interstate mess..unemployment now being denied..please help

[confused99]

I live in MN, company based in SC, have been working mostly NC & SC the past few years.

Company told me to collect in MN because that is where my income and UI taxes are paid into, and that's where my wages are reported.

That is what I have done for a few years, and it's been fine. My acct was audited for some reason recently, and they have now not only deemed me ineligible for unemployment in MN but want payback for 2017 (and hopefully don't dig back farther??).

I tried to open an account with NC to file interstate (thinking they could pull the UI tax from MN and get this disaster straightened out, and at least I could continue to collect via NC until my next outage) but when I called NC, they have no reported wages for me and cannot move forward. No one has reported wages for me except MN

I have an appeals hearing with state of MN in 1 week. Feel like I'm screwed. I contacted a lawyer who was of little help in terms of getting this straightened out.

any advice out there?

[SloGlo]

a lass. yore tax home ain't mn. git a good tacks lawyer who is skilled at u.c., s.s., Medicare, etc.

[hamsamich]

The newer unemployment regs (2009ish) state you collect where you worked PHYSICALLY.  So the state your body was actually in while you did the work is the deal here...and not drunken state...ha ha.

[SCMasterchef]

hamsamich is correct.  If you are filing in MN to get a higher unemployment then you have messed up.  Granted NC and SC are two of the lowest unemployment states in the US but unfortunately you must file in the state that you actually worked.  Sorry for the lousey rate that they pay but that's the breaks of working in those cheap a--ed states.  Lived there for too many years and worked in them to many times.

[hamsamich]

But if you worked in MN at all physically in the last 18 months, there could be hope on the appeal.  That is your only chance I think.

[SloGlo]

git a good tacks lawyer who is skilled at u.c., s.s., Medicare, etc.

n tell yore s.c. baste company two git yew a job won time every claim year inna hi u.c. rate state.

[Rennhack]

I live in MN, company based in SC, have been working mostly NC & SC the past few years.
  Company told me to collect in MN because that is where my income and UI taxes are paid into, and that's where my wages are reported.

First of all, the company you are working for is screwing you, because you/they have to pay unemployment tax/unemployment insurance to the state you are working in.  Not where you live. You will need to get them to pull the payments back, and apply them properly for you to be able to pull unemployment from the state you performed in.  If you worked in South Carolina, you will not win your protest, if you did not, you have a chance.:

Subd. 12.Covered employment.
(1) an employee's entire employment during the calendar quarter if:
(iii) the employment during the quarter is not performed primarily in Minnesota or any other state and the base of operations or place from which the employment is directed or controlled is not in any state where part of the employment is performed, but the employee's residence is in Minnesota;

Call the company you worked for, and have them give you written proof to where they paid your unemployment.

To give you some idea of where I am coming from, I have had to address this issue with the state of Tennessee, from an employers perspective.  One of my clients was properly reporting wages where the employee worked, even thought the employee lives in TN, and my Client was based in TN.  It took a while to explain TN's law to the TN folks, but eventually they understood.

There are "tests" to see where to pay.

Test 1) "Localization of Services Test" Wages are reported to the state where service is performed.  (Your case)
Test 2) "Employee Base of Operations Test" Wages are reported to the state in which employee has his base of operations AND PERFORMED SOME SERVICES" -- You did not, N/A
Test 3) "Employer Base of Operations Test" Wages are reported and premiums are paid to the state from which the service is directed IF THE EMPLOYEE PERFORMED SOME SERVICE IN THAT STATE" - You if you worked in SC.
Test 4) "Place of Residence Test" Wages are reported to the state employee lives IF SOME SERVICE IS PERFORMED IN THAT STATE"
-- You did not, N/A

Notice Base of operations and residence are similar, but you don't qualify for either.

Basically, your employer should be paying to the state you are working in, all of the time.

You should research Minnesota's unemployment laws. Here is an easy to read handbook, and some exerpts: http://www.uimn.org/uimn/employers/publications/emp-hbook/employment-in-more.jsp

Employment in more than one state   Reference: Minnesota Law, §268.035 Subd.12
When an employee performs services in Minnesota and at least one other state, use the following information to determine whether wages paid to the worker must be reported to the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program.

   
• The employment is performed primarily in Minnesota, and the employment performed outside Minnesota is incidental to the employment in Minnesota, or
• The employment is performed in Minnesota and the base of operations or the place from which the employment is directed or controlled is in Minnesota, or
• The base of operations or place from which the employment is directed or controlled is not in any state where part of the employment is performed, but the employee's residence is in Minnesota.

If the information above does not apply and the individual's services are not covered under the laws of another state or Canada, the services are covered in Minnesota if the employer directs and controls them from Minnesota.
Wages paid to an employee who was covered under the unemployment insurance law of another state do not count toward the Minnesota taxable wage base.

Leased employeesReference: Law, §268.046 Subd.1
The term leased employees refers to a relationship where one legal entity provides labor to another legal entity on a continuing basis for a fee. All employee leasing firms (also commonly referred to as "professional employer organizations" or "PEOs") that operate in Minnesota must register with the Minnesota Department of Commerce before registering with the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program. Employee leasing firms must maintain separate UI employer accounts for each of their clients.

Here is the actual law for your state.  They are basically the same everywhere, with some minor variances.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=268.035#stat.268.035.12

Subd. 12.Covered employment.
(a) "Covered employment" means the following unless excluded as "noncovered employment" under subdivision 20:
(1) an employee's entire employment during the calendar quarter if:
(i) the employment during the quarter is performed primarily in Minnesota;
(ii) the employment during the quarter is not performed primarily in Minnesota or any other state but some of the employment is performed in Minnesota and the base of operations or the place from which the employment is directed or controlled is in Minnesota; or
(iii) the employment during the quarter is not performed primarily in Minnesota or any other state and the base of operations or place from which the employment is directed or controlled is not in any state where part of the employment is performed, but the employee's residence is in Minnesota;
(2) an employee's entire employment during the calendar quarter performed within the United States or Canada, if:
(i) the employment is not covered employment under the unemployment insurance program of any other state, federal law, or the law of Canada; and
(ii) the place from which the employment is directed or controlled is in Minnesota;
(3) the employment during the calendar quarter, performed entirely outside the United States and Canada, by an employee who is a United States citizen in the employ of an American employer if the employer's principal place of business in the United States is located in Minnesota. An "American employer," for the purposes of this clause, means a corporation organized under the laws of any state, 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; and
(4) all employment during the calendar quarter performed by an officer or member of the crew of an American vessel on or in connection with the vessel, if the operating office from which the operations of the vessel operating on navigable waters within, or within and without, the United States are ordinarily and regularly supervised, managed, directed, and controlled is in Minnesota.
(b) "Covered employment" includes covered agricultural employment under subdivision 11.
(c) For the purposes of section 268.095, "covered employment" includes employment covered under an unemployment insurance program:
(1) of any other state;

[wasteman]

Been working (and home is in) PA for the past 17 months.  May take a job in Arizona for 6 months, home will remain in PA.  Will I be stuck with AZ unemployment ($240/wk) or can I get PA rates ($573) with an interstate claim? 

[SloGlo]

Been working (and home is in) PA for the past 17 months.  May take a job in Arizona for 6 months, home will remain in PA.  Will I be stuck with AZ unemployment ($240/wk) or can I get PA rates ($573) with an interstate claim? 

call (888) 313-7284 oar go on line wit pa u.c.
eye think if yins file as soon as yore back from az yule have 3 months az earnings and 9 months pa earnings inn you're bass year, n the pa rate will apply.

[tagline]

I live in MN, company based in SC, have been working mostly NC & SC the past few years.

Company told me to collect in MN because that is where my income and UI taxes are paid into, and that's where my wages are reported.

That is what I have done for a few years, and it's been fine. My acct was audited for some reason recently, and they have now not only deemed me ineligible for unemployment in MN but want payback for 2017 (and hopefully don't dig back farther??).

I tried to open an account with NC to file interstate (thinking they could pull the UI tax from MN and get this disaster straightened out, and at least I could continue to collect via NC until my next outage) but when I called NC, they have no reported wages for me and cannot move forward. No one has reported wages for me except MN

I have an appeals hearing with state of MN in 1 week. Feel like I'm screwed. I contacted a lawyer who was of little help in terms of getting this straightened out.

any advice out there?

NC and SC were paid the monies while you were working there. You may owe money to MN. just because you were not eligible to collect there. SC and NC should pick up a partial which you owe MN. I went thru the same thing with Washington State. Ohio picked up what I should have collected from them and paid it to Washington State. I filled out a "Hardship Declaration" and Washington State forgave the remainder of what I owed them. Check to see if MN. has the Hardship Declaration. Good luck, unemployment benefits can be a nightmare when dealing with any Interstate Issues.

[scotoma]

Your employer should be withholding and paying taxes to the state in which you are physically working. To what state was your witholding reported? Most states now have laws that require an employer to do that even if it is just temporary. Some state it can be as little as one week. Your employed should have been reporting your wages to the states where you were actually working. If not, you may be even more screwed. NC and SC may come after you for back taxes, penalties and interest. If you filed an unemployment claim in MN, and they paid you, they should have been billing the states where you worked. If you were working as an independent contractor, and not as an employee, then none of this applies.

[hamsamich]

If your employer did it right you will have PA $$$$.  Unemployment is based on the state you physically worked in.