History: P.A. 74-229 rephrased Subsec. (a)(4)(C) and authorized administrator to determine order of charging where
claimant has more than one employer in a quarter and exempting employers who paid wages of two hundred dollars or
less, added Subdiv. (5) in Subsec. (a), set June thirtieth deadline for computation of five-year benefit cost rate in Subsec.
(b) and clarified basis for computation and authorized rounding of quotients in Subsec. (b), rephrased Subsec. (d), replaced
table and deleted provision re reduction of fund balance tax rate in Subsec. (d), deleted provision re employers review
right in Subsec. (f)(3) and distinguished between dominant and controlled and predecessor and successor employers in
Subsec. (g); P.A. 75-525 defined "computation date" and "tax year" in Subsec. (a), added provisions re initiating claims
filed on or after July 1, 1975, but before June 30, 1978, revised employers liability from twenty-five per cent of his
limit for regular benefits or an amount equaling state's liability to fifty per cent of benefits paid under extended duration
unemployment benefits program, deleted former Subdiv. (5) in Subsec. (a), added provisions in Subsec. (c) re calculation
of employer's benefit ratio, revised table in Subsec. (d), made minor changes in Subsec. (f) for clarity and deleted Subsec.
(i) which had defined "balance in the unemployment compensation fund"; P.A. 76-74 clarified Subsec. (g) deleting references to mingling of experience records of predecessor and successor employers and inserting provision re acquisition of
predecessor's rating records by successor; P.A. 76-79 substituted "chargeable" for "charged" in Subsec. (c); P.A. 76-82
made language changes for consistency and added provisions re protests by employer in Subsec. (f); P.A. 76-88 changed
basis for calculating employer's benefit ratio in Subsec. (c); P.A. 76-98 provided that weeks of compensation in lieu of
notice, severance pay etc. shall be considered a week of employment in determining employer chargeability in Subsec.
(a); P.A. 76-161 deleted provisions re initiating claims filed on or after July 1, 1978, in Subsec. (a); P.A. 76-259 clarified
Subsec. (a)(4) and specified circumstances under which administrator is to determine manner of charging benefits; P.A.
77-426 deleted references to acquisition of former or predecessor employer's rates in Subdiv. (2) of Subsec. (g); P.A. 78-368 added provisions in Subsec. (a) re benefit years commencing on or after July 1, 1978, in Subsec. (a) and deleted
reference to notice of "order of liability" for benefit charges in Subsec. (f); P.A. 79-187 specified notification to employer
under Sec. 31-241 in Subsec. (f); P.A. 79-191 added provision in Subsec. (a) protecting employers from charge of benefits
resulting from natural disasters and deleted duplicate Subdiv. (5); P.A. 79-631 made technical correction; P.A. 80-483
substituted reference to natural disasters declared by U.S. President for reference to those declared by governor; P.A. 81-12 rearranged the section to increase its clarity and comprehensiveness, placing the definitions of terms in Subsec. (a) and
adding definitions of contributing and reimbursing employers, to insert noncharging provisions of the chapter in Subsec.
(c), and to simplify the language concerning determination of charged tax rates in Subsec. (e); P.A. 81-472 made technical
changes; P.A. 82-29 added the word "would" preceding "result" in Subsec. (c) (1)(E); P.A. 83-547 amended Subsec. (e)
to add subdiv. (2), providing a mechanism to assess employers for the interest due on loans from the federal unemployment
account, effective June 9, 1983, and applicable to tax years commencing on or after January 1, 1983; P.A. 83-587 made
a technical amendment to Subsec. (g); P.A. 84-312 amended Subsecs. (d) and (e) to increase the maximum employer's
charged tax rate from five per cent to five and four-tenths per cent, amended Subsec. (f) to increase the minimum solvency
tax rate from negative four-tenths of a per cent to zero per cent, and the Revisors corrected the charged tax rate table in
Subsec. (e) to read "5.1%, 5.2%, 5.3%" instead of ".1%, .2%, .3%", to correct typographical error; P.A. 85-25 amended
Subsec. (c) to provide that the noncharging provisions of Subdiv. (1)(F) of said subsection are applicable to reimbursing
employers; P.A. 85-258 amended Subsec. (c) by adding Subpara. (I) of Subdiv. (1), providing that benefits paid to claimants
who quit suitable work for certain compensable reasons shall not be charged against any employer's account; P.A. 87-76
amended Subdiv. (1) of Subsec. (e) to establish an annual cutoff date of September thirtieth for employers' taxable wage
reports which will be used to calculate the employers' benefit ratio; P.A. 87-341 amended Subdiv. (2) of Subsec. (e) to
provide that any excess of assessments made for payment of federal interest charges shall be transferred to the employment
security administration fund; P.A. 89-58 amended Subsec. (j) by adding Subdiv. (2), providing for the submittal of certain
information by electronic methods; P.A. 90-314 amended Subsec. (c) to increase the minimum wages an employer is
required to pay a claimant in his base period in order to be charged for the claimant's benefits from three hundred dollars
to five hundred dollars; P.A. 93-243 amended Subsec. (c) to prohibit charging employers' experience accounts for benefits
paid to employees discharged upon detection of drug abuse, amended Subsec. (e) to allow reimbursement of advance fund
from excess funds generated by experience tax and to add Subpara. (B) imposing a new assessment on employers to
reimburse and pay interest due on advances from advance fund, and amended Subsec. (f) to delete fund balance tax rate
table and establish a new formula for calculating the fund balance tax rate, effective June 23, 1993; P.A. 93-419 amended
Subsec. (f) to clarify that the administrator is required to establish a fund balance tax rate for each calendar year beginning
with calendar year 1994, and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 04-60 amended Subsec. (j) to make
technical changes in Subdivs. (1) and (2), and add Subdiv. (3) imposing twenty-five-dollar filing fee on employers that
file untimely quarterly reports and requiring deposit of all such fees into Employment Security Administration Fund,
effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in Subsec. (c)(1), effective July 13, 2005.
Sec. 31-230. Benefit year, base period and alternative base period. Regulations. (a) An individual's benefit year shall commence with the beginning of the week
with respect to which the individual has filed a valid initiating claim and shall continue
through the Saturday of the fifty-first week following the week in which it commenced,
provided no benefit year shall end until after the end of the third complete calendar
quarter, plus the remainder of any uncompleted calendar week that began in such quarter,
following the calendar quarter in which it commenced, and provided further, the benefit
year of an individual who has filed a combined wage claim, as described in subsection
(b) of section 31-255, shall be the benefit year prescribed by the law of the paying state.
In no event shall a benefit year be established before the termination of an existing benefit
year previously established under the provisions of this chapter. Except as provided in
subsection (b) of this section, the base period of a benefit year shall be the first four of
the five most recently completed calendar quarters prior to such benefit year, provided
such quarters were not previously used to establish a prior valid benefit year and provided
further, the base period with respect to a combined wage claim, as described in subsection
(b) of section 31-255, shall be the base period of the paying state, except that for any
individual who is eligible to receive or is receiving workers' compensation or who is
properly absent from work under the terms of the employer's sick leave or disability
leave policy, the base period shall be the first four of the five most recently worked
quarters prior to such benefit year, provided such quarters were not previously used to
establish a prior valid benefit year and provided further, the last most recently worked
calendar quarter is no more than twelve calendar quarters prior to the date such individual
makes an initiating claim. As used in this section, an initiating claim shall be deemed
valid if the individual is unemployed and meets the requirements of subdivisions (1)
and (3) of subsection (a) of section 31-235. The base period of an individual's benefit
year shall include wages paid by any nonprofit organization electing reimbursement in
lieu of contributions, or by the state and by any town, city or other political or governmental subdivision of or in this state or of any municipality to such person with respect to
whom such employer is subject to the provisions of this chapter. With respect to weeks
of unemployment beginning on or after January 1, 1978, wages for insured work shall
include wages paid for previously uncovered services. For purposes of this section, the
term "previously uncovered services" means services that (1) were not employment, as
defined in section 31-222, and were not services covered pursuant to section 31-223,
at any time during the one-year period ending December 31, 1975; and (2) (A) are
agricultural labor, as defined in subparagraph (H) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a)
of section 31-222, or domestic service, as defined in subparagraph (J) of subdivision
(1) of subsection (a) of section 31-222, or (B) are services performed by an employee
of this state or a political subdivision of this state, as provided in subparagraph (C) of
subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 31-222, or by an employee of a nonprofit
educational institution that is not an institution of higher education, as provided in subparagraph (E)(iii) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 31-222, except to the
extent that assistance under Title II of the Emergency Jobs and Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974 was paid on the basis of such services.
(b) For a period from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2007, the base period of a
benefit year for any individual who is ineligible to receive benefits using the base period
set forth in subsection (a) of this section shall be the four most recently completed
calendar quarters prior to the individual's benefit year, provided such quarters were not
previously used to establish a prior valid benefit year, except that for any such individual
who is eligible to receive or is receiving workers' compensation or who is properly
absent from work under the terms of an employer's sick leave or disability leave policy,
the base period shall be the four most recently worked calendar quarters prior to such
benefit year, provided such quarters were not previously used to establish a prior valid
benefit year and provided further, the last most recently worked calendar quarter is not
more than twelve calendar quarters prior to the date such individual makes the initiating
claim. If the wage information for an individual's most recently worked calendar quarter
is unavailable to the administrator from regular quarterly reports of systematically accessible wage information, the administrator shall promptly contact the individual's employer to obtain such wage information.
(1949 Rev., S. 7503; 1949, 1953, S. 3068d; 1969, P.A. 700, S. 4; 1971, P.A. 835, S. 12; P.A. 73-78; P.A. 75-334; 75-525, S. 7, 13; P.A. 77-115; 77-426, S. 5, 19; P.A. 79-40; 79-376, S. 30; P.A. 83-421; May 9 Sp. Sess. 02-7, S. 69; P.A. 05-34, S. 1.)
History: 1969 act made minor wording changes for clarity; 1971 act added reference to "governmental" subdivisions
and included wages paid by nonprofit organizations electing reimbursement in lieu of contributions; P.A. 73-78 clarified
continuation of benefit year as "through the Saturday of the fifty-first week following the week in which it commenced"
and prohibited establishment of new benefit year before termination of existing benefit year; P.A. 75-334 added exception
re benefit year base period for those eligible to receive or receiving workmen's compensation; P.A. 75-525 required that
benefit year and benefit period of claimant's filing combined claim be that prescribed by paying state; P.A. 77-115 required
that last most recently worked quarter be no more than twelve, rather than four, quarters before claim made in provision
re those receiving or eligible to receive workmen's compensation; P.A. 77-426 added provisions re weeks of unemployment
beginning on and after January 1, 1978; P.A. 79-40 excluded use of quarters used previously to establish prior benefit year
in establishing base period for subsequent benefit year; P.A. 79-376 substituted "workers'" for "workmen's" compensation;
P.A. 83-421 provided that, for any individual who is properly on sick or disability leave from his employment, the base
period will be the first four of the five most recently worked quarters prior to the benefit year; (Revisor's note: In 1991
the reference to "this subsection" was changed editorially by the Revisors to read "this section"); May 9 Sp. Sess. P.A.
02-7 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a) and made technical changes therein, added new Subsec. (b) to establish
a temporary, alternative method for calculating the base period of a benefit year for individuals ineligible to receive benefits
using the original base period set forth in Subsec. (a), and added new Subsec. (c) to require the administrator to adopt
regulations implementing the alternative base period authorized by Subsec. (b), effective August 15, 2002; P.A. 05-34
amended Subsec. (b) to extend period during which alternative base period may be calculated to December 31, 2007, and
deleted former Subsec. (c) re adoption of regulations.
Sec. 31-235. Benefit eligibility conditions; qualifications; involuntary retirees.
Reemployment services. Profiling system. (a) An unemployed individual shall be
eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week only if it has been found that (1)
he has made claim for benefits in accordance with the provisions of section 31-240 and
has registered for work at the public employment bureau or other agency designated by
the administrator within such time limits, with such frequency and in such manner as
the administrator may prescribe, provided failure to comply with this condition may be
excused by the administrator upon a showing of good cause therefor; (2) except as
provided in subsection (b) of this section, he is physically and mentally able to work
and is available for work and has been and is making reasonable efforts to obtain work,
provided he shall not be considered to be unavailable for work solely because he is
attending a school, college or university as a regularly enrolled student during his separation from employment, within the limitations of subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of
section 31-236, and provided further, he shall not be considered to be lacking in his
efforts to obtain work if, as a student, he restricts such efforts to employment which
does not conflict with his regular class hours as a student, and provided the administrator
shall not use prior "patterns of unemployment" of the individual to determine whether
he is available for work; (3) he has been paid wages by an employer who was subject
to the provisions of this chapter during the base period of his current benefit year in an
amount at least equal to forty times his benefit rate for total unemployment, provided
an unemployed individual who is sixty-two years of age or older and is involuntarily
retired under a compulsory retirement policy or contract provision shall be eligible
for benefits with respect to any week, notwithstanding subdivisions (1) and (2) of this
subsection, if it is found by the administrator that he has made claim for benefits in
accordance with the provisions of section 31-240, has registered for work at the public
employment bureau, is physically and mentally able to work, is available for work,
meets the requirements of this subdivision and has not refused suitable work to which
he has been referred by the administrator; (4) he participates in reemployment services,
such as job search assistance services, if the individual has been determined to be likely
to exhaust regular benefits and need reemployment services pursuant to a profiling
system established by the administrator unless the administrator determines that (A) the
individual has completed such services, or (B) there is justifiable cause for the individual's failure to participate in such services. The administrator shall adopt regulations, in
accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, for the administration of the profiling
system. For purposes of subdivision (2) of this subsection, "patterns of unemployment"
means regularly recurring periods of unemployment of the claimant in the years prior
to his filing the claim in question.
(b) The provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section relating to the
eligibility of students for benefits shall not be applicable to any claimant who attended
a school, college or university as a regularly enrolled full-time student at any time during
the two years prior to his date of separation from employment, unless such claimant
was employed on a full-time basis, as determined by the administrator, for the two years
prior to such date.
(1949 Rev., S. 7507; 1953, S. 3072d; February, 1965, P.A. 550, S. 4; 1967, P.A. 790, S. 13, 23; 1971, P.A. 835, S. 14;
P.A. 73-106; 73-160; 73-671; P.A. 83-184, S. 1, 2; 83-470, S. 1, 3; P.A. 94-116, S. 15, 28; P.A. 05-288, S. 137.)
History: 1965 act changed wage amount referred to in Subdiv. (3) from three hundred to seven hundred fifty dollars;
1967 act changed amount referred to in Subdiv. (3) to thirty times his benefit rate for total unemployment; 1971 act deleted
provision in Subdiv. (2) which had prohibited requiring women to be available for work between one and six a.m.; P.A.
73-106 changed wage amount in Subdiv. (3) from thirty to forty times the benefit rate "or one and one-half times the
amount of his total wages paid during that quarter of his current benefit year's base period in which such wages were
highest", deleting proviso requiring that wages or earnings occur in two different calendar quarters; P.A. 73-160 added
proviso re persons sixty-two or older who are involuntarily retired; P.A. 73-671 deleted optional wage amount of one and
one-half total wages paid during quarter in which wages were highest in Subdiv. (3); P.A. 83-184 prohibited the administrator from using prior "patterns of unemployment" in determining the individual's availability for work and defined the
term; P.A. 83-470 provided that a claimant shall not be considered to be unavailable for work solely because he is a student
during his period of unemployment, and he shall not be considered to be lacking in his efforts to get work if he restricts
his efforts to employment which does not conflict with his school hours, within the limitations established in new Subsec.
(b); (Revisor's note: In 1991 the reference in Subsec. (a) to "subsection (6)" was changed editorially by the Revisors to read
"subsection (a)(6)"); P.A. 94-116 added a new Subdiv. (4) in Subsec. (a) requiring a claimant to participate in reemployment
services if the individual has determined to be more likely than not to exhaust regular benefits and need reemployment
services, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), effective July 13, 2005.
Sec. 31-236b. Eligibility for benefits not impaired by reason of participation in
training with commissioner's approval. Approval of programs. (a) Notwithstanding
any other provisions in this chapter, an otherwise eligible individual shall not be denied
benefits for any week because he is in training with the approval of the administrator
by reason of the application of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 31-235 relating
to availability for work, or the provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section
31-236 relating to failure to apply for, or a refusal to accept, suitable work.
(b) The administrator shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 54, which establish the guidelines to be used by the administrator in determining
which job training programs, job retraining programs and claimants shall be approved
for the purposes of this section. Any such program sponsored by (1) any federal, state
or municipal department, (2) any labor organization, or (3) any private employer shall
be approved upon meeting the requirements of such guidelines.
(1971, P.A. 835, S. 21; P.A. 83-470, S. 2, 3; P.A. 05-288, S. 138.)
History: P.A. 83-470 added Subsec. (b) requiring the administrator to adopt regulations establishing guidelines for the
approval of job training and retraining programs and claimants for the purposes of this section; (Revisor's note: In 1991
the reference in Subsec. (a) to "subsection (1)" was changed editorially by the Revisors to read "subsection (a)(1)"); P.A.
05-288 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), effective July 13, 2005.
Sec. 31-273. Overpayments; recovery and penalties. False or misleading declarations, statements or representations. Additional violations and penalties. (a)
Any person who, through error, has received any sum as benefits under this chapter
while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter was not fulfilled
in his case, or has received a greater amount of benefits than was due him under this
chapter, shall be charged with an overpayment of a sum equal to the amount so overpaid
to him, provided such error has been discovered and brought to his attention within one
year of the date of receipt of such benefits. A person whose receipt of such a sum was
not due to fraud, wilful misrepresentation or wilful nondisclosure by himself or another
shall be entitled to a hearing before an examiner designated by the administrator. Such
examiner shall determine whether: (A) Such person shall repay such sum to the administrator for the Unemployment Compensation Fund, (B) such sum shall be recouped by
offset from such person's unemployment benefits, or (C) repayment or recoupment of
such sum would defeat the purpose of the benefits or be against equity and good conscience and should be waived. In any case where the examiner determines that such
sum shall be recouped by offset from a person's unemployment benefits, the deduction
from benefits shall not exceed fifty per cent of the person's weekly benefit amount.
Where such offset is insufficient to recoup the full amount of the overpayment, the
claimant shall repay the remaining amount in accordance with a repayment schedule as
determined by the examiner. If the claimant fails to repay according to the schedule,
the administrator may recover such overpayment through a wage execution against the
claimant's earnings upon his return to work in accordance with the provisions of section
52-361a. Any person with respect to whom a determination of overpayment has been
made, according to the provisions of this subsection, shall be given notice of such determination and the provisions for repayment or recoupment of the amount overpaid. No
repayment shall be required and no deduction from benefits shall be made until the
determination of overpayment has become final. The determination of overpayment
shall be final unless the claimant, within twenty-one days after notice of such determination was mailed to him at his last-known address, files an appeal from such determination
to a referee. If the last day for filing an appeal falls on any day when the offices of the
Employment Security Division are not open for business, such last day shall be extended
to the next business day. The appeal shall be heard in the same manner provided in
section 31-242 for an appeal from the decision of an examiner on a claim for benefits.
Any party aggrieved by the decision of the referee, including the administrator, may
appeal to the Employment Security Board of Review in the manner provided in section
31-249. Decisions of the board may be appealed to the Superior Court in the manner
provided in section 31-249b. The administrator is authorized, eight years after the payment of any benefits described in this subsection, to cancel any claim for such repayment
or recoupment which in his opinion is uncollectible. Effective January 1, 1996, and
annually thereafter, the administrator shall report to the joint standing committee of
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and
bonding and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance
of matters relating to labor and public employees, the aggregate number and value of
all such claims deemed uncollectible and therefore cancelled during the previous calendar year. Any determination of overpayment made under this section which becomes
final may be enforced by a wage execution in the same manner as a judgment of the
Superior Court when the claimant fails to pay according to his repayment schedule. The
court may issue a wage execution upon any final determination of overpayment in the
same manner as in cases of judgments rendered in the Superior Court, and upon the
filing of an application to the court for an execution, the administrator shall send to the
clerk of the court a certified copy of such determination.
(b) (1) Any person who, by reason of fraud, wilful misrepresentation or wilful
nondisclosure by such person or by another of a material fact, has received any sum as
benefits under this chapter while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by
this chapter was not fulfilled in such person's case, or has received a greater amount of
benefits than was due such person under this chapter, shall be charged with an overpayment and shall be liable to repay to the administrator for the Unemployment Compensation Fund a sum equal to the amount so overpaid to such person. If such person does
not make repayment in full of the sum overpaid, the administrator shall recoup such
sum by offset from such person's unemployment benefits. The deduction from benefits
shall be one hundred per cent of the person's weekly benefit entitlement until the full
amount of the overpayment has been recouped. Where such offset is insufficient to
recoup the full amount of the overpayment, the claimant shall repay the remaining
amount plus, for any determination of an overpayment made on or after July 1, 2005,
interest at the rate of one per cent of the amount so overpaid per month, in accordance
with a repayment schedule as determined by the examiner. If the claimant fails to repay
according to the schedule, the administrator may recover such overpayment plus interest
through a wage execution against the claimant's earnings upon the claimant's return to
work in accordance with the provisions of section 52-361a. In addition, the administrator
may request the Commissioner of Administrative Services to seek reimbursement for
such amount pursuant to section 12-742. The administrator is authorized, eight years
after the payment of any benefits described in this subsection, to cancel any claim for
such repayment or recoupment which in the administrator's opinion is uncollectible.
Effective January 1, 1996, and annually thereafter, the administrator shall report to the
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating
to finance, revenue and bonding and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor and public employees, the aggregate
number and value of all such claims deemed uncollectible and therefore cancelled during
the previous calendar year.
(2) Any person who has made a claim for benefits under this chapter and has knowingly made a false statement or representation or has knowingly failed to disclose a
material fact in order to obtain benefits or to increase the amount of benefits to which
such person may be entitled under this chapter shall forfeit benefits for not less than one
or more than thirty-nine compensable weeks following determination of such offense or
offenses, during which weeks such person would otherwise have been eligible to receive
benefits. For the purposes of section 31-231b, such person shall be deemed to have
received benefits for such forfeited weeks. This penalty shall be in addition to any other
applicable penalty under this section and in addition to the liability to repay any moneys
so received by such person and shall not be confined to a single benefit year.
(3) Any person charged with the fraudulent receipt of benefits or the making of a
fraudulent claim, as provided in this subsection, shall be entitled to a hearing before the
administrator, or a deputy or representative designated by the administrator. Notice of
the time and place of such hearing, and the reasons for such hearing, shall be given to
the person not less than five days prior to the date appointed for such hearing. The
administrator shall determine, on the basis of facts found by the administrator, whether
or not a fraudulent act subject to the penalties of this subsection has been committed
and, upon such finding, shall fix the penalty for any such offense according to the provisions of this subsection. Any person determined by the administrator to have committed
fraud under the provisions of this section shall be liable for repayment to the administrator of the Unemployment Compensation Fund for any benefits determined by the administrator to have been collected fraudulently, as well as any other penalties assessed
by the administrator in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. Until such
liabilities have been met to the satisfaction of the administrator, such person shall forfeit
any right to receive benefits under the provisions of this chapter. Notification of such
decision and penalty shall be mailed to such person's last known address and shall be
final unless such person files an appeal not later than twenty-one days after the mailing
date of such notification. If the last day for filing an appeal falls on any day when the
offices of the Employment Security Division are not open for business, such last day
shall be extended to the next business day. Such appeal shall be heard by a referee in
the same manner provided in section 31-242 for an appeal from the decision of an
examiner on a claim for benefits. The manner in which such appeals shall be heard and
appeals taken therefrom to the board of review and then to the Superior Court, either
by the administrator or the claimant, shall be in accordance with the provisions set forth
in section 31-249 or 31-249b, as the case may be. Any determination of overpayment
made under this subsection which becomes final on or after October 1, 1995, may be
enforced in the same manner as a judgment of the Superior Court when the claimant
fails to pay according to the claimant's repayment schedule. The court may issue execution upon any final determination of overpayment in the same manner as in cases of
judgments rendered in the Superior Court; and upon the filing of an application to the
court for an execution, the administrator shall send to the clerk of the court a certified
copy of such determination.
(c) Any person, firm or corporation who knowingly employs a person and pays
such employee without declaring such payment in the payroll records shall be guilty of
a class A misdemeanor.
(d) If, after investigation, the administrator determines that there is probable cause
to believe that the person, firm or corporation has wilfully failed to declare payment of
wages in the payroll record, the administrator shall provide an opportunity for a hearing
on the matter. If a hearing is requested, it shall be conducted by the administrator, or a
deputy or representative designated by him. Notice of the time and place of such hearing,
and the reasons therefor, shall be given to the person, firm, or corporation not less than
five days prior to the date appointed for such hearing. If the administrator determines,
on the basis of the facts found by him, that such nondeclaration occurred and was wilful,
the administrator shall fix the payments and penalties in accordance with the provisions
of subsection (e) of this section. Such person, firm or corporation may appeal to the
superior court for the judicial district of Hartford or for the judicial district in which the
employer's principal place of business is located. Such court shall give notice of a time
and place of hearing to the administrator. At such hearing the court may confirm or
correct the administrator's determination. If the administrator's determination is confirmed, the cost of such proceedings, as in civil actions, shall be assessed against such
person, firm or corporation. No costs shall be assessed against the state on such appeal.
(e) If the administrator determines that any person, firm or corporation has wilfully
failed to declare the payment of wages on payroll records, the administrator may impose
a penalty of ten per cent of the total contributions past due to the administrator, as
determined pursuant to section 31-270. Such penalty shall be in addition to any other
applicable penalty and interest under section 31-266. In addition, the administrator may
require the person, firm or corporation to make contributions at the maximum rate provided in section 31-225a for a period of one year following the determination by the
administrator concerning the wilful nondeclaration. If the person, firm or corporation
is paying or should have been paying, the maximum rate at the time of the determination,
the administrator may require that such maximum rate continue for a period of three
years following the determination.
(f) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or representation or fails
to disclose a material fact in order to obtain, increase, prevent or decrease any benefit,
contribution or other payment under this chapter, or under any similar law of another
state or of the United States in regard to which this state acted as agent pursuant to an
agreement authorized by section 31-225, whether to be made to or by himself or any
other person, and who receives any such benefit, pays any such contribution or alters
any such payment to his advantage by such fraudulent means (1) shall be guilty of a
class A misdemeanor if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to five hundred
dollars or less or (2) shall be guilty of a class D felony if such benefit, contribution or
payment amounts to more than five hundred dollars. Notwithstanding the provisions of
section 54-193, no person shall be prosecuted for a violation of the provisions of this
subsection committed on or after October 1, 1977, except within five years next after
such violation has been committed.
(g) Any person, firm or corporation who knowingly fails to pay contributions or
other payments due under this chapter shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 54-193, no person shall be prosecuted for a violation
of the provisions of this subsection committed on or after October 1, 1987, except within
five years after such violation has been committed.
(h) Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this chapter for which no
other penalty is provided by law shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars or
imprisoned not more than six months or both.
(i) Any person who wilfully violates any regulation made by the administrator or
the board under the authority of this chapter, for which no penalty is specifically provided, shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars.
(j) All interest payments collected by the administrator under subsection (b) of this
section shall be deposited in the Employment Security Administration Fund.
(1949 Rev., S. 7543; 1949, S. 3089d; 1953, S. 3090d, 3091d; 1967, P.A. 790, S. 20, 21; P.A. 74-229, S. 21, 22; 74-339, S. 32, 33, 36; P.A. 77-227; 77-426, S. 14, 19; P.A. 78-287; 78-331, S. 14, 41, 58; P.A. 79-42; 79-67, S. 1, 2; 79-187,
S. 4; P.A. 81-318, S. 3, 4, 8; P.A. 82-132; P.A. 87-364, S. 7, 8; P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S.
4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4-6; 95-323, S. 1, 2, 8; P.A. 04-60, S. 1, 2; P.A. 05-288, S. 139.)
History: 1967 act amended Subsecs. (b) and (e) to exclude Sundays and holidays from period allowed for appeal and
to specify that if last day falls on day when employment security division offices are closed an extension is allowed and
substituted Sec. 31-231b for Sec. 31-232 in Subsec. (e); P.A. 74-229 made person who receives benefits but who "by virtue
of a retroactive monetary or nonmonetary determination" is disqualified from receiving benefits liable for repayment under
Subsec. (b) and increased time for filing appeal from seven to fourteen days but deleted exclusion for Sundays and holidays;
P.A. 74-339 replaced references to unemployment commission and commissioners with references to the board and substituted reference to Sec. 31-249b for reference to Sec. 31-249 in Subsec. (e); P.A. 77-227 imposed penalty on those who
receive benefits, etc. as a result of fraudulent means in Subsec. (a) and changed penalty from two-hundred-dollar maximum
fine and/or six months' maximum imprisonment to penalty for Class A misdemeanor, inserted new Subsec. (c) re employers'
violations and relettered former Subsecs. (c) to (e) accordingly; P.A. 77-426 imposed five-year limitation on prosecution
actions in Subsec. (a), added references to penalty in Subsec. (e), revised appeal procedure so that referee hears case first
rather than the board and restored reference to Sec. 31-249; P.A. 78-287 made penalty applicable to those who pay fraudulent
contributions or alter payments to their advantage and added provision making violator in cases involving fraudulent
benefit, etc. of more than five hundred dollars subject to penalty for a Class D felony; P.A. 78-331 made technical changes;
P.A. 79-42 rephrased violations in Subsec. (a) for clarity; P.A. 79-67 added Subdiv. (2) in Subsec. (c) re contributions at
maximum rate and amended Subsec. (f) to change maximum period of forfeited benefits from twenty to thirty-nine compensable weeks or "more than six years beyond the expiration of the benefit year during which the offense occurred" rather
than "beyond twenty-one months after the termination of the calendar quarter during which the offense was discovered";
P.A. 79-187 amended Subsec. (b) to include provisions re persons whose receipt of funds in error was not due to fraud, etc.
and re partial repayment or waiver of repayment, made examiner rather than administrator responsible for determination,
modified appeal procedure so that appeals are made first to board of review and then to superior court and replaced
references to commissioners with references to referees; P.A. 81-318 amended Subsec. (b) to increase the time limit for
appeal from fourteen to twenty-one days after notice mailed and amended Subsec. (f) to increase the time limit for appeal
from fourteen to twenty-one days after mailing of notice of decision and penalty; P.A. 82-132 rearranged the section's
provisions to make them more comprehensible, and provided in Subsec. (b) that one hundred per cent of the benefit
entitlement shall be deducted from benefits paid to a person found to have improperly received benefits, by fraud, wilful
misrepresentation or wilful nondisclosure, until the amount overpaid has been recouped; P.A. 87-364 inserted new Subsec.
(e) providing that knowingly failing to pay contributions due under the chapter constitutes a class A misdemeanor, and
that any prosecution of the crime must take place within five years after the violation and relettered former Subsecs. (e)
and (f) accordingly; P.A. 88-230 replaced "judicial district of Hartford-New Britain" with "judicial district of Hartford",
effective September 1, 1991; P.A. 90-98 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1991, to September
1, 1993; P.A. 93-142 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1993, to September 1, 1996, effective
June 14, 1993; P.A. 95-220 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1996, to September 1, 1998,
effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-323 amended Subsec. (b) to allow an appeal to be heard directly by a referee in the same
manner as an appeal of a decision of an examiner and deleted the requirement that the administrator present all documents,
including the finding of facts for a referee's decision, effective July 10, 1995, and further amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to
specify methods available for recoupment of overpayments and procedures for enforcement of wage executions and to
require annual report of uncollectible claims to General Assembly, changing time lapse for consideration of claim as
uncollectible from six to eight years and deleting a six-year limit re penalties in Subsec. (b), further amended Subsec. (b)
to specify that perpetrators may not receive benefits until repayment of overpayment and penalties has been made in full,
amended Subsec. (c) to eliminate the contribution schedule re employers' violations, inserted new provisions in Subsec.
(d) re hearing and penalty provisions for employers who wilfully fail to declare payment of wages in the payroll record,
inserted new Subsec. (e) re additional penalties imposed for violations of wilful nondeclaration and relettered former
Subsecs. (d) to (g), inclusive, as Subsecs. (f) to (i), inclusive, effective October 1, 1995, and applicable to any separation
of employment occurring on or after that date; P.A. 04-60 amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes, to establish
interest penalty for overpayments determined on or after July 1, 2005, in Subdiv. (1), to reduce minimum number of weeks
of benefit forfeiture from two to one in Subdiv. (2), and to revise notification and appeal procedures in Subdiv. (3), and
added Subsec. (j) requiring deposit of all interest penalty payments collected pursuant to Subsec. (b) into Employment
Security Administration Fund, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(2), effective
July 13, 2005.