trade or business, or portion thereof, shall be transferred to the employer to whom the business is so transferred. The director shall recalculate the rates of both employers and those rates shall be effective immediately upon the date of the transfer of the trade or business.

(2) Whenever a person is not an employer under this chapter at the time the person acquires the trade or business of an employer, the unemployment experience of the acquired trade or business shall not be transferred to the person if the director finds that the person acquired the trade or business solely or primarily for the purpose of obtaining a lower rate of contributions. Instead, that person shall be assigned the applicable new employer rate under division (A)(1) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code.

(H) The director shall establish procedures to identify the transfer or acquisition of a trade or business for purposes of this section and shall adopt rules prescribing procedures for effecting transfers of experience as described in this section.

(I) No rate of contribution less than two and seven-tenths per cent shall be permitted a contributory employer succeeding to the experience of another contributory employer pursuant to this section for any period subsequent to such succession, except in accordance with rules prescribed by the director, which rules shall be consistent with federal requirements for additional credit allowance in section 3303 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954" and consistent with this chapter, except that such rules may establish a computation date for any such period different from the computation date generally prescribed by this chapter, and may define "calendar year" as meaning a twelve-consecutive-month period ending on the same day of the year as that on which such computation date occurs.

(J) The director may prescribe rules for the establishment, maintenance, and dissolution of common contribution rates for two or more contributory employers, and in accordance with such rules and upon application by two or more employers shall establish such common rate to be computed by merging the several contribution rate factors of such employers for the purpose of establishing a common contribution rate applicable to all such employers.

(K) The director shall adopt rules applicable to professional employer organizations and professional employer organization reporting entities to address the method in which a professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity reports quarterly wages and contributions to the director for shared employees.

(1) The rules shall recognize a professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity as the employer of record of the shared employees of the professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity for reporting purposes; however, the rules shall require that each shared employee of a single client employer be reported under a separate and unique subaccount of the professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity to reflect the experience of the shared employees of that client employer.

(2) The director shall use a subaccount solely to determine experience rates for that individual subaccount on an annual basis and shall recognize a professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity as the employer of record associated with each subaccount. The director shall combine the rate experience that existed on a client employer's account prior to entering into a professional employer organization agreement with the experience accumulated as a subaccount of the professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity. The combined experience shall remain with the client account upon termination of the professional employer organization agreement.

(3) A professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity shall provide a power of attorney or other evidence, which evidence may be included as part of a professional employer organization agreement, completed by each client employer of the professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity, authorizing the professional employer organization or professional employer organization reporting entity to act on behalf of the client employer in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

(4) Any rule adopted pursuant to division (K) of this section also shall include administrative requirements that permit a professional employer organization or a professional employer organization reporting entity to transmit any reporting and payment data required under division (K)(1) of this section collectively as a single filing with the director.

(5) As used in division (K) of this section, "client employer," "professional employer organization," "professional employer organization agreement," "professional employer organization reporting entity," and "shared employee" have the same meanings as in section 4125.01 of the Revised Code.

(L) The director shall adopt rules applicable to alternate employer organizations as defined in section 4133.01 of the Revised Code that are consistent with the requirements of and rules adopted under division (K) of this section.

Sec. 4141.25. (A) The director of job and family services shall determine as of each computation date the contribution rate of each contributing employer subject to this chapter for the next succeeding contribution period. The director shall determine a standard rate of contribution or an experience rate for each contributing employer. Once a rate of contribution has been established under this section for a contribution period, except as provided in division (D) of section 4141.26 of the Revised Code, that rate shall remain effective throughout such contribution period. The rate of contribution shall be determined in accordance with the following requirements:

(1) An employer whose experience does not meet the terms of division (A)(2) of this section shall be assigned a standard rate of contribution. Effective for contribution periods beginning on and after January 1, 1998, an employer's standard rate of contribution shall be a rate of two and seven-tenths per cent, except that the rate for employers engaged in the construction industry shall be the average contribution rate computed for the construction industry or a rate of two and seven-tenths per cent, whichever is greater. The standard rate set forth in this division shall be applicable to a nonprofit organization whose election to make payments in lieu of contributions is voluntarily terminated or canceled by the director under section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, and thereafter pays contributions as required by this section. If such nonprofit organization had been a contributory employer prior to its election to make payments in lieu of contributions, then any prior balance in the contributory account shall become part of the reactivated account.

As used in division (A) of this section, "the average contribution rate computed for the construction industry" means the most recent annual average rate attributable to the construction industry as prescribed by the director.

(2) A contributing employer subject to this chapter shall qualify for an experience rate only if there have been four consecutive quarters, ending on the thirtieth day of June immediately prior to the computation date, throughout which the employer's account was chargeable with benefits. Upon meeting the qualifying requirements provided in division (A)(2) of this section, the director shall calculate the total credits to each employer's account consisting of the contributions other than mutualized contributions including all contributions paid by the employer on the employer's own behalf prior to the computation date for all past periods plus:

(a) The contributions owing owed by the employer on the computation date that are paid by the employer on the employer's own behalf within thirty days after the computation date, and credited to the employer's account;

(b) All voluntary contributions paid by an employer pursuant to division (B) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code.

(3) The director also shall determine the benefits which are chargeable to each employer's account and which were paid prior to the computation date with respect to weeks of unemployment ending prior to the computation date. The director then shall determine the positive or negative balance of each employer's account by calculating the excess of such contributions and interest over the benefits chargeable, or the excess of such benefits over such contributions and interest. Any resulting negative balance then shall be subject to adjustment as provided in division (A)(2) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code after which the positive or negative balance shall be expressed in terms of a percentage of the employer's average annual payroll. If the total standing to the credit of an employer's account exceeds the total charges, as provided in this division, the employer has a positive balance and if such charges exceed such credits the employer has a negative balance. Each employer's contribution rate shall then be determined in accordance with the following schedule:

Contribution Rate Schedule

(d) The contribution rates shall be as specified in divisions (a), (b), and (c) of the contribution rate schedule except that notwithstanding the amendments made to division (a) of the contribution rate schedule in this section, if, as of the computation date: for 1991, the negative balance is 5.0% or more, the contribution rate shall be 5.7%; for 1992, if the negative balance is 11.0% or more, the contribution rate shall be 6.0%; and for 1993, if the negative balance is 17.0% or more, the contribution rate shall be 6.3%. Thereafter, the contribution rates shall be as specified in the contribution rate schedule.

(B)(1) The director shall establish and maintain a separate account to be known as the "mutualized account." As of each computation date there shall be charged to this account:

(a) As provided in division (A)(2) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code, an amount equal to the sum of that portion of the negative balances of employer accounts which exceeds the applicable limitations as such balances are computed under division (A) of this section as of such date;

(b) An amount equal to the sum of the negative balances remaining in employer accounts which have been closed during the year immediately preceding such computation date pursuant to division (E) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code;

(c) An amount equal to the sum of all benefits improperly paid preceding such computation date which are not recovered but which are not charged to an employer's account, or which after being charged, are credited back to an employer's account;

(d) An amount equal to the sum of any other benefits paid preceding such computation date which, under this chapter, are not chargeable to an employer's account;

(e) An amount equal to the sum of any refunds made during the year immediately preceding such computation date of erroneously collected mutualized contributions required by this division which were previously credited to this account;

(f) An amount equal to the sum of any repayments made to the federal government during the year immediately preceding such computation date of amounts which may have been advanced by it to the unemployment compensation fund under section 1201 of the "Social Security Act," 49 Stat. 648 (1935), 42 U.S.C. 301;

(g) Any amounts appropriated by the general assembly out of funds paid by the federal government, under section 903 of the "Social Security Act," to the account of this state in the federal unemployment trust fund.

(2) As of every computation date there shall be credited to the mutualized account provided for in this division:

(a) The proceeds of the mutualized contributions as provided in this division;

(b) Any positive balances remaining in employer accounts which are closed as provided in division (E) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code;

(c) Any benefits improperly paid which are recovered but which cannot be credited to an employer's account;

(d) All amounts which may be paid by the federal government under section 903 of the "Social Security Act" to the account of this state in the federal unemployment trust fund;

(e) Amounts advanced by the federal government to the account of this state in the federal unemployment trust fund under section 1201 of the "Social Security Act" to the extent such advances have been repaid to or recovered by the federal government;

(f) Interest credited to the Ohio unemployment trust fund as deposited with the secretary of the treasury of the United States;

(g) Amounts deposited into the unemployment compensation fund for penalties collected pursuant to division (A)(4) of section 4141.35 of the Revised Code;

(h) Amounts deposited into the unemployment compensation fund as employee contributions collected pursuant to section 4141.252 of the Revised Code.

(3) Annually, as of the computation date, the director shall determine the total credits and charges made to the mutualized account during the preceding twelve months and the overall condition of the account. The director shall issue an annual statement containing this information and such other information as the director deems pertinent, including a report that the sum of the balances in the mutualized account, employers' accounts, and any subsidiary accounts equal the balance in the state's unemployment trust fund maintained under section 904 of the "Social Security Act."

(4) As used in this division:

(a) "Fund as of the computation date" means as of any computation date, the aggregate amount of the unemployment compensation fund, including all contributions owing on the computation date that are paid within thirty days thereafter, all payments in lieu of contributions that are paid within sixty days after the computation date, all reimbursements of the federal share of extended benefits described in section 4141.301 of the Revised Code that are owing on the computation date, and all interest earned by the fund and received on or before the computation date from the federal government.

(b) "Minimum safe level" means an amount equal to two standard deviations above the average of the adjusted annual average unemployment compensation benefit payment from 1970 to the most recent calendar year prior to the computation date, as determined by the director pursuant to division (B)(4)(b) of this section. To determine the adjusted annual payment of unemployment compensation benefits, the director first shall multiply the number of weeks compensated during each calendar year beginning with 1970 by the most recent annual average weekly unemployment compensation benefit payment and then compute the average and standard deviation of the resultant products.

(c) "Annual average weekly unemployment compensation benefit payment" means the amount resulting from dividing the unemployment compensation benefits paid from the benefit account maintained within the unemployment compensation fund pursuant to section 4141.09 of the Revised Code, by the number of weeks compensated during the same time period.

(5) If, as of any computation date, the charges to the mutualized account during the entire period subsequent to the computation date, July 1, 1966, made in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section, exceed the credits to such account including mutualized contributions during such period, made in accordance with division (B)(2) of this section, the amount of such excess charges shall be recovered during the next contribution period. To recover such amount, the director shall compute the percentage ratio of such excess charges to the average annual payroll of all employers eligible for an experience rate under division (A) of this section. The percentage so determined shall be computed to the nearest tenth of one per cent and shall be an additional contribution rate to be applied to the wages paid by each employer whose rate is computed under the provisions of division (A) of this section in the contribution period next following such computation date, but such percentage shall not exceed five-tenths of one per cent; however, when there are any excess charges in the mutualized account, as computed in this division, then the mutualized contribution rate shall not be less than one-tenth of one per cent.

(6) If the fund as of the computation date is above or below minimum safe level, the contribution rates provided for in each classification in division (A)(3) of this section for the next contribution period shall be adjusted as follows:

(a) If the fund is thirty per cent or more above minimum safe level, the contribution rates provided in division (A)(3) of this section shall be decreased two-tenths of one per cent.

(b) If the fund is more than fifteen per cent but less than thirty per cent above minimum safe level, the contribution rates provided in division (A)(3) of this section shall be decreased one-tenth of one per cent.

(c) If the fund is more than fifteen per cent but less than thirty per cent below minimum safe level, the contribution rates of all employers shall be increased twenty-five one-thousandths of one per cent plus a per cent increase calculated and rounded pursuant to division (B)(6)(g) of this section.

(d) If the fund is more than thirty per cent but less than forty-five per cent below minimum safe level, the contribution rates of all employers shall be increased seventy-five one-thousandths of one per cent plus a per cent increase calculated and rounded pursuant to division (B)(6)(g) of this section.

(e) If the fund is more than forty-five per cent but less than sixty per cent below minimum safe level, the contribution rates of all employers shall be increased one-eighth of one per cent plus a per cent increase calculated and rounded pursuant to division (B)(6)(g) of this section.

(f) If the fund is sixty per cent or more below minimum safe level, the contribution rates of all employers shall be increased two-tenths of one per cent plus a per cent increase calculated and rounded pursuant to division (B)(6)(g) of this section.

(g) The additional per cent increase in contribution rates required by divisions (B)(6)(c), (d), (e), and (f) of this section that is payable by each individual employer shall be calculated in the following manner. The flat rate increase required by a particular division shall be multiplied by three and the product divided by the average experienced-rated contribution rate for all employers as determined by the director for the most recent calendar year. The resulting quotient shall be multiplied by an individual employer's contribution rate determined pursuant to division (A)(3) of this section. The resulting product shall be rounded to the nearest tenth of one per cent, added to the flat rate increase required by division (B)(6)(c), (d), (e), or (f) of this section, as appropriate, and the total shall be rounded to the nearest tenth of one per cent. As used in division (B)(6)(g) of this section, the "average experienced-rated contribution rate" means the most recent annual average contribution rate reported by the director contained in report RS 203.2 less the mutualized and minimum safe level contribution rates included in such rate.

(h) If any of the increased contribution rates of division (B)(6)(c), (d), (e), or (f) of this section are imposed, the rate shall remain in effect for the calendar year in which it is imposed and for each calendar year thereafter until the director determines as of the computation date for calendar year 1991 and as of the computation date for any calendar year thereafter pursuant to this section, that the level of the unemployment compensation fund equals or exceeds the minimum safe level as defined in division (B)(4)(b) of this section. Nothing in division (B)(6)(h) of this section shall be construed as restricting the imposition of the increased contribution rates provided in divisions (B)(6)(c), (d), (e), and (f) of this section if the fund falls below the percentage of the minimum safe level as specified in those divisions.

(7) The additional contributions required by division (B)(5) of this section shall be credited to the mutualized account. The additional contributions required by division (B)(6) of this section shall be credited fifty per cent to individual employer accounts and fifty per cent to the mutualized account.

(C) If an employer makes a payment of contributions which is less than the full amount required by this section and sections 4141.23, 4141.24, 4141.241, 4141.242, 4141.25, 4141.252, 4141.26, and 4141.27 of the Revised Code, such partial payment shall be applied first against the mutualized contributions required under this chapter, including employee contributions. Any remaining partial payment shall be credited to the employer's individual account.

(D) Whenever there are any increases in contributions resulting from an increase in wages subject to contributions as defined in division (G) of section 4141.01 of the Revised Code, or from an increase in the mutualized rate of contributions provided in division (B) of this section, or from a revision of the contribution rate schedule provided in division (A) of this section, except for that portion of the increase attributable to a change in the positive or negative balance in an employer's account, which increases become effective after a contract for the construction of real property, as defined in section 5701.02 of the Revised Code, has been entered into, the contractee upon written notice by a prime contractor shall reimburse the contractor for all increased contributions paid by the prime contractor or by subcontractors upon wages for services performed under the contract. Upon reimbursement by the contractee to the prime contractor, the prime contractor shall reimburse each subcontractor for the increased contributions.

(E) Effective only for the contribution period beginning on January 1, 1996, and ending on December 31, 1996, mutualized contributions collected or received by the director pursuant to division (B)(5) of this section and amounts credited to the mutualized account pursuant to division (B)(7) of this section shall be deposited into or credited to the unemployment compensation benefit reserve fund that is created under division (F) of this section, except that amounts collected, received, or credited in excess of two hundred million dollars shall be deposited into or credited to the unemployment trust fund established pursuant to section 4141.09 of the Revised Code.

(F) The state unemployment compensation benefit reserve fund is hereby created as a trust fund in the custody of the treasurer of state and shall not be part of the state treasury. The fund shall consist of all moneys collected or received as mutualized contributions pursuant to division (B)(5) of this section and amounts credited to the mutualized account pursuant to division (B)(7) of this section as provided by division (E) of this section. All moneys in the fund shall be used solely to pay unemployment compensation benefits in the event that funds are no longer available for that purpose from the unemployment trust fund established pursuant to section 4141.09 of the Revised Code.

(G) The balance in the unemployment compensation benefit reserve fund remaining at the end of the contribution period beginning January 1, 2000, and any mutualized contribution amounts for the contribution period beginning on January 1, 1996, that may be received after December 31, 2000, shall be deposited into the unemployment trust fund established pursuant to section 4141.09 of the Revised Code. Income earned on moneys in the state unemployment compensation benefit reserve fund shall be available for use by the director only for the purposes described in division (I) of this section, and shall not be used for any other purpose.

(H) The unemployment compensation benefit reserve fund balance shall be added to the unemployment trust fund balance in determining the minimum safe level tax to be imposed pursuant to division (B) of this section and shall be included in the mutualized account balance for the purpose of determining the mutualized contribution rate pursuant to division (B)(5) of this section.

(I) All income earned on moneys in the unemployment compensation benefit reserve fund from the investment of the fund by the treasurer of state shall accrue to the department of job and family services automation administration fund, which is hereby established in the state treasury. Moneys within the automation administration fund shall be used to meet the costs related to automation of the department and the administrative costs related to collecting and accounting for unemployment compensation benefit reserve fund revenue. Any funds remaining in the automation administration fund upon completion of the department's automation projects that are funded by that fund shall be deposited into the unemployment trust fund established pursuant to section 4141.09 of the Revised Code.

(J) The director may approve funds for expenditure for purposes set forth in division (I) of this section only to the extent that federal or other funds are not available.

Sec. 4141.252. (A) Contributions shall accrue and become payable by each employee employed by a contributory employer when the contributory employer's account shows a negative balance computed as provided in division (A)(3) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code. Employee contributions required by this section shall be paid at a rate of fourteen hundredths of one per cent of gross remuneration paid to an employee by the employee's employer with respect to employment during a calendar year.

(B) A contributory employer with a negative account balance shall deduct fourteen hundredths of one per cent cent of the gross remuneration paid to an employee each payroll period, and the employer shall hold that amount in trust as a portion of the employee contribution required under division (A) of this section. If an employee is employed by more than one employer, a contributory employer with a negative account balance shall collect the amount required under this section based only on the amount of gross remuneration that employer pays to the employee. The director of job and family services shall prescribe the dates on which these contributions are due from employers with a negative account balance and the manner in which employers shall pay them to the director. The employer shall pay these contributions to the director in accordance with the director's rules. An employer with a negative account balance shall be liable for employee contributions to the extent that those contributions are not deducted and paid to the director of job and family services.

(C) The director shall deposit employee contributions required under this section into the unemployment compensation fund created in section 4141.09 of the Revised Code, to the credit of the mutualized account created in division (B) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4141.26. (A) As soon as practicable after the first day of September but not later than the first day of December of each year, the director of job and family services shall notify each employer of the employer's contribution rate as determined for the next ensuing contribution period pursuant to section 4141.25 of the Revised Code provided the employer has furnished the director, by the first day of September following the computation date, with the wage information for all past periods necessary for the computation of the contribution rate.

(B) If an employer has not timely furnished the necessary wage information as required by division (A) of this section, the employer's contribution rate for such contribution period shall not be computed as provided in section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, but instead the employer shall be assigned a contribution rate equal to one hundred twenty-five per cent of the maximum rate provided in that section, with the following exceptions:

(1) If the employer files the necessary wage information by the thirty-first day of December of the year immediately preceding the contribution period for which the rate is to be effective, the employer's rate shall be computed as provided in division (A) of section 4141.25 of the Revised Code.

(2) The director shall revise the contribution rate of an employer who has not timely furnished the necessary wage information as required by division (A) of this section, who has been assigned a contribution rate pursuant to division (B) of this section, and who does not meet the requirements of division (B)(1) of this section, if the employer furnishes the necessary wage information to the director within eighteen months following the thirty-first day of December of the year immediately preceding the contribution period for which the rate is to be effective. The revised rate under division (B)(2) of this section shall be equal to one hundred twenty per cent of the contribution rate that would have resulted if the employer had timely furnished the necessary wage information under division (A) of this section.

The director shall deny an employer's request for a revision of the employer's rate as provided in division (B)(2) of this section if the director finds that the employer's failure to timely file the necessary wage information was due to an attempt to evade payment.

The director shall round the contribution rates the director determines under division (B) of this section to the nearest tenth of one per cent.

(C) If, as a result of the computation pursuant to division (B) of this section, the employer's account shows a negative balance in excess of the applicable limitations, in that computation, the excess above applicable limitations shall not be transferred from the account as provided in division (A)(2) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code.

(D) The rate determined pursuant to this section and section 4141.25 of the Revised Code shall become binding upon the employer unless:

(1) The employer makes a voluntary contribution as provided in division (B) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code, whereupon the director shall issue the employer a revised contribution rate notice if the contribution changes the employer's rate; or

(2) Within thirty days after the mailing of notice of the employer's rate or a revision of it to the employer's last known address or, in the absence of mailing of such notice, within thirty days after the delivery of such notice, the employer files an application with the director for reconsideration of the director's determination of such rate setting forth reasons for such request. The director shall promptly examine the application for reconsideration and shall notify the employer of the director's reconsidered decision, which shall become final unless, within thirty days after the mailing of such notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, the employer files an application for review of such decision with the unemployment compensation review commission. The commission shall promptly examine the application for review of the director's decision and shall grant such employer an opportunity for a fair hearing. The proceeding at the hearing before the commission shall be recorded in the means and manner prescribed by the commission. For the purposes of this division, the review is considered timely filed when it has been received as provided in division (D)(1) of section 4141.281 of the Revised Code. The appeal of an appealing party who fails to appear at a hearing under this division shall be dismissed in accordance with division (D) of section 4141.281 of the Revised Code.

The employer and the director shall be promptly notified of the commission's decision, which shall become final unless, within thirty days after the mailing of notice of it to the employer's last known address by certified mail, return receipt requested, or, in the absence of mailing, within thirty days after delivery of such notice, an appeal is taken by the employer or the director to the court of common pleas of Franklin county. Such appeal shall be taken by the employer or the director by filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of such court and with the commission. Such notice of appeal shall set forth the decision appealed and the errors in it complained of. Proof of the filing of such notice with the commission shall be filed with the clerk of such court.

The commission, upon written demand filed by the appellant and within thirty days after the filing of such demand, shall file with the clerk a certified transcript of the record of the proceedings before the commission pertaining to the determination or order complained of, and the appeal shall be heard upon such record certified to the commission. In such appeal, no additional evidence shall be received by the court, but the court may order additional evidence to be taken before the commission, and the commission, after hearing such additional evidence, shall certify such additional evidence to the court or it may modify its determination and file such modified determination, together with the transcript of the additional record, with the court. After an appeal has been filed in the court, the commission, by petition, may be made a party to such appeal. Such appeal shall be given precedence over other civil cases. The court may affirm the determination or order complained of in the appeal if it finds, upon consideration of the entire record, that the determination or order is supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence and is in accordance with law. In the absence of such a finding, it may reverse, vacate, or modify the determination or order or make such other ruling as is supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence and is in accordance with law. The judgment of the court shall be final and conclusive unless reversed, vacated, or modified on appeal. An appeal may be taken from the decision of the court of common pleas of Franklin county.

(E) The appeal provisions of division (D) of this section apply to all other determinations and orders of the director affecting the liability of an employer to pay contributions or the amount of such contributions, determinations respecting application for refunds of contributions, determinations respecting applications for classification of employment as seasonal under section 4141.33 of the Revised Code, and exceptions to charges of benefits to an employer's account as provided in division (D) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code.

(F) The validity of any general order or rule of the director adopted pursuant to this chapter or of any final order or action of the unemployment compensation review commission respecting any such general order or rule may be determined by the court of common pleas of Franklin county, and such general order, rule, or action may be sustained or set aside by the court on an appeal to it which may be taken by any person affected by the order, rule, or action in the manner provided by law. Such appeal to the court of common pleas of Franklin county shall be filed within thirty days after the date such general order, rule, or action was publicly released by the director or the commission. Either party to such action may appeal from the court of common pleas of Franklin county as in ordinary civil cases.

(G) Notwithstanding any determination made in pursuance of sections 4141.23 to 4141.26 of the Revised Code, no individual who files a claim for benefits shall be denied the right to a fair hearing as provided in section 4141.281 of the Revised Code, or the right to have a claim determined on the merits of it.

(H)(1) Notwithstanding division (D) of this section, if the director finds that an omission or error in the director's records or employer reporting caused the director to issue an erroneous determination or order affecting contribution rates, the liability of an employer to pay contributions or the amount of such contributions, determinations respecting applications for refunds of contributions, determinations respecting applications for classification of seasonal status under section 4141.33 of the Revised Code, or exceptions to charges of benefits to an employer's account as provided in division (D) of section 4141.24 of the Revised Code, the director may issue a corrected determination or order correcting the erroneous determination or order, except as provided in division (H)(2) of this section.

(2) The director may not issue a corrected determination or order correcting an erroneous determination or order if both of the following apply:

(a) The erroneous determination or order was caused solely by an omission or error of the director;

(b) A correction of the erroneous determination or order would adversely affect the employer or any of the employers that were parties in interest to the erroneous determination or order.

A corrected determination or order issued under this division takes precedence over and renders void the erroneous determination or order and is appealable as provided in division (D) of this section.

(I) The director, in a contribution rate notice or revised contribution rate notice issued under this section, shall inform an employer whether the employer is required to withhold employee contributions in accordance with section 4141.252 of the Revised Code during the contribution period to which the notice or revised notice applies.

Sec. 4141.27. If the director of job and family services finds that any person, firm, corporation, or association is, or has been, an employer subject to this chapter, which determination of liability has become final pursuant to the provisions of section 4141.26 of the Revised Code, and has failed to comply with such sections, the director shall determine the period during which the person, firm, corporation or association was such an employer, which finding and determination is for all purposes of such sections prima-facie evidence thereof. The director shall forthwith give notice of said action to the employer who shall immediately thereafter furnish the director with a payroll covering the period included in said finding, and shall forthwith pay the amount of employer contribution determined and fixed by the director pursuant to this chapter and any amount of employee contributions due pursuant to section 4141.252 of the Revised Code.

If said employer fails to furnish such payroll and pay the contribution contributions for such period within ten days after receiving such notice, the director shall then determine the amount of contribution contributions due from said employer for the period the director found the employer to be subject to this chapter, including interest, and shall notify said employer of the amount thereof and shall order it to be paid. If said amount is not paid within ten days after receiving notice, the director shall certify that finding relative to such employer to the attorney general, who shall forthwith institute a civil action against such employer in the name of the state for the collection of such contribution contributions and interest. In such action it is sufficient for the plaintiff to set forth a copy of such finding as certified by the director to the attorney general and to state that there is due to plaintiff on account of such finding a specified sum which plaintiff claims with interest. A certified copy of such finding of the amount of contribution contributions due shall be attached to the petition and is prima-facie evidence of the truth of the facts therein contained. The answer or demurrer to such petition shall be filed within ten days, the reply or demurrer to the answer within twenty days, and the demurrer to the reply within thirty days after the return day of the summons or service by publication. All motions and demurrers shall be submitted to the court within ten days after they are filed. As soon as the issues are made up in any such case, it shall be placed at the head of the trial docket and shall be first in order of trial.

Unless said employer before the filing of the petition executes a bond to the state, in double the amount so found and ordered paid by the director, with sureties to the approval of the director, conditioned that the employer shall pay any judgment and costs rendered against the employer for said contributioncontributions, the court at the time of the filing of the petition, without notice, may at the request of the director appoint a receiver for the property and business of such employer in this state, with all the powers of receivers in other cases, who shall take charge of all said property and assets of the defendant and administer them under the orders of the court.

If upon the final hearing of said cause it is determined that the defendant previously has been held liable as an employer to pay contributions pursuant to the provisions of section sections 4141.252 or 4141.26 of the Revised Code, which determination has become final in accordance with the provisions of such section sections and is subject to this chapter, the court shall render judgment against said defendant for the amount of contribution contributions provided to be paid by such employer for such period, with interest and costs, which judgment shall be given the same preference as is allowed by law to judgments rendered for claims for taxes.

If any employer who has complied with this chapter defaults in any payment required to be made by the employer for a period of ten days after notice that such payment is due, the same proceedings may be had as in the case of an employer against whom the director has made a finding as provided in this section.

If the defendant is a nonresident of this state or a foreign corporation doing business in this state, service of summons may be made upon any agent, representative, or foreperson of said defendant, wherever found in the state, or service may be made in any other manner authorized by statute.

The director, for good cause shown, may waive a default in the payment of contributions when said default is less than sixty days' duration.

Sec. 4141.36. (A) No agreement by an employee to pay any portion of the employer contribution or other payment required to be made by hison behalf of the employee's employer under sections 4141.01 to 4141.46, inclusive, of the Revised Code, is valid. No employer shall make a deduction for such purposes from the remuneration or salary of any individual in this the employer's employ. Such sections do not affect the validity of private any of the following:

(1) Employee contributions required pursuant to section 4141.252 of the Revised Code;

(2) Private voluntary arrangements or plans by which employees individually or collectively agree to make payments for the purpose of securing private unemployment benefits in addition to the benefits provided by sections 4141.01 to 4141.46, inclusive, of the Revised Code, or the validity of private ;

(3) Private arrangements or plans under which employers make payments for such purpose. Private

(B) Private unemployment benefits paid under such arrangements or plans are not compensation for personal services under sections 4141.01 to 4141.46, inclusive, of the Revised Code, and benefits otherwise payable under such sections shall not be denied or reduced because of the receipt of private unemployment benefits under such arrangements or plans. The provisions in sections 4141.35 and 4141.36 of the Revised Code pertaining to private arrangements or plans under which employers or employees contribute for the purpose of providing private unemployment benefits in addition to the benefits provided by sections 4141.01 to 4141.46, inclusive, of the Revised Code, apply to all applications and proceedings, including those pending on June 19, 1959 or thereafter instituted.

Sec. 4141.39. (A) Any interested party may enjoin the further operation of an employer who has failed to pay the employer contributions or , to make payments in lieu of contributions, or to pay employee contributions as required under this chapter. The procedure to obtain an injunction is governed by Chapter 2727. of the Revised Code and the right to such relief is in addition to the rights described in section 2727.02 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) No construction contractor or subcontractor who, on the date of entering into a construction contract has failed to pay employer contributions or, to make payments in lieu of contributions, or to pay employee contributions as required under this chapter for a minimum of nine consecutive months, may bring an action to enforce rights arising from that construction contract.

(2) Nothing in this section shall require the surety of a contractor or subcontractor described in division (B)(1) of this section to make payment of any contributions or payments in lieu of contributions as required under this chapter for that contractor or subcontractor, or affect the surety's rights in the event that the contractor or subcontractor is in default or is declared by an obligee to be in default of its contractual obligations.

(C) As used in this section:

(1) "Interested party" means either of the following:

(a) The attorney general;

(b) The director of job and family services.

(2) "Construction contract" means any oral or written agreement involving any activity in connection with the erection, alteration, repair, replacement, renovation, installation, or demolition of any building, structure, highway, or bridge.

Sec. 5726.31. As used in this section, "debt to this state" means unpaid taxes due the state, unpaid workers' compensation premiums due under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation employer contributions due under section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation payments in lieu of contributions due under section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation employee contributions due under section 4141.252 of the Revised Code, unpaid claims certified under section 131.02 or 131.021 of the Revised Code, unpaid fees payable to the state or to the clerk of courts pursuant to section 4505.06 of the Revised Code or any unpaid charge, penalty, or interest arising from any of the foregoing.

If a person entitled to a refund under section 5726.30 of the Revised Code owes any debt to this state, the amount refundable may be applied in satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is less than the amount of the debt, it may be applied in partial satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is greater than the amount of the debt, the amount remaining after satisfaction of the debt shall be refunded. If the taxpayer has more than one such debt, any debt subject to section 5739.33 or division (G) of section 5747.07 of the Revised Code shall be satisfied first.

Except as provided in section 131.021 of the Revised Code, this section applies only to debts that have become final. For the purposes of this section, a debt becomes final when, under the applicable law, any time provided for petition for reassessment, request for reconsideration, or other appeal of the legality or validity of the amount giving rise to the debt expires without an appeal having been filed in the manner provided by law.

The tax commissioner may charge each respective agency of the state for the commissioner's cost in applying refunds to debts due to the state and may charge the attorney general for the commissioner's cost in applying refunds to certified claims. The commissioner may promulgate rules to implement this section.

The commissioner may, with the consent of the reporting person for a taxpayer, provide for the crediting of the amount of any refund due to the taxpayer under this chapter for a tax year against the tax due for any succeeding tax year.

Sec. 5733.121. If a corporation entitled to a refund under section 5733.11 or 5733.12 of the Revised Code is indebted to this state for any tax, workers' compensation premium due under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, unemployment compensation employer contribution due under section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, unemployment compensation payment in lieu of contribution under section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, unemployment compensation employee contribution due under section 4141.252 of the Revised Code, certified claim under section 131.02 or 131.021 of the Revised Code, or fee that is paid to the state or to the clerk of courts pursuant to section 4505.06 of the Revised Code, or any charge, penalty, or interest arising from such a tax, workers' compensation premium, unemployment compensation employer contribution, unemployment compensation payment in lieu of contribution under section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, unemployment compensation employee contribution due under section 4141.252 of the Revised Code, certified claim, or fee, the amount refundable may be applied in satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is less than the amount of the debt, it may be applied in partial satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is greater than the amount of the debt, the amount remaining after satisfaction of the debt shall be refunded. If the corporation has more than one such debt, any debt subject to section 5739.33 or division (G) of section 5747.07 of the Revised Code shall be satisfied first. Except as provided in section 131.021 of the Revised Code, this section applies only to debts that have become final.

The tax commissioner may charge each respective agency of the state for the commissioner's cost in applying refunds to debts due to the state and may charge the attorney general for the commissioner's cost in applying refunds to certified claims. The commissioner may promulgate rules to implement this section.

The tax commissioner may, with the consent of the taxpayer, provide for the crediting, against tax due for any tax year, of the amount of any refund due the taxpayer under this chapter for a preceding tax year.

Sec. 5736.081. As used in this section, "debt to this state" means unpaid taxes due the state, unpaid workers' compensation premiums due under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation employer contributions due under section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation payment in lieu of contribution under section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation employee contributions due under section 4141.252 of the Revised Code, unpaid fees payable to the state or to the clerk of courts pursuant to section 4505.06 of the Revised Code, incorrect payments for medicaid services under the medicaid program, or any unpaid charge, penalty, or interest arising from any of the foregoing.

If a taxpayer entitled to a refund under section 5736.08 of the Revised Code owes any debt to this state, the amount refundable may be applied in satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is less than the amount of the debt, it may be applied in partial satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is greater than the amount of the debt, the amount remaining after satisfaction of the debt shall be refunded. This section applies only to debts that have become final. For the purposes of this section, a debt becomes final when, under the applicable law, any time provided for petition for reassessment, request for reconsideration, or other appeal of the legality or validity of the amount giving rise to the debt expires without an appeal having been filed in the manner provided by law.

Sec. 5747.12. (A) If a person entitled to a refund under section 5747.11 or 5747.13 of the Revised Code is indebted for any of the following, the amount refundable may be applied in satisfaction of the debt:

(1) To this state for any tax, workers' compensation premium due under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, or unemployment compensation employer contribution due under section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, or unemployment compensation employee contribution due under section 4141.252 of the Revised Code;

(2) To the state or a political subdivision for a certified claim under section 131.02 or 131.021 of the Revised Code or a finding for recovery included in a certified report that has been filed with the attorney general pursuant to sections 117.28 and 117.30 of the Revised Code;

(3) For a fee that is paid to the state or to the clerk of courts pursuant to section 4505.06 of the Revised Code;

(4) For any charge, penalty, collection cost, or interest arising from a debt listed in divisions (A)(1) to (3) of this section.

(B) If the amount refundable is less than the amount of the debt owed under division (A) of this section, it may be applied in partial satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is greater than the amount of that debt, the amount remaining after satisfaction of the debt shall be refunded. If the person has more than one debt listed in division (A) of this section, any debt subject to section 5739.33 or division (G) of section 5747.07 of the Revised Code or arising under section 5747.063 or 5747.064 of the Revised Code shall be satisfied first.

(C) Except as provided in section 131.021 of the Revised Code, this section applies only to debts that have become final.

(D) The tax commissioner may charge each respective agency of the state for the commissioner's cost in applying refunds to debts due to the state and may charge the attorney general for the commissioner's cost in applying refunds to certified claims.

(E) The commissioner may promulgate rules to implement this section. The rules may address, among other things, situations such as those where persons may jointly be entitled to a refund but do not jointly owe a debt or certified claim.

(F) The commissioner may, with the consent of the taxpayer, provide for the crediting, against tax imposed under this chapter or Chapter 5748. of the Revised Code and due for any taxable year, of the amount of any refund due the taxpayer under this chapter or Chapter 5748. of the Revised Code, as appropriate, for a preceding taxable year.

Sec. 5751.081. As used in this section, "debt to this state" means unpaid taxes due the state, unpaid workers' compensation premiums due under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation employer contributions due under section 4141.25 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation payment in lieu of contribution under section 4141.241 of the Revised Code, unpaid unemployment compensation employee contributions due under section 4141.252 of the Revised Code, unpaid fees payable to the state or to the clerk of courts pursuant to section 4505.06 of the Revised Code, incorrect payments for medicaid services under the medicaid program, or any unpaid charge, penalty, or interest arising from any of the foregoing.

If a taxpayer entitled to a refund under section 5751.08 of the Revised Code owes any debt to this state, the amount refundable may be applied in satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is less than the amount of the debt, it may be applied in partial satisfaction of the debt. If the amount refundable is greater than the amount of the debt, the amount remaining after satisfaction of the debt shall be refunded. This section applies only to debts that have become final. For the purposes of this section, a debt becomes final when, under the applicable law, any time provided for petition for reassessment, request for reconsideration, or other appeal of the legality or validity of the amount giving rise to the debt expires without an appeal having been filed in the manner provided by law.

Section 2. That existing sections 4141.01, 4141.09, 4141.13, 4141.23, 4141.231, 4141.24, 4141.25, 4141.26, 4141.27, 4141.36, 4141.39, 5726.31, 5733.121, 5736.081, 5747.12, and 5751.081 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.