288.380. Void agreements--offenses, penalties--deductions of support obligations and uncollected overissuance of food stamps--offset for overpayment of benefits by other states, when--definitions. - Missouri Statutes

Void agreements--offenses, penalties--deductions of supportobligations and uncollected overissuance of food stamps--offsetfor overpayment of benefits by other states, when--definitions.

288.380. 1. Any agreement by a worker to waive, release, or commutesuch worker's rights to benefits or any other rights pursuant to thischapter or pursuant to an employment security law of any other state or ofthe federal government shall be void. Any agreement by a worker to pay allor any portion of any contributions required shall be void. No employershall directly or indirectly make any deduction from wages to finance theemployer's contributions required from him or her, or accept any waiver ofany right pursuant to this chapter by any individual in his or her employ.

2. No employing unit or any agent of an employing unit or any otherperson shall make a false statement or representation knowing it to befalse, nor shall knowingly fail to disclose a material fact to prevent orreduce the payment of benefits to any individual, nor to avoid becoming orremaining an employer, nor to avoid or reduce any contribution or otherpayment required from any employing unit, nor shall willfully fail orrefuse to make any contributions or payments nor to furnish any requiredreports nor to produce or permit the inspection or copying of requiredrecords. Each such requirement shall apply regardless of whether it is arequirement of this chapter, of an employment security law of any otherstate or of the federal government.

3. No person shall make a false statement or representation knowingit to be false or knowingly fail to disclose a material fact, to obtain orincrease any benefit or other payment pursuant to this chapter, or under anemployment security law of any other state or of the federal governmenteither for himself or herself or for any other person.

4. No person shall without just cause fail or refuse to attend andtestify or to answer any lawful inquiry or to produce books, papers,correspondence, memoranda, and other records, if it is in such person'spower so to do in obedience to a subpoena of the director, the commission,an appeals tribunal, or any duly authorized representative of any one ofthem.

5. No individual claiming benefits shall be charged fees of any kindin any proceeding pursuant to this chapter by the division, or by any courtor any officer thereof. Any individual claiming benefits in any proceedingbefore the division or a court may be represented by counsel or other dulyauthorized agent; but no such counsel or agents shall either charge orreceive for such services more than an amount approved by the division.

6. No employee of the division or any person who has obtained anylist of applicants for work or of claimants for or recipients of benefitspursuant to this chapter shall use or permit the use of such lists for anypolitical purpose.

7. Any person who shall willfully violate any provision of thischapter, or of an employment security law of any other state or of thefederal government or any rule or regulation, the observance of which isrequired under the terms of any one of such laws, shall upon conviction bedeemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not lessthan fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonmentin the county jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine andimprisonment, and each such violation or each day such violation continuesshall be deemed to be a separate offense.

8. In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to,any person, any court of this state within the jurisdiction of which theinquiry is carried on, or within the jurisdiction of which the personguilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or transactsbusiness, upon application by the director, the commission, an appealstribunal, or any duly authorized representative of any one of them shallhave jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person toappear before the director, the commission, an appeals tribunal or any dulyauthorized representative of any one of them, there to produce evidence ifso ordered or there to give testimony touching the matter underinvestigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of thecourt may be punished by the court as a contempt thereof.

9. (1) Any individual or employer who receives or deniesunemployment benefits by intentionally misrepresenting, misstating, orfailing to disclose any material fact has committed fraud. After thediscovery of facts indicating fraud, a deputy shall make a writtendetermination that the individual obtained or denied unemployment benefitsby fraud and that the individual must promptly repay the unemploymentbenefits to the fund. In addition, the deputy shall assess a penalty equalto twenty-five percent of the amount fraudulently obtained or denied. Ifdivision records indicate that the individual or employer had a priorestablished overpayment or record of denial due to fraud, the deputy shall,on the present overpayment or determination, assess a penalty equal to onehundred percent of the amount fraudulently obtained.

(2) Unless the individual or employer within thirty calendar daysafter notice of such determination of overpayment by fraud is eitherdelivered in person or mailed to the last known address of such individualor employer files an appeal from such determination, it shall be final.Proceedings on the appeal shall be conducted in accordance with section288.190.

(3) If the individual or employer fails to repay the unemploymentbenefits and penalty, assessed as a result of the deputy's determinationthat the individual or employer obtained or denied unemployment benefits byfraud, such sum shall be collectible in the manner provided in sections288.160 and 288.170 for the collection of past due contributions. If theindividual or employer fails to repay the unemployment benefits that theindividual or employer denied or obtained by fraud, the division may offsetfrom any future unemployment benefits otherwise payable the amount of theoverpayment, or may take such steps as are necessary to effect payment fromthe individual or employer. Future benefits may not be used to offset thepenalty due. Money received in repayment of fraudulently obtained ordenied unemployment benefits and penalties shall first be applied to theunemployment benefits overpaid, then to the penalty amount due. Paymentsmade toward the penalty amount due shall be credited to the specialemployment security fund.

(4) If fraud or evasion on the part of any employer is discovered bythe division, the employer will be subject to the fraud provisions ofsubsection 4 of section 288.160.

(5) The provisions of this subsection shall become effective July 1,2005.

10. An individual who willfully fails to disclose amounts earnedduring any week with respect to which benefits are claimed by him or her,willfully fails to disclose or has falsified as to any fact which wouldhave disqualified him or her or rendered him or her ineligible for benefitsduring such week, or willfully fails to disclose a material fact or makes afalse statement or representation in order to obtain or increase anybenefit pursuant to this chapter shall forfeit all of his or her benefitrights, and all of his or her wage credits accrued prior to the date ofsuch failure to disclose or falsification shall be canceled, and anybenefits which might otherwise have become payable to him or her subsequentto such date based upon such wage credits shall be forfeited; except that,the division may, upon good cause shown, modify such reduction of benefitsand cancellation of wage credits. It shall be presumed that such failureor falsification was willful in any case in which an individual signs andcertifies a claim for benefits and fails to disclose or falsifies as to anyfact relative to such claim.

11. (1) Any assignment, pledge, or encumbrance of any rights tobenefits which are or may become due or payable pursuant to this chaptershall be void; and such rights to benefits shall be exempt from levy,execution, attachment, or any other remedy whatsoever provided for thecollection of debt; and benefits received by any individual, so long asthey are not mingled with other funds of the recipient, shall be exemptfrom any remedy whatsoever for the collection of all debts except debtsincurred for necessaries furnished to such individual or the individual'sspouse or dependents during the time such individual was unemployed. Anywaiver of any exemption provided for in this subsection shall be void;except that this section shall not apply to:

(a) Support obligations, as defined pursuant to paragraph (g) ofsubdivision (2) of this subsection, which are being enforced by a state orlocal support enforcement agency against any individual claimingunemployment compensation pursuant to this chapter; or

(b) Uncollected overissuances (as defined in Section 13(c)(1) of theFood Stamp Act of 1977) of food stamp coupons;

(2) (a) An individual filing a new claim for unemploymentcompensation shall, at the time of filing such claim, disclose whether ornot the individual owes support obligations, as defined pursuant toparagraph (g) of this subdivision or owes uncollected overissuances of foodstamp coupons (as defined in Section 13(c)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of1977). If any such individual discloses that he or she owes supportobligations or uncollected overissuances of food stamp coupons, and isdetermined to be eligible for unemployment compensation, the division shallnotify the state or local support enforcement agency enforcing the supportobligation or the state food stamp agency to which the uncollected foodstamp overissuance is owed that such individual has been determined to beeligible for unemployment compensation;

(b) The division shall deduct and withhold from any unemploymentcompensation payable to an individual who owes support obligations asdefined pursuant to paragraph (g) of this subdivision or who owesuncollected food stamp overissuances:

a. The amount specified by the individual to the division to bededucted and withheld pursuant to this paragraph if neither subparagraph b.nor subparagraph c. of this paragraph is applicable; or

b. The amount, if any, determined pursuant to an agreement submittedto the division pursuant to Section 454(20)(B)(i) of the Social SecurityAct by the state or local support enforcement agency, unless subparagraphc. of this paragraph is applicable; or the amount (if any) determinedpursuant to an agreement submitted to the state food stamp agency pursuantto Section 13(c)(3)(a) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977; or

c. Any amount otherwise required to be so deducted and withheld fromsuch unemployment compensation pursuant to properly served legal process,as that term is defined in Section 459(i) of the Social Security Act; orany amount otherwise required to be deducted and withheld from theunemployment compensation pursuant to Section 13(c)(3)(b) of the Food StampAct of 1977;

(c) Any amount deducted and withheld pursuant to paragraph (b) ofthis subdivision shall be paid by the division to the appropriate state orlocal support enforcement agency or state food stamp agency;

(d) Any amount deducted and withheld pursuant to paragraph (b) ofthis subdivision shall, for all purposes, be treated as if it were paid tothe individual as unemployment compensation and paid by such individual tothe state or local support enforcement agency in satisfaction of theindividual's support obligations or to the state food stamp agency to whichthe uncollected overissuance is owed as repayment of the individual'suncollected overissuance;

(e) For purposes of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of thissubdivision, the term "unemployment compensation" means any compensationpayable pursuant to this chapter, including amounts payable by the divisionpursuant to an agreement pursuant to any federal law providing forcompensation, assistance, or allowances with respect to unemployment;

(f) Deductions will be made pursuant to this section only ifappropriate arrangements have been made for reimbursement by the state orlocal support enforcement agency, or the state food stamp agency, for theadministrative costs incurred by the division pursuant to this sectionwhich are attributable to support obligations being enforced by the stateor local support enforcement agency or which are attributable touncollected overissuances of food stamp coupons;

(g) The term "support obligations" is defined for purposes of thissubsection as including only obligations which are being enforced pursuantto a plan described in Section 454 of the Social Security Act which hasbeen approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant toPart D of Title IV of the Social Security Act;

(h) The term "state or local support enforcement agency", as used inthis subsection, means any agency of a state, or political subdivisionthereof, operating pursuant to a plan described in paragraph (g) of thissubdivision;

(i) The term "state food stamp agency" as used in this subsectionmeans any agency of a state, or political subdivision thereof, operatingpursuant to a plan described in the Food Stamp Act of 1977;

(j) The director may prescribe the procedures to be followed and theform and contents of any documents required in carrying out the provisionsof this subsection;

(k) The division shall comply with the following priority whendeducting and withholding amounts from any unemployment compensationpayable to an individual:

a. Before withholding any amount for child support obligations oruncollected overissuances of food stamp coupons, the division shall firstdeduct and withhold from any unemployment compensation payable to anindividual the amount, as determined by the division, owed pursuant tosubsection 12 or 13 of this section;

b. If, after deductions are made pursuant to subparagraph a. of thisparagraph, an individual has remaining unemployment compensation amountsdue and owing, and the individual owes support obligations or uncollectedoverissuances of food stamp coupons, the division shall first deduct andwithhold any remaining unemployment compensation amounts for application tochild support obligations owed by the individual;

c. If, after deductions are made pursuant to subparagraphs a. and b.of this paragraph, an individual has remaining unemployment compensationamounts due and owing, and the individual owes uncollected overissuances offood stamp coupons, the division shall deduct and withhold any remainingunemployment compensation amounts for application to uncollectedoverissuances of food stamp coupons owed by the individual.

12. Any person who, by reason of the nondisclosure ormisrepresentation by such person or by another of a material fact, hasreceived any sum as benefits pursuant to this chapter while any conditionsfor the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter were not fulfilled insuch person's case, or while he or she was disqualified from receivingbenefits, shall, in the discretion of the division, either be liable tohave such sums deducted from any future benefits payable to such personpursuant to this chapter or shall be liable to repay to the division forthe unemployment compensation fund a sum equal to the amounts so receivedby him or her.

13. Any person who, by reason of any error or omission or because ofa lack of knowledge of material fact on the part of the division, hasreceived any sum of benefits pursuant to this chapter while any conditionsfor the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter were not fulfilled insuch person's case, or while such person was disqualified from receivingbenefits, shall after an opportunity for a fair hearing pursuant tosubsection 2 of section 288.190 have such sums deducted from any furtherbenefits payable to such person pursuant to this chapter, provided that thedivision may elect not to process such possible overpayments where theamount of same is not over twenty percent of the maximum state weeklybenefit amount in effect at the time the error or omission was discovered.

14. Recovering overpaid unemployment compensation benefits shall bepursued by the division against any person receiving such overpaidunemployment compensation benefits through billing, setoffs against stateand federal tax refunds to the extent permitted by federal law, interceptsof lottery winnings under section 313.321, RSMo, and collection efforts asprovided for in sections 288.160, 288.170, and 288.175.

15. Any person who has received any sum as benefits under the laws ofanother state, or under any unemployment benefit program of the UnitedStates administered by another state while any conditions for the receiptof benefits imposed by the law of such other state were not fulfilled inhis or her case, shall after an opportunity for a fair hearing pursuant tosubsection 2 of section 288.190 have such sums deducted from any furtherbenefits payable to such person pursuant to this chapter, but only if thereexists between this state and such other state a reciprocal agreement underwhich such entity agrees to recover benefit overpayments, in like fashion,on behalf of this state.

(L. 1951 p. 564 § 288.260, A.L. 1957 p. 531, A.L. 1982 H.B. 1521, A.L. 1984 H.B. 1275 merged with H.B. 1251 & 1549, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1485, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1368, A.L. 1998 S.B. 922, A.L. 2004 H.B. 1268 & 1211, A.L. 2006 H.B. 1456)

Effective 10-01-06