50-7-301 - Benefit formula.

50-7-301. Benefit formula.

(a)  Payments of Benefits.  Benefits shall be payable from the fund in the manner provided by this section. All benefits shall be paid through employment offices in accordance with regulations  the commissioner prescribes. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, any amount of unemployment compensation payable to any claimant for any weeks if not an even dollar amount, shall be rounded to the next lower full dollar amount.

(b)  Weekly Benefit Amount.  An individual's weekly benefit amount shall be the amount appearing in column B in the Benefit Table corresponding to the line on which in column A of the Benefit Table there appears the average total wages for insured work paid to the individual in the two (2) calendar quarters in the individual's base period in which the total wages are highest. “Total wages for insured work,” as used in this section, is deemed to mean all remuneration paid to an employee in the base period by employers subject to this chapter.

BENEFIT TABLE  

Click to view (Effective for benefit years established on and after July 5, 1992)  

Click to view (Effective for Benefit Years Established on or after July 4, 1993)  

Click to view (Effective for Benefit Years Established on or after July 3, 1994)  

Click to view (Effective for Benefit Years Established on or after July 7, 1996)  

Click to view (Effective for Benefit Years Established on or after July 6, 1997)  

Click to view (Effective for Benefit Years Established on or after July 5, 1998)  

Click to view (Effective for Benefit Years Established on or after August 5, 2001)

(c)  Weekly Benefit for Unemployment. 

     (1)  Effective for weeks beginning July 6, 1997, and after, each eligible claimant who is unemployed in any week shall be paid with respect to the week a benefit in an amount equal to the claimant's weekly benefit amount, less that part of the wages, if any, payable to the claimant with respect to the week that is in excess of the greater of fifty dollars ($50.00) or twenty-five percent (25%) of the claimant's weekly benefit amount.

     (2)  However, no otherwise eligible claimant shall be denied benefits for any week that the claimant has received remuneration for services performed in the Tennessee national guard.

     (3)  The benefit, if not a multiple of one dollar ($1.00), shall be computed to the next lower multiple of one dollar ($1.00).

     (4)  Voluntary Withholding of Income Tax from Benefits. 

          (A)  An individual filing a new claim for benefits shall, at the time of filing the claim, be advised that:

                (i)  Benefits are subject to federal, state and local income tax;

                (ii)  Requirements exist pertaining to estimated tax payments;

                (iii)  The individual may elect to have federal income tax deducted and withheld from the individual's payment of benefits at the amount specified in the Internal Revenue Code, compiled in 26 U.S.C.; and

                (iv)  The individual shall be permitted to change a previously elected withholding status.

          (B)  Amounts deducted and withheld from benefits shall remain in the unemployment fund until transferred to the federal taxing authority as payment of income tax.

          (C)  The administrator shall follow all procedures specified by the United States department of labor and the internal revenue service pertaining to the deducting and withholding of income tax.

          (D)  Amounts shall be deducted and withheld under this section only after amounts are deducted and withheld for any overpayments of benefits, child support obligations, food stamp over-issuances or any other amounts required to be deducted and withheld under this chapter.

(d)  Maximum Benefits. 

     (1)  Beginning with those benefit years established on July 4, 1983, any otherwise eligible claimant shall be entitled during any benefit year to a total amount of benefits equal to whichever is the lesser of:

          (A)  Twenty-six (26) times the claimant's weekly benefit amount; or

          (B)  One fourth (¼) of the claimant's wages for insured work paid during the claimant's base period.

     (2)  The total amount of benefits, if not a multiple of one dollar ($1.00), shall be computed at the next lower multiple of one dollar ($1.00).

     (3)  No claimant will be entitled to benefits if the claimant's base period earnings are less than forty (40) times the claimant's weekly benefit amount.

     (4)  No claimant will be entitled to benefits if the claimant's base period earnings, outside the claimant's highest calendar quarter of earnings, are less than the lesser of six (6) times the claimant's weekly benefit amount or nine hundred dollars ($900).

(e)  (1)  A claimant eligible for benefits shall be paid for each benefit week an additional sum of fifteen dollars ($15.00), not to exceed a total of fifty dollars ($50.00), for each unemancipated minor child of the claimant who is in fact wholly or mainly supported by the claimant and is:

          (A)  Less than eighteen (18) years of age and unmarried;

          (B)  Less than eighteen (18) years of age and in the claimant's custody pending the adjudication of a petition filed by the claimant for the adoption of the child in a court of competent jurisdiction; or

          (C)  Less than eighteen (18) years of age and for whom the claimant, pursuant to a decree or order from a court of competent jurisdiction, is required to contribute to the child's support and for whom no other person is receiving allowances under this subsection (e) if the child is domiciled within the United States or its territories or possessions, the payment to be withheld and paid pursuant to § 50-7-611.

     (2)  (A)  The amount of dependency benefits determined as of the beginning of a claimant's benefit year shall not be reduced for the duration of the benefit year; provided, however, that this subdivision (e)(2)(A) does not prevent the transfer of dependents' benefits from one (1) spouse to another in accordance with this subsection (e).

          (B)  If both the husband and wife receive benefits with respect to a week of unemployment, only one (1) of them is entitled to a dependency allowance with respect to a child. Priority for the dependency allowance will be given to the custodial parent in cases where the parents are divorced or separated and to the first to file a claim for benefits in cases where the parents reside together.

          (C)  Dependency benefits shall not be paid unless the claimant submits documentation satisfactory to the division establishing the existence of the claimed dependent.

          (D)  If the provisions of this subsection (e) are satisfied, an otherwise eligible claimant who has been appointed guardian of a dependent child by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be paid dependency benefits.

     (3)  No benefits shall be payable pursuant to this subsection (e) until such time as the commissioner certifies to the department of finance and administration that the mechanism and resources necessary for the prompt and efficient payment of such benefits are in place, except that in no event shall such certification fail to meet the deadline imposed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the payment of such benefits in order to receive federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

[Acts 1947, ch. 29, § 3; 1949, ch. 226, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 6901.3 (Williams, § 6901.27); Acts 1951, ch. 139, § 2; 1953, ch. 244, § 2; 1955, ch. 115, § 4; 1957, ch. 146, § 3; 1959, ch. 202, § 1; 1963, ch. 176, § 2; 1965, ch. 183, § 1; 1967, ch. 208, § 2; 1969, ch. 32, § 1; 1970, ch. 397, § 2; 1971, ch. 132, § 1; 1972, ch. 556, § 1; 1973, ch. 130, § 3; 1974, ch. 460, §§ 2, 3; 1975, ch. 190, §§ 2-4; 1981, ch. 249, § 2; 1982, ch. 820, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 50-1322; Acts 1983, ch. 368, §§ 4-6; 1983, ch. 439, §§ 1, 2; 1984, ch. 992, § 1; 1985, ch. 318, §§ 17-19; 1985, ch. 363, §§ 1-3; 1986, ch. 645, § 1; 1987, ch. 221, § 1; 1987, ch. 345, § 1; 1988, ch. 842, § 1; 1989, ch. 388, §§ 1-4; 1993, ch. 194, §§ 9-11; 1993, ch. 305, § 1; 1996, ch. 804, § 1; 1996, ch. 877, § 1; 1997, ch. 95, § 1; 1997, ch. 142, § 1; 2001, ch. 441, § 1; 2009, ch. 550, § 5.]