Guide to Kansas Employment Security Law

This guide was compiled by the Kansas Department of Labor to help employers understand their rights and responsibilities under the Kansas Employment Security Law (K.S.A. 44-701 et. seq.). Statements in this guide are intended for general information purposes and do not have the effect of law or regulation. The information does not cover all phases of the law nor answer all questions.

History of Unemployment Insurance: The first unemployment insurance plans, supported by dues, were adopted by some larger trade unions in Switzerland in 1789. Even earlier, a version of unemployment insurance in trade guilds was supported by levies on guild members. The first government system of unemployment compensation appeared in Great Britain in 1911. Nearly every major country has enacted an unemployment insurance system.

Wisconsin enacted a state unemployment insurance plan in 1932 in response to the Great Depression, when more than 25 percent of the adult workforce was unemployed.

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program in the United States is 80 years old. On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security bill which contained provisions for UI. This legislation was the key step in establishing a UI system in the United States. In all states, the system is a federal-state joint venture, financed by both federal and state unemployment taxes.

The enactment of House Bill 542 in the 1937 Kansas Legislature, signed by Governor Walter Huxman on March 26, created the Division of Unemployment Compensation.

Today, the UI program is administered by the Kansas Department of Labor, Division of Employment Security, to provide temporary, weekly compensation to qualified unemployed workers. The two units of this division are Benefits and Tax (Contributions). The Benefits unit determines claimant eligibility and payment of unemployment benefits. The Tax unit collects the state unemployment tax from subject employers.

Business, labor and government give credit to the Unemployment Insurance Program as a factor in reducing the severity of recessions and other fluctuations in the economy that create involuntary unemployment. The Unemployment Insurance Program has a beneficial impact on the individual worker, as well as the community where the peaks and valleys of economic activity are much sharper than those occurring statewide.

Unemployment insurance cannot solve the problem of joblessness. Only more jobs can reduce unemployment. A healthy economy is the key to more jobs; KDOL's programs can help develop and maintain that economy.

All employers doing business in Kansas are subject to the provisions of the Employment Security Act. However, not all are subject to the taxing provisions of the law. Coverage is determined by the type and nature of the business, the number of workers employed and the amount of wages paid for employment.

You are automatically liable for coverage if:

You acquire less than 100 percent of an employer's annual payroll when the partial successor employing unit is controlled substantially by the same interests as the predecessor employer and intends to continue the acquired portion as an ongoing business.
You acquire all, or substantially all, of the employing enterprises, organizations, trade or business, or substantially all of the assets of another employer subject to the Employment Security Act.
You are liable to the federal government for Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA).
You are a state or local governmental organization or an instrument of a state or local government or an Indian tribe.

You will establish liability for coverage if:

Your employment is in a business other than agricultural, domestic or certain qualifying nonprofit organizations, and you have one or more employees who work for any portion of a day in 20 different weeks in a calendar year; or if your gross payroll for any calendar quarter is $1,500 or more; or if you elect to have an account established at initial registration.
Your employment is agricultural, and you employ 10 or more workers in any portion of 20 different weeks in a calendar year or have a payroll of $20,000 or more cash wages in any one calendar quarter.
Your employment is domestic service performed in a private home, local college club, fraternity or sorority, and you have a quarterly payroll of $1,000 or more cash wages in any one calendar year.
You qualify as a nonprofit organization for unemployment insurance purposes - you must have been issued a 501(c)(3) exemption letter by the Internal Revenue Service and employ four or more workers in any portion of 20 different weeks in a calendar year.
Your employment follows a period of less than three years' inactivity in which your previously established unemployment insurance account was never officially terminated.
You are not otherwise subject to the taxing provisions of the law and you voluntarily elect to become a covered employer for a period of not less than two calendar years.

The Employer Status Report (K-CNS 010) below shall be submitted upon payment of wages.

Employer Status Report

Period of Liability: If you meet liability requirements at any time during a year, you must file a Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return for all quarters of that year in which you had any employment. A quarterly wage report must be filed each quarter thereafter.

Liability Requirements: Unemployment insurance is financed through both federal and state payroll taxes. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) was created to finance all administrative expenses of the federal/state unemployment insurance system and the federal costs involved in extended benefits. The Kansas unemployment tax is used only for the payment of regular benefits to qualified unemployed workers.

Most employers liable for Kansas unemployment tax also are liable for the FUTA tax if:

Employment is agricultural and you employ 10 or more workers in any portion of 20 different weeks in a calendar year or have a payroll of $20,000 or more cash wages in any calendar quarter.
Employment is domestic service and you have a quarterly payroll of $1,000 or more cash wages in any one calendar quarter during the current or previous calendar year.
Employment is in a business other than an agricultural, domestic or nonprofit organization exempt under Sec. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and you have one or more employees who work for any portion of a day in 20 different weeks in a calendar year, or your gross payroll for any calendar quarter is $1,500 or more.

Note: Nonprofit organizations exempt under Sec. 501(c)(3) and governmental entities are not subject to FUTA. Under the current FUTA, a payroll tax of 6.0 percent is levied on the first $7,000 in annual earnings paid each employee. As an enticement for states to maintain their own unemployment insurance programs, federal law provides a tax credit offset of 5.4 percent for timely contributions paid into an approved state unemployment insurance fund.

	Through 6/30/2011	Beginning 7/1/2011
FUTA Tax Rate	6.2%	6.0%
Employer Credit	-5.4%	-5.4%
Net FUTA Tax Rate	0.8%	0.6%

All employers in Kansas, regardless of their experience rate, are allowed the 5.4 percent credit.

The Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return must be filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on or before January 31 following a year when liability requirements are met. FUTA tax should be computed on a quarterly basis to determine if a deposit is required for any of the first three quarters. To compute this amount, multiply that part of the first $7,000 of each employee's annual wages paid during the quarter by .006. If the tax due is more than $100, it must be deposited by the end of the next month. If the tax due is less than $100, no deposit is required, but it must be added to the next quarter(s) in determining the $100 threshold.

940 for 2020 Employer's Annual FUTA Return

EXAMPLE: If the tax for each of the first two calendar quarters is $60, no deposit is required for the first quarter. However, at the end of the second quarter a deposit is required because the total undeposited tax is now more than $100 ($60 × 2 = $120). If the total for the first, second and third quarters equaled more than $100 (such as $30 + $40 + $40 = $110) then the deposit would be due. If the tax for the third quarter alone is more than $100, a deposit is required. Tax may be due over several quarters.

The IRS penalizes an employer for untimely payment of state contributions by reducing the allowable offset Employer Credit under FUTA. To ensure maximum credit, an employer should make certain that those contributions are paid in a timely manner into the state unemployment fund. A portion of the credit is lost for not paying on time.

Liability under the Kansas Employment Security Law is incurred when an employer pays the required remuneration to persons in employment or engages the required number of persons in employment as described in Section I.

Covered Employment: The law defines employment as: any service (unless specifically excluded) performed for compensation under a contract of hire, whether the contract is expressed or implied, written or oral, and without regard to whether the service is performed on a part-time, full-time or casual basis.

Employment is service performed by an active officer of a corporation, including professional and closely-held corporations (Sub-Chapter S), or any employee under the common law employer/employee relationship. Employment also includes specific types of services, such as agent driver and commission salesperson.

Terms such as regular employment, full-time employment, commission sales, casual labor, temporary employees, part-time employees, teenage workers, etc., are all different terms for describing employment. These groups generally constitute employment and are usually reportable.

A detailed explanation of the various specified persons defined to be employees is not possible in this handbook. Contact your local field representative with any specific questions you might have.

State of Jurisdiction: Generally, if an employee works entirely within Kansas, that employee is covered under Kansas law and all payments for services are reportable to Kansas. However, when an employee performs services in Kansas and other states, the question of whether that employee is covered by the Kansas law is determined by one of four tests listed below. Similar tests have been adopted by a majority of the states. These uniform provisions have the objective of avoiding conflicts and overlapping coverage between states where an employee performs services in more than one state for a single employer.

These tests require the use of four conditions which are applied in successive order. Once a condition is met, jurisdiction is established and no further test is considered. The tests must be applied to each employee, not the employer.

Location of services. If services are performed entirely within a state, that is the state of jurisdiction. If some of the services are performed outside the state and such services are only isolated, temporary or incidental, then they are considered to be localized within the state where the majority of the services are performed.
Base of employee's operations. If services are not localized, then the state of jurisdiction is the state from which an employee customarily starts out to perform services and customarily returns for employer instruction or communication, to replenish stock, to repair equipment or to perform other employment-related activities.
Place of direction and control. If neither of the above tests apply, then the state of jurisdiction is the state from which the employee’s services are directed and controlled.
Employee's residence. If none of the above tests apply, then the state of jurisdiction is the state in which the employee resides, provided the employee performs some services there.

Since questions of jurisdiction of coverage are technical, employers in such situations should contact their KDOL field representative for a determination.

Excluded Employment: The services of some workers are excluded from coverage under the Kansas Employment Security Law. The employment and earnings of workers in excluded employment cannot be used to qualify them for unemployment insurance benefits. However, employment performed for a liable employer is covered employment unless specifically excluded.

Employment or payrolls connected with the following types of services are excluded from coverage:

Independent contractors are excluded from coverage under the Kansas Employment Security Law. These are persons who are in business for themselves and hold themselves available to the general public to perform services. While the law does not define an independent contractor, court decisions have held that the common law tests of master and servant must be applied in making determinations of whether services rendered by an individual are in the capacity of an employee or independent contractor.
Services covered by another unemployment insurance law (such as Railroad Retirement Act and Federal employees).
Services performed by an individual in the employ of a son, daughter or spouse or by a child under 21 years of age employed by the child's parents. A parent is always exempt when employed by a son or daughter. This family exemption does not apply to any corporation or limited liability company. It is applicable only for an individual proprietorship or a partnership if the relationship of the exempt member is the same for all partners of the partnership.
Services performed for a church, convention or association of churches, or an organization which is operated primarily for religious purposes and is owned, operated, controlled or principally supported by a church, or a convention or association of churches.
Services performed by carriers under 18 years of age in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent delivery or distribution.
Services of an individual performed for an organization exempt from federal income tax as set forth in Section 501(a) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code, if wages for such services are less than $50 per calendar quarter.
Services of an elected official, member of a legislative body or member of the judiciary of the state or a political subdivision in the performance of the duties of such office or position.
Services performed as an insurance agent or solicitor, if all such service is performed for remuneration solely by way of commission.
Services performed as a qualified real estate agent, if remuneration for services is directly related to sales or other output and the services are performed pursuant to a written contract and the contract provides that the individual will not be treated as an employee.
Services performed for an employer as an extra in connection with any phase of motion pictures or television or television commercials for less than 14 days during any calendar year. (This exclusion shall not apply to any employer that is a governmental entity or any employer described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986.)
Services performed by oil and gas contract pumpers performing pumping and other related services on one or more oil and/or gas leases, relating to the operation and maintenance of such leases on a contractual basis. (This exemption does not apply to governmental entities or any employer described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986.)
Service not in the course of trade or business is exempt employment unless the employee is paid $200 or more cash remuneration in the calendar quarter for such service and the employee is regularly employed by the employer to perform such service. An individual is considered regularly employed if the individual works some portion of 24 days during the calendar quarter for the employer performing service not in the course of the employer’s trade or business or the individual was regularly employed during the preceding calendar quarter. (This exemption does not apply to governmental entities or any employer described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986.)
Services performed as a qualified direct seller. A "direct seller" is engaged in the trade or business of selling or soliciting the sale of consumer products to any buyer on a buy-sell basis or a deposit-commission basis for resale in the home or other than in a permanent retail establishment. It also includes a person who is directly engaged in the trade or business of selling or soliciting the sale of consumer products in the home or other than in a permanent retail establishment.
Services by member managers/members carrying out their duties as members are exempt employment. If a member performs services for a limited liability company (LLC) over and above their duties as a member, the services would be covered employment and compensation received for those services would be taxable.
Services performed by election officials and election workers receiving less than $1,000 a year are excluded from the term "employment."
Service performed by agricultural workers who are aliens admitted to the United States to perform labor, as provided by the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Service performed by an owner-operator of a motor vehicle that is leased or contracted to a licensed motor carrier with the services of a driver and is not treated under the terms of the lease agreement or contract with the licensed motor carrier as an employee.
Other exemptions include certain services performed by students, inmates of correctional institutions, hospital patients, recipients of certain rehabilitation work-relief and work-training programs.

Misclassified Worker: The term employment, as it relates to independent contractors, is defined in the Kansas Employment Security Law. Specifically, K.S.A. 44-703(i)(3)(D) says:

Services performed by an individual for wages or under any contract of hire shall be deemed to be employment subject to this act if the business for which activities of the individual are performed retains not only the right to control the end results of the activities performed, but the manner and means by which the end result is accomplished.

The degree of control necessary to establish an employer/employee relationship must be assessed with regard to the custom and usage surrounding the performance of the particular service involved. A thorough examination of the employer/employee relationship should be made before classifying a person as an independent contractor to avoid misclassification. Any person(s) found in violation of this law shall be subject to a civil penalty, per K.S.A. 44-766.

Any employer who is in doubt whether or not wages for services are reportable should contact their local KDOL field representative or write to Kansas Department of Labor: Unemployment Tax Contributions at 1309 SW Topeka Blvd, Topeka, KS 66612-1816.

The term "wages" for the purpose of unemployment insurance means all payment for services rendered including salaries, commissions, bonuses, vacation and holiday pay, severance pay and the cash value of all compensation, including benefits, in any medium other than cash. This includes:

Salaries, commissions and bonuses before deductions
Any amount actually drawn by an employee from a drawing account
Advances against commissions
Payments made to corporate officers, including corporate officers of an S corporation
Tips and gratuities when reported in writing to the employer by the employee – employees must provide a written statement reporting all tips received if they total $20 or more in a month
Sick pay and accident disability payments – payments made by a third party, i.e., insurance companies – the third party is considered the employer and responsible for reporting to KDOL, unless the third party or insurance company reports sick pay payments to the employer
Employee contributions (elective deferrals) into a 401(k) Deferred Compensation Plan
Severance pay or dismissal payments irrespective of whether the employer is legally required to make such payment
Back pay awards or settlements such as a result of National Labor Relations Board decisions or binding arbitration by an independent arbitrator

The following payments are not considered to be wages:

Medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability
Payments to a health savings account, if such payments can be excluded from income under the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986
Death benefits for employees
Certain trusts, annuity plans, bond purchase plans or simplified pension plans purchased on behalf of an employee or the employee's beneficiary
Certain benefits under a cafeteria plan
Payment of the employee's share of Social Security for domestic and agricultural workers
Payment made in any medium other than cash to an employee for service not in the employer's normal course of business or trade
Moving expenses paid by an employer for an employee
Payment made to an employee or his dependents because of death or disability retirement
Payment for agricultural labor in any medium other than cash
Payment of dependent care assistance programs for employees under a qualified plan
Meals or lodging furnished by the employer for the convenience of the employer
Payment made to a survivor or estate of a former employee after the calendar year in which the employee died
Employee achievement awards, qualified scholarships and certain fringe benefits
Payments or benefits relating to educational assistance under section 127 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986
Employer matching contributions and other forms of employer contributions to a 401(k) Deferred Compensation Plan

Employer Serial Number: Each Kansas employer liable for unemployment taxes is assigned a six-digit employer serial number. This number should appear on all correspondence and forms submitted by the employer to the department.

Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return: All liable employers are required to file an Employer's Quarterly Wage Report for any quarter they are liable, reporting any wages paid to their workers, both permanent and temporary. Contributions are paid on the taxable portion of these wages, except for those specifically excluded. Employers who have elected the Reimbursing Option reimburse the fund each quarter for any benefits paid during the quarter against their account.

If you are not required to file electronically, the paper form may be filled out and mailed back to the Kansas Department of Labor. K-CNS 100 is due on the last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter and must be filed even if there were no reportable wages or contributions due for the quarter. If the report is mailed, it is considered filed as of the date it is placed in the United States mail (postmark date).

The online Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return form is the only document which can be used. Self-developed copies are not permitted. You will be required to resubmit the information on the correct form if the self-developed copy does not follow the format. There may be penalties if an incorrect form is submitted.

Employers who become newly liable during a calendar year must file a separate Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return for each calendar quarter in which wages were paid.

A Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return is mailed to registered employers approximately 30 days in advance of the due date and is imprinted with the employer’s name, address, account number and contribution rate. This provided form or the online electronic version are the only documents which can be used. "Self-developed" copies will cause filing errors when the forms are electronically scanned by KDOL and you will be required to resubmit the information on the required form. Employers who become newly liable during a calendar year must file a separate Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return for each calendar quarter in which wages were paid.

Electronic Wage Reporting: The department encourages all employers to file their reports electronically. Quarterly filings and payments can be made easily and securely on KansasEmployer.gov. After you have completed the online registration form you can enter your wage data directly into a secure form. You also may upload wage data files. Either way, the data is sent to us in real time and your tax contribution information is automatically calculated for you.

Certain employers are required to file quarterly wage reports electronically. Kansas law (K.S.A. 44-717 (k)) requires employers with 50 or more employees, or third-party administrators with 50 or more client employees, to electronically file wage reports and contribution returns, and to make payments online. This may be done by either a file upload process or the wage data can be keyed online.

Whether you file online or upload the data to KDOL is your decision. Both methods provide the necessary information and both will automatically calculate the taxes due. Once you have registered for online filing and submitted your first quarterly report over the Internet, the business data and all employee information will be available to you online for use the next quarter. If you use the file upload method, the original file remains on your system at your business or with your accountant.

Importance of Timeliness: It is important for the employer to file the Employer's Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return and pay the contribution monies due on time; otherwise the employer may:

Receive a penalty: Failure to file on time subjects an employer to a penalty of 0.05 percent per month, or a fraction thereof, of the total wages paid in the delinquent quarter. However, in no instance will the penalty be less than $25 or greater than $200 per calendar quarter. To avoid this penalty, the employer should file this report timely even if unable to pay the contributions (taxes) due.
Accrue interest: Failure to pay contributions by the due date subjects an employer to an interest charge of 1.0 percent per month, or a fraction thereof, until payment is received for all quarters.
Require a cash deposit or bond: Contributing employers which are two quarters delinquent in making payments may be required to post a cash deposit or bond guaranteeing the payment of contributions. If an employer fails to make the deposit or bond, the employer's contribution rate will be increased. A surcharge of 2.0 percent must be paid in addition to the assigned rate; however, the additional surcharge will not be credited to an employer's experience rating account.
Be charged with willful failure to pay contributions: Any officer, major stockholder or other person who has charge of affairs of an employer that is a corporation or association and who willfully fails to pay contributions, payments in lieu of contributions, penalty and interest shall be personally liable for the total amount due if not paid by the corporation or association.
Receive a penalty for willful failure to pay: Any employer or person who willfully fails or refuses to pay contributions, reimbursing payments or benefit cost payments shall be liable for the payment of the taxes and shall be liable to pay a penalty equal to the amount of taxes evaded or not paid.

With timely contribution reports and contribution payments, employers easily avoid these measures

Final Reports: Employers should immediately notify the department when selling all or part of the business or discontinuing business for any reason. All Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Returns and taxes, including penalty and interest, are due within 15 days of selling or closing the business. If the employer sells all or part of the business, the selling employer must supply the department with the following information concerning the transaction: buyer’s name, trade name, address, date of sale and that portion of the business sold. If the business is discontinued, the employer must supply the department with the date of closing.

Employers can report this information on the Employer’s Account Record Change form (K-CNS 0103) below.

Employer’s Account Record Change

Under-reporting/Over-reporting Contributions: Any under-reporting or over-reporting of contributions on the Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return must be corrected as soon as possible. Errors on past reports cannot be adjusted on the next quarterly report. To make an adjustment to a quarterly wage report, the employer must file the Adjustment to Employer's Wage Report (K-CNS 111) below. If you have filed your report online, you may also be able to do some adjustments online.

On the K-CNS 111, the employer shows the wages and contributions originally reported, the wages and contributions which should have been reported, and the difference between the two. In the event of an underpayment of contributions, the additional amounts should be paid promptly. In the event of an overpayment of contributions, a notice of overpayment will be issued. If the employer wishes the overpaid amount refunded, the employer must request this in writing, along with IRS Form W-9; otherwise, the overpayment will be used to offset future contributions due.

Required Record Keeping: The law requires every employer to maintain certain records about each individual employed. The employer must keep the records for five years past the due date of the quarterly report for which the records apply. For example, records for the first quarter 2015 (due April 2015) must be kept until April 2020.

Employment records, as well as all other records of the employer's business, must be available for department inspection upon request. Employers may maintain records as they choose provided they include the following information for each worker:

Name and Social Security number.
State or states in which services were performed.
Dates hired and terminated.
The amount of wages paid and the period for which paid, showing separately:
1. Cash wages, including special payments;
2. Reasonable cash value or remuneration in any medium other than cash.
Amounts paid as allowances or reimbursement for business expenses.

Audits of Employer Records: In order to ensure compliance with the taxing provisions of the law and to promote the employer's knowledge and understanding of the requirements under the law, audits are conducted periodically on employer's records. Audits are generally computer-selected at random from a pool of employer accounts. The audit will cover a minimum of one calendar year and can be expanded to include the entire five-year period allowed by regulations. The field representative completing the audit is required to inspect and verify information in all disbursement records maintained by the employer. An audit may disclose an underpayment or overpayment of taxes by an employer.

Back Pay Award: When an employer is required to pay a back pay award or settlement to a former employee, wages paid under the award or settlement are taxable and must be allocated to the week or weeks specified in the award or agreement. (Absent such specificity, the wages shall be allocated to the weeks in which they would have been paid.) If the employer withholds the amount of unemployment benefits paid to the worker, the employer must remit the withheld amount to the department. If the employer pays the entire back pay award to the worker, a benefit overpayment will be established requiring the worker to repay the department.

SIDES and SIDES E-Response: The State Information Data Exchange System (SIDES) and SIDES E-Response allow companies to electronically respond to UI benefit information requests from KDOL. This eliminates delays caused by mailing the documents. If you are a new employer who registers online, you are automatically enrolled in SIDES E-Response.

These programs are secure and free of charge. They help businesses simplify and streamline responses to UI information requests by offering the following benefits:

Ensures accurate information exchanges
Saves time
Reduces administrative costs
Minimizes UI rates
Addresses two of the largest causes of UI overpayments – incorrect initial eligibility decisions and working while receiving UI benefits

SIDES is a web service application which allows a system-to-system interface for responding to employer requests. This is generally intended for large or multiple state employers and does require some programming. Employers wanting to do the programming to access SIDES should contact Chris Peretto at (202) 744-9182 or cperetto@naswa.org.

SIDES E-Response is a web-based application for all employers. This application does require human interaction to respond to employer requests. If you are not already enrolled and wish to participate in SIDES E-Response, login to your employer account and go to "Maintain Account Information" under "Established Accounts."

Administrative Review: Review of a Contributions determination. A determination is made by Contributions field staff and includes a determination that an individual is an employee and not an independent contractor, that a business is liable for filing UI reports, etc.

Alternate Base Period: The last four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of a benefit year. The alternate base period is applied only when a claimant cannot establish entitlement for benefits using the standard base period.

Appeal: A request for review of a determination or reconsideration issued by a deputy examiner.

Appeal Referee: A person who acts as administrative law judge at a hearing resulting from an appeal of a deputy examiner's determination or reconsideration.

Average Annual Payroll: The average of the taxable payrolls of an eligible contributing employer for the last three calendar years immediately preceding the computation date. For certain new employers, the average is computed by using the last two calendar years.

Base Period: The four-quarter period, either standard or alternate, used to determine unemployment benefits entitlement for an individual.

Benefit Cost Payment: Quarterly tax payments made by rated governmental employers.

Benefit Determination: A determination by an adjudicator of the Kansas Department of Labor with respect to a person's eligibility or qualification for unemployment insurance benefits.

Board of Review: A group of three individuals who review an appeal judge's decision.

Claimant: An individual who is seeking unemployment insurance benefits.

Contributing Employer: Any employer, other than a reimbursing employer or rated governmental employer, who pays contributions each quarter based upon a contribution rate and a taxable wage base as determined in the law.

Contributions: Quarterly tax payments made by contributing employers.

Contributions Determination: A decision by the Contributions Branch concerning liability determinations, rate or benefit payment protests and the transfer of experience rating factors.

Deputy Examiner: An individual who reviews the information received from the claimant and the employer and makes the initial determination or reconsideration of the claimant's eligibility.

Disqualification: A denial of unemployment insurance benefits.

Duration of Unemployment (Disqualification): Period of time commencing with the effective date of a determination of disqualification to receive unemployment insurance benefits and ending when the individual has returned to insured work and earned three or eight times his or her weekly benefit amount.

Eligible Employer: A contributing or rated governmental employer who has been subject to the Employment Security Law for a sufficient period of time to have its contribution rate or benefit cost rate computed based upon its own actual and potential risk of unemployment.

Employer: An individual or entity that is subject to the Kansas Employment Security Law.

Extended Benefits: Additional benefits allowed, based upon economic conditions, when regular benefits have been exhausted.

FUTA: The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) was created to finance all administrative expenses of the federal/state unemployment insurance system and the federal costs involved in extended benefits.

Governmental Employers: The State of Kansas and its political subdivisions including counties, cities, townships, school districts, water districts, cemetery districts and any other governmental units.

Issue: A question of fact or law to be decided.

Indian Tribe: Tribal units (subdivisions, subsidiaries or business enterprises) wholly owned by such Indian tribes.

Judicial Review: Review by the district court or appellate court of the final decision by the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Labor.

Misclassification: When an employer incorrectly classifies workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

Monetary Determination: A determination notifying the claimant of "base period wages" and whether the wages are sufficient to establish entitlement for benefits. If sufficient, then a weekly benefit amount and total benefit amount are established for the benefit year.

Negative Account Balanced Employer: An eligible contributing employer whose total benefits charged have exceeded all contributions paid.

Noncharge provision: Wages paid by the employer are used in the calculation of benefits for the claimant but the employer's account is not charged for the benefits.

Nonmonetary Determination: A determination that is not based on wages (money). It advises both the employer and the claimant that either a denial of benefits has or has not been issued. Both parties have appeal rights. The appeal must be filed within 16 days of the mailing date.

Positive Balance Employer: An employer who has paid more contributions (tax) over the life of the business than the amount of benefits charged over the same period.

Payments in Lieu of Contributions: Payments that equal the full amount of regular benefits, plus one half of extended benefits for nonprofit employers, and payments that equal the full amount of regular benefits, plus the full amount of extended benefits, for governmental employers.

Rated Governmental Employer: A governmental unit that elects to make benefit cost payments based upon the governmental employer rate and total wages.

Reconsideration: Review of information, timely submitted by an employer, for use in determining whether their account will be charged for unemployment insurance benefits paid an individual.

Reimbursing Employer: A governmental unit, Indian tribe or nonprofit organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Federal Internal Revenue Code that elects to make reimbursing payments in lieu of contributions.

Standard Base Period: The first four quarters of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of a benefit year.

SUTA: State Unemployment Tax Acts or state unemployment tax avoidance.

SUTA Dumping: A merger, acquisition or restructuring scheme that shifts workforce or payroll to avoid established unemployment tax rates. Such manipulation causes harm to the UI Trust Fund, adversely affecting tax rates for all employers.

Total Benefit Amount: The total benefits an individual is entitled to receive during the benefit year.

Weekly Benefit Amount: The amount that an individual may receive as weekly benefits that are based on highest quarterly earnings in the base period of their claim.

Additional sections of the Guide to Kansas Employment Security Law that are not outlined explicitly above can be found below, as well as in the full guide included in the Overview section.