WSR 99-20-141

PERMANENT RULES

EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DEPARTMENT


[ Filed October 6, 1999, 10:45 a.m. ]

Date of Adoption: September 1, 1999.

Purpose: Employer reports--Further defining hours worked - RCW 50.12.070 and replace it with WAC 192-310-040 with the same title. The revised rule is in accordance with Executive Order 97-02. The new rule has clearer language for the general public, is organized for easier readability and has removed the archaic language of the past.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: Chapters 34.05 and 50.12 RCW.

Other Authority: RCW 50.12.070, 50.04.330(1).

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 99-11-093 on May 19, 1999.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 11, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

August 30, 1999

Carver Gayton

Commissioner


Chapter 192-310-WAC


NEW SECTION
WAC 192-310-040
Employer reports--Further defining hours worked--RCW 50.12.070.

This section defines the hours that should be included on the employer's quarterly tax and wage report.

(1) Vacation pay. The employer will report the number of hours and employee is on leave with pay. Cash payments made in place of vacation time will not be counted as hours worked.

(2) Sick leave pay. In accordance with RCW 50.04.330(1), any amount of payments made to the employee covered under a qualified plan regarding sickness or accident disability, insurance or annuities, medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, death or retirement are not considered to be wages or compensation. Neither hours nor wages are reportable. Under a nonqualified plan, the wages and hours are reportable.

(3) Overtime. The employer will report the number of hours actually worked for which overtime pay or compensatory time is provided, without regard to the amount of wages or compensation paid.

(4) Commissioned employees. An employer will report the actual number of hours worked by employees paid by commission. In the absence of reliable time keeping records, the employer will report a full-time commissioned employee for 40 hours worked for each week in which any of their duties were performed.

(5) Wages in lieu of notice. When an employee is paid wages in lieu of notice, the employer will report the actual number of hours that would have been for which they were compensated. Wages in lieu of notice compensates the employee upon termination of service for the amount of wages they would have earned during the specified period.

(6) Employees on salary. If a salaried employee works other than the regular 40-hour week, the employer will report the actual number of hours worked. In the absence of a reliable time keeping record, the employer will report a full-time salaried employee for 40 hours each week they worked.

(7) Faculty employees. Faculty members of community and technical colleges must teach at least 15 classroom or laboratory hours to be considered full-time. A teaching load of less than 15 hours of instruction is considered part-time.

(i) In the absence of reliable hourly information, an employer will report the hours of instruction as part-time using 35 hours as the base per week using the following computation. For example, an instructor teaches 12 hours per week. 12 hours divided by 15 hours equals 80%. 35 hours times 80% equals 28 hours. The employer will report the 28 hours to the department on the employer's quarterly tax and wage report.

(ii) Any part-time salaried instructor who does not establish a valid claim because of this formula, may provide the department with documentation of hours worked which exceeds the reported hours by the employer.

(8) Severance pay. Employers will not report additional hours worked for severance pay. Severance pay is reportable and taxable because it is based on past service and compensates the employee upon job separation.

(9) Payment in kind. The employer will report the actual hours worked for performing services, which are compensated only by payment in kind.

(10) Bonuses, tips and other gratuities. An employer will not report additional hours for bonuses, tips or other gratuities if they are received performing regular hours if bonuses, tips and gratuities are the only sources of their compensation.

(11) Fractions of hours. If the employee's total number of hours for the quarter results in a fraction amount, the total figure will be rounded to the next higher number.

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Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.

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