Section 421.54 - Penalties.
MICHIGAN EMPLOYMENT SECURITY ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 1 of 1936 (Ex. Sess.)
421.54 Penalties.
Sec. 54.
(a) A person who willfully violates or intentionally fails to comply with any of the provisions of this act, or a regulation of the commission promulgated under the authority of this act for which a penalty is not otherwise provided by this act is punishable as provided in subdivision (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv), notwithstanding any other statute of this state or of the United States:
(i) If the commission determines that an amount has been obtained or withheld as a result of the intentional failure to comply with this act, the commission may recover the amount obtained as a result of the intentional failure to comply plus damages equal to 3 times that amount.
(ii) The commission may refer the matter to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the alleged violation occurred for prosecution. If the commission has not made its own determination under subdivision (i), the penalty sought by the prosecutor shall include the amount described in subdivision (i) and shall also include 1 or more of the following penalties:
(A) If the amount obtained or withheld from payment as a result of the intentional failure to comply is less than $25,000.00, then 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 1 year.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 1 year but not to exceed 2,080 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 1 year.
(B) If the amount obtained or withheld from payment as a result of the intentional failure to comply is $25,000.00 or more but less than $100,000.00, then 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 2 years.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 2 years but not to exceed 4,160 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 2 years.
(C) If the amount obtained or withheld from payment as a result of the intentional failure to comply is more than $100,000.00, then 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 5 years.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 5 years but not to exceed 10,400 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 5 years.
(iii) If the commission determines that an amount has been obtained or withheld as a result of a knowing violation of this act, the commission may recover the amount obtained as a result of the knowing violation and may also recover damages equal to 3 times that amount.
(iv) The commission may refer a matter under subdivision (iii) to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the alleged violation occurred for prosecution. If the commission has not made its own determination under subdivision (iii), the penalty sought by the prosecutor shall include the amount described in subdivision (iii) and shall also include 1 or more of the following penalties:
(A) If the amount obtained or withheld from payment as a result of the knowing violation is $100,000.00 or less, then 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 1 year.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 1 year but not to exceed 2,080 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 1 year.
(B) If the amount obtained or withheld from payment as a result of the knowing violation is more than $100,000.00, then 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 2 years.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 2 years but not to exceed 4,160 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 2 years.
(b) Any employing unit or an officer or agent of an employing unit, a claimant, an employee of the commission, or any other person who makes a false statement or representation knowing it to be false, or knowingly and willfully with intent to defraud fails to disclose a material fact, to obtain or increase a benefit or other payment under this act or under the unemployment compensation law of any state or of the federal government, either for himself or herself or any other person, to prevent or reduce the payment of benefits to an individual entitled thereto or to avoid becoming or remaining a subject employer, or to avoid or reduce a contribution or other payment required from an employing unit under this act or under the unemployment compensation law of any state or of the federal government, as applicable, is punishable as follows, notwithstanding any other penalties imposed under any other statute of this state or of the United States:
(i) If the amount obtained as a result of the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact is less than $500.00, the commission may recover the amount obtained as a result of the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact and may also recover damages equal to 2 times that amount.
(ii) If the amount obtained as a result of the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact is $500.00 or more, the commission shall attempt to recover the amount obtained as a result of the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact and may also recover damages equal to 4 times that amount. The commission may refer the matter to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the alleged violation occurred for prosecution. If the commission has not made its own determination under this subdivision, the penalty sought by the prosecutor shall include the amount described in this subdivision and shall also include 1 or more of the following penalties if the amount obtained is $1,000.00 or more:
(A) If the amount obtained or withheld from payment as a result of the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact is $1,000.00 or more but less than $25,000.00, then 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 1 year.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 1 year but not to exceed 2,080 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 1 year.
(B) If the amount obtained or withheld from payment as a result of the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact is $25,000.00 or more, then 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 2 years.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 2 years but not to exceed 4,160 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 2 years.
(C) If the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact made to obtain or withhold an amount from payment does not result in a loss to the commission, then a penalty shall be sought equal to 3 times the amount that would have been obtained by the knowing false statement or representation or the knowing and willful failure to disclose a material fact, but not less than $1,000.00, and 1 of the following:
(I) Imprisonment for not more than 2 years.
(II) The performance of community service of not more than 2 years but not to exceed 4,160 hours.
(III) A combination of (I) and (II) that does not exceed 2 years.
(c) (1) Any employing unit or an officer or agent of an employing unit or any other person failing to submit, when due, any contribution report, wage and employment report, or other reports lawfully prescribed and required by the commission shall be subject to the assessment of a penalty for each report not submitted within the time prescribed by the commission, as follows: In the case of contribution reports not received within 10 days after the end of the reporting month the penalty shall be 10% of the contributions due on the reports but not less than $5.00 or more than $25.00 for a report. However, if the tenth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or other commission nonwork day, the 10-day period shall run until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or other commission nonwork day. In the case of all other reports referred to in this subsection the penalty shall be $10.00 for a report.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1), any employer or an officer or agent of an employer or any other person failing to submit, when due, any quarterly wage detail report required by section 13(2) shall be subject to a penalty of $25.00 for each untimely report.
(3) When a report is filed after the prescribed time and it is shown to the satisfaction of the commission that the failure to submit the report was due to reasonable cause, a penalty shall not be imposed. The assessment of a penalty as provided in this subsection shall constitute a determination which shall be final unless the employer files with the commission an application for a redetermination of the assessment in accordance with section 32a.
(d) If any commissioner, employee, or agent of the commission or member of the appeal board willfully makes a disclosure of confidential information obtained from any employing unit or individual in the administration of this act for any purpose inconsistent with or contrary to the purposes of this act, or a person who having obtained a list of applicants for work, or of claimants or recipients of benefits, under this act shall use or permit the use of that list for a political purpose or for a purpose inconsistent with or contrary to the purposes of this act, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, if any commissioner, commission employee, agent of the commission, or member of the board of review knowingly, intentionally, and for financial gain, makes an illegal disclosure of confidential information obtained under section 13(2), he or she is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year and 1 day.
(e) A person who, without proper authority from the commission, represents himself or herself to be an employee of the commission to an employing unit or person for the purpose of securing information regarding the unemployment or employment record of an individual is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both.
(f) A person associated with a college, university, or public agency of this state who makes use of any information obtained from the commission in connection with a research project of a public service nature, in a manner as to reveal the identity of any individual or employing unit from or concerning whom the information was obtained by the commission, or for any purpose other than use in connection with that research project, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or by a fine of not more than $1,000.00, or both.
(g) As used in this section, “person” includes an individual, copartnership, joint venture, corporation, receiver, or trustee in bankruptcy.
(h) This section shall apply even if the amount obtained or withheld from payment has been reported or reported and paid by an individual involved in a violation of subsection (a) or (b).
(i) If a determination is made that an individual has violated this section, the individual is subject to the penalty provisions of this section and, where applicable, the requirements of section 62.
(j) Amounts recovered by the commission under subsection (a) or (b) shall be credited first to the unemployment compensation fund and thereafter amounts recovered that are in excess of the amounts obtained or withheld as a result of the violation of subsection (a) and (b) shall be credited to the penalty and interest account of the contingent fund. Fines and penalties recovered by the commission under subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) shall be credited to the penalty and interest account of the contingent fund in accordance with section 10(6).
(k) The revisions in the penalties in subsections (a) and (b) provided by the 1991 amendatory act that added this subsection shall apply to conduct that began before April 1, 1992, but that continued on or after April 1, 1992, and to conduct that began on or after April 1, 1992.
History: 1936, Ex. Sess., Act 1, Imd. Eff. Dec. 24, 1936 ;-- Am. 1939, Act 324, Imd. Eff. June 22, 1939 ;-- Am. 1941, Act 364, Imd. Eff. July 1, 1941 ;-- Am. 1947, Act 360, Imd. Eff. July 8, 1947 ;-- CL 1948, 421.54 ;-- Am. 1965, Act 281, Eff. Sept. 5, 1965 ;-- Am. 1965, Act 398, Imd. Eff. Oct. 26, 1965 ;-- Am. 1971, Act 231, Imd. Eff. Jan. 3, 1972 ;-- Am. 1974, Act 104, Eff. June 9, 1974 ;-- Am. 1983, Act 164, Imd. Eff. July 24, 1983 ;-- Am. 1985, Act 197, Imd. Eff. Dec. 26, 1985 ;-- Am. 1989, Act 225, Eff. Mar. 29, 1990 ;-- Am. 1991, Act 10, Eff. Apr. 1, 1992 ;-- Am. 1993, Act 280, Imd. Eff. Dec. 28, 1993 ;-- Am. 1994, Act 162, Imd. Eff. June 17, 1994 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 192, Imd. Eff. Apr. 26, 2002
Admin Rule: R 421.10 et seq. of the Michigan Administrative Code.