288.030. Definitions--calculation of Missouri average annual wage. - Missouri Statutes

Definitions--calculation of Missouri average annual wage.

288.030. 1. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearlyrequires otherwise, the following terms mean:

(1) "Appeals tribunal", a referee or a body consisting of threereferees appointed to conduct hearings and make decisions on appeals fromadministrative determinations, petitions for reassessment, and claimsreferred pursuant to subsection 2 of section 288.070;

(2) "Base period", the first four of the last five completed calendarquarters immediately preceding the first day of an individual's benefityear;

(3) "Benefit year", the one-year period beginning with the first dayof the first week with respect to which an insured worker first files aninitial claim for determination of such worker's insured status, andthereafter the one-year period beginning with the first day of the firstweek with respect to which the individual, providing the individual is thenan insured worker, next files such an initial claim after the end of theindividual's last preceding benefit year;

(4) "Benefits", the money payments payable to an insured worker, asprovided in this chapter, with respect to such insured worker'sunemployment;

(5) "Calendar quarter", the period of three consecutive calendarmonths ending on March thirty-first, June thirtieth, September thirtieth,or December thirty-first;

(6) "Claimant", an individual who has filed an initial claim fordetermination of such individual's status as an insured worker, a notice ofunemployment, a certification for waiting week credit, or a claim forbenefits;

(7) "Commission", the labor and industrial relations commission ofMissouri;

(8) "Common paymaster", two or more related corporations in which oneof the corporations has been designated to disburse remuneration toconcurrently employed individuals of any of the related corporations;

(9) "Contributions", the money payments to the unemploymentcompensation fund required by this chapter, exclusive of interest andpenalties;

(10) "Decision", a ruling made by an appeals tribunal or thecommission after a hearing;

(11) "Deputy", a representative of the division designated to makeinvestigations and administrative determinations on claims or matters ofemployer liability or to perform related work;

(12) "Determination", any administrative ruling made by the divisionwithout a hearing;

(13) "Director", the administrative head of the division ofemployment security;

(14) "Division", the division of employment security whichadministers this chapter;

(15) "Employing unit", any individual, organization, partnership,corporation, common paymaster, or other legal entity, including the legalrepresentatives thereof, which has or, subsequent to June 17, 1937, had inits employ one or more individuals performing services for it within thisstate. All individuals performing services within this state for anyemploying unit which maintains two or more separate establishments withinthis state shall be deemed to be employed by a single employing unit forall the purposes of this chapter. Each individual engaged to perform or toassist in performing the work of any person in the service of an employingunit shall be deemed to be engaged by such employing unit for all thepurposes of this chapter, whether such individual was engaged or paiddirectly by such employing unit or by such person, provided the employingunit had actual or constructive knowledge of the work;

(16) "Employment office", a free public employment office operated bythis or any other state as a part of a state controlled system of publicemployment offices including any location designated by the state as beinga part of the one-stop career system;

(17) "Equipment", a motor vehicle, straight truck, tractor,semi-trailer, full trailer, any combination of these and any other type ofequipment used by authorized carriers in the transportation of property forhire;

(18) "Fund", the unemployment compensation fund established by thischapter;

(19) "Governmental entity", the state, any political subdivisionthereof, any instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing which iswholly owned by this state and one or more other states or politicalsubdivisions and any instrumentality of this state or any politicalsubdivision thereof and one or more other states or political subdivisions;

(20) "Initial claim", an application, in a form prescribed by thedivision, made by an individual for the determination of the individual'sstatus as an insured worker;

(21) "Insured work", employment in the service of an employer;

(22) (a) As to initial claims filed after December 31, 1990,"insured worker", a worker who has been paid wages for insured work in theamount of one thousand dollars or more in at least one calendar quarter ofsuch worker's base period and total wages in the worker's base period equalto at least one and one-half times the insured wages in that calendarquarter of the base period in which the worker's insured wages were thehighest, or in the alternative, a worker who has been paid wages in atleast two calendar quarters of such worker's base period and whose totalbase period wages are at least one and one-half times the maximum taxablewage base, taxable to any one employer, in accordance with subsection 2 ofsection 288.036. For the purposes of this definition, "wages" shall beconsidered as wage credits with respect to any benefit year, only if suchbenefit year begins subsequent to the date on which the employing unit bywhich such wages were paid has become an employer;

(b) As to initial claims filed after December 31, 2004, wages forinsured work in the amount of one thousand two hundred dollars or more,after December 31, 2005, one thousand three hundred dollars or more, afterDecember 31, 2006, one thousand four hundred dollars or more, afterDecember 31, 2007, one thousand five hundred dollars or more in at leastone calendar quarter of such worker's base period and total wages in theworker's base period equal to at least one and one-half times the insuredwages in that calendar quarter of the base period in which the worker'sinsured wages were the highest, or in the alternative, a worker who hasbeen paid wages in at least two calendar quarters of such worker's baseperiod and whose total base period wages are at least one and one-halftimes the maximum taxable wage base, taxable to any one employer, inaccordance with subsection 2 of section 288.036;

(23) "Misconduct", an act of wanton or willful disregard of theemployer's interest, a deliberate violation of the employer's rules, adisregard of standards of behavior which the employer has the right toexpect of his or her employee, or negligence in such degree or recurrenceas to manifest culpability, wrongful intent or evil design, or show anintentional and substantial disregard of the employer's interest or of theemployee's duties and obligations to the employer;

(24) "Referee", a representative of the division designated to serveon an appeals tribunal;

(25) "State" includes, in addition to the states of the United Statesof America, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, andthe Dominion of Canada;

(26) "Temporary employee", an employee assigned to work for theclients of a temporary help firm;

(27) "Temporary help firm", a firm that hires its own employees andassigns them to clients to support or supplement the clients' workforce inwork situations such as employee absences, temporary skill shortages,seasonal workloads, and special assignments and projects;

(28) (a) An individual shall be deemed "totally unemployed" in anyweek during which the individual performs no services and with respect towhich no wages are payable to such individual;

(b) a. An individual shall be deemed "partially unemployed" in anyweek of less than full-time work if the wages payable to such individualfor such week do not equal or exceed the individual's weekly benefit amountplus twenty dollars;

b. Effective for calendar year 2007 and each year thereafter, anindividual shall be deemed "partially unemployed" in any week of less thanfull-time work if the wages payable to such individual for such week do notequal or exceed the individual's weekly benefit amount plus twenty dollarsor twenty percent of his or her weekly benefit amount, whichever isgreater;

(c) An individual's "week of unemployment" shall begin the first dayof the calendar week in which the individual registers at an employmentoffice except that, if for good cause the individual's registration isdelayed, the week of unemployment shall begin the first day of the calendarweek in which the individual would have otherwise registered. Therequirement of registration may by regulation be postponed or eliminated inrespect to claims for partial unemployment or may by regulation bepostponed in case of a mass layoff due to a temporary cessation of work;

(29) "Waiting week", the first week of unemployment for which a claimis allowed in a benefit year or if no waiting week has occurred in abenefit year in effect on the effective date of a shared work plan, thefirst week of participation in a shared work unemployment compensationprogram pursuant to section 288.500.

2. The Missouri average annual wage shall be computed as of Junethirtieth of each year, and shall be applicable to the following calendaryear. The Missouri average annual wage shall be calculated by dividing thetotal wages reported as paid for insured work in the preceding calendaryear by the average of mid-month employment reported by employers for thesame calendar year. The Missouri average weekly wage shall be computed bydividing the Missouri average annual wage as computed in this subsection byfifty-two.

(L. 1951 p. 564, A.L. 1957 p. 531 §§ 288.031, 288.033, 288.035, 288.037, A.L. 1959 H.B. 331, A.L. 1965 p. 420, A.L. 1972 H.B. 1017, A.L. 1974 S.B. 452, A.L. 1975 S.B. 325, A.L. 1977 H.B. 707, A.L. 1979 S.B. 477, A.L. 1984 H.B. 1251 & 1549, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1572, A.L. 1987 S.B. 153, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1485, A.L. 1995 H.B. 300 & 95, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1368, A.L. 2004 H.B. 1268 & 1211, A.L. 2006 H.B. 1456)

Effective 10-01-06

(1972) Where two-week "vacation" without pay was not brought about by employees' choice or volition, or because of their fault or incompetence, but was caused by decision of employer to annually shut down plant for maintenance, employees were totally but only temporarily unemployed and qualified for benefits under the statute. Western Electric Company v. Industrial Commission (A.), 489 S.W.2d 475.