Oregon § 657.070 - [Repealed by 1971 c.463 20]

§ 657.070. [Repealed by 1971 c.463 20]

657.070 [Repealed by 1971 c.463 20]

657.072 Employment; certain nonprofit services excluded. Employment does not include service performed for a nonprofit employing unit by an individual receiving rehabilitation or remunerative work in a facility conducted for the purpose of carrying out a program of rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury, or providing remunerative work for individuals who because of their impaired physical or mental capacity cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market. [1971 c.463 4; 1973 c.118 1; 1977 c.446 4; 1999 c.59 196; 2005 c.218 1]

657.075 Employment; service under Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act excluded. Employment does not include service performed under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (52 Stat. 1094).

657.078 Employment; stringer, correspondent and photographer services for media excluded. Employment does not include services performed by an individual as a stringer, correspondent or photographer, for print or broadcast media, who submits information, stories or pictures by the piece or at a flat rate to newspapers, special publications, television or radio if the individual is free from direction and control over the means and manner of providing the services. However, this section does not apply to services performed for a nonprofit employing unit for this state, for a political subdivision of this state or for an Indian tribe. [2005 c.533 9; 2007 c.71 208]

657.080 Employment; news delivery service excluded. Employment does not include service performed by an individual:

(1) In the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any point for subsequent delivery or distribution.

(2) In the delivery or distribution of newspapers whose remuneration primarily consists of the difference between the amount the individual pays or is obligated to pay for the newspapers and the amount the individual receives or is entitled to receive on distribution or resale thereof. [Amended by 1975 c.257 3]

657.085 Employment; service by certain agents, brokers, producers and salespersons excluded. Employment does not include service performed by any person as a newspaper advertising salesperson, real estate broker, principal real estate broker, insurance producer or securities salesperson or agent to the extent that the person is compensated by commission. [Amended by 1965 c.131 1; 1979 c.521 2; 2001 c.300 55; 2003 c.364 53]

657.087 Employment; service by individuals soliciting contracts for home improvements and consumer goods sales excluded. Employment does not include service performed:

(1) By individuals soliciting contracts for home improvements including roofing, siding and alterations of private homes to the extent that the remuneration consists of commissions, or a share of the profit realized on each contract; or

(2) By individuals to the extent that the compensation consists of commissions, overrides or a share of the profit realized on orders solicited or sales resulting from the in-person solicitation of orders for and making sales of consumer goods in the home. [1961 c.320 2; 1977 c.101 1]

657.088 Employment; certain sports officiating services excluded; exceptions. (1) As used in this chapter, employment does not include officiating services performed by individuals in recreational, interscholastic or intercollegiate sporting events or contests.

(2) As used in this section:

(a) Officiating services means overseeing the play of a sporting event or contest, judging whether the rules are being followed and penalizing participants for infringing the rules.

(b) Sporting event or contest means any sporting competition in which the participants are not professional athletes or contestants or are not remunerated for their participation.

(3) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to officiating services performed for:

(a) A nonprofit employing unit;

(b) This state;

(c) A political subdivision of this state; or

(d) An Indian tribe. [2011 c.106 2]

657.090 Employment; petroleum products distributors excluded. Employment does not include service performed by an individual or partnership in the wholesale distribution of petroleum products whose remuneration for such service primarily consists of the difference between the amount the individual or partnership pays or is obligated to pay for the petroleum products and the amount the individual or partnership receives or is entitled to receive from the sale thereof or whose remuneration for such service primarily consists of commissions. [Amended by 1961 c.252 7]

657.091 Employment; food product demonstrators excluded. Employment does not include service performed by individuals who, on a temporary, part-time basis, demonstrate or give away samples of food products, as part of an advertising or sales promotion for the product, in stores that sell food at retail and who are not otherwise directly employed by the manufacturer, distributor or retailer. [1987 c.891 2]

657.092 Employment; nonprofit organization employees and contestants excluded. (1) Employment does not include service performed by an individual as a director, designer, performer, musician, technical crew member, house or business person, contestant, beauty queen or member of a court for or on behalf of a nonprofit organization in connection with a symphony, opera, play, pageant, festival, rodeo or similar event operated by such organization when the remuneration for such service consists solely of a gratuity, prize, scholarship or reimbursement of expenses.

(2) As used in this section:

(a) Contestant means a person competing in a competition in a pageant, festival, rodeo or similar event.

(b) Gratuity means a voluntary return for a service and does not include commissions or other amounts paid pursuant to an agreement reached at the time the individual agrees to perform a service for the organization.

(c) Nonprofit organization means an organization or group of organizations described in sections 501(c)(3) to 501(c)(10) of the Internal Revenue Code which is exempt from income tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(d) Prize means a reward received for winning a competition in a pageant, festival, rodeo or similar event.

(e) Reimbursement for expenses means a payment made in lieu of salary to compensate an individual for transportation costs to the location of the service and return, and ordinary living expenses while in the vicinity of the event in which the individual is participating.

(f) Scholarship means a grant provided for the purpose of paying part of the tuition or other costs of attending an educational institution or institution of higher education and payable to the institution of the individual s choice. [1981 c.636 2; 1983 c.508 15; 2007 c.71 209]

657.093 Employment; certain services provided in exchange for ski passes excluded. (1) As used in this chapter, employment does not include service provided in conjunction with skiing activities or events for a nonprofit employing unit by a person who receives no remuneration other than ski passes for the service provided.

(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section apply only to the extent permitted by 26 U.S.C. 3306(c)(10)(A). [2008 c.32 5]

657.094 Employment; down-river boating activities excluded. Employment does not include service performed by an individual in connection with the transportation of the public for recreational down-river boating activities on the waters of this state pursuant to a federal permit when the person furnishes the equipment necessary for the activity. As used in this section, recreational down-river boating activities means those boating activities for the purpose of recreational fishing, swimming or sightseeing utilizing a float craft with oars or paddles as the primary source of power. [1981 c.444 3]

657.095 Payroll. (1) As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, payroll means all wages paid to employees in any employment subject to this chapter. However, for payroll tax purposes pursuant to this chapter, wages excludes remuneration received by an employee from each employer in any calendar year that is in excess of an amount obtained by multiplying the average annual wage for the second preceding calendar year by 0.80 and rounding the result to the nearest multiple of $100. The average annual wage shall be determined by dividing the total wages paid by subject employers during the year by the average monthly employment reported by subject employers for the year. However, a payroll, as calculated pursuant to this section, may not in any year be less than the amount in effect during the preceding calendar year.

(2) The remuneration paid by an employer located in this state for work performed in other states by an employee who works part of the time in a calendar year in this and other states shall be included in payroll when the work in the other states is covered by unemployment insurance laws. The Director of the Employment Department shall prescribe the manner of providing proof of the payment of payroll taxes on the wages of an employee earned while working in other states. [Amended by 1955 c.655 6; 1959 c.606 1; 1965 c.205 1; 1971 c.463 10; 1973 c.300 3; 1973 c.810 1; 1975 c.354 1; 1983 c.508 2; 1995 c.79 331; 2005 c.183 4]

657.097 Political subdivision. As used in this chapter, political subdivision means any county, city, district organized for public purposes, or any other political subdivision or public corporation, including any entity organized pursuant to ORS 190.003 to 190.620. [1957 c.682 5; 1977 c.446 5]

657.100 When individual deemed unemployed ; exclusions; rules. (1) An individual is deemed unemployed in any week during which the individual performs no services and with respect to which no remuneration for services performed is paid or payable to the individual, or in any week of less than full-time work if the remuneration paid or payable to the individual for services performed during the week is less than the individual s weekly benefit amount.

(2) For the purposes of ORS 657.155 (1), an individual who performs full-time services in any week for an employing unit is not unemployed even though remuneration is neither paid nor payable to the individual for the services performed; however, nothing in this subsection shall prevent an individual from meeting the definition of unemployed as used in this section solely by reason of the individual s performance of volunteer services without remuneration for a charitable institution or a governmental entity.

(3) An individual may not be deemed unemployed under this section for any week in which the individual is receiving family and medical leave insurance benefits under ORS chapter 657B.

(4) The Director of the Employment Department shall prescribe rules as the director deems necessary with respect to the various types of unemployment. [Amended by 1981 c.77 3; 2019 c.700 54; 2021 c.30 2,4,6]

657.105 Wages; generally. (1) As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, and subject to ORS 657.115 to 657.140, wages means all remuneration for employment, including the cash value, as determined by the Director of the Employment Department under the regulations of the director, of all remuneration paid in any medium other than cash.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, noncash remuneration paid for services performed in agricultural labor or domestic service shall not be considered remuneration or wages for any purpose under this chapter. [Amended by 1975 c.257 4; 1977 c.446 6]

657.110 [Repealed by 1973 c.300 15]

657.115 Wages; exclusion of fringe benefits. (1) Wages does not include the amount of any payment made to, or on behalf of, an individual or any of the individual s dependents on account of:

(a) Retirement.

(b) Sickness or accident disability under a workers compensation law.

(c) Medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability.

(d) Death.

(e) Dependent care assistance furnished pursuant to a program that meets the requirements of section 129(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, to the extent the assistance does not exceed the earned income limitation in section 129(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(2) For purposes of this section, payment made includes amounts paid by an employing unit for insurance or annuities or into a fund.

(3) This section does not apply unless the payment is made under a plan or system established by an employing unit which makes provision generally:

(a) For individuals performing service for it or for such individuals generally and their dependents; or

(b) For a class or classes of such individuals or for a class or classes of such individuals and their dependents. [Amended by 1981 c.77 4; 1983 c.508 3; 1991 c.803 1; 2005 c.283 1; 2007 c.614 17]

657.117 Wages; inclusion of federal taxes and tips. Wages as used in ORS 657.105 includes:

(1) The amount of any tax imposed upon an employee and paid by an employer pursuant to sections 3121(a)(6) and 3306(b)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(2) Tips reported by the employer pursuant to section 3306 of the Internal Revenue Code. [Amended by 1981 c.77 9; 1983 c.508 4; 1985 c.507 2; 2007 c.614 18]

657.120 Wages; exclusion of retirement benefits. Wages does not include the amount of any payment made by an employing unit on behalf of an individual performing service for it for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment, on account of retirement. [Amended by 1981 c.77 5]

657.125 Wages; exclusion of disability benefits. Wages does not include the amount of any payment made on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, by an employing unit to, or on behalf of, an individual performing service for it after the expiration of six calendar months following the last calendar month in which the individual worked for such employing unit. [Amended by 1981 c.77 6]

657.130 Wages; exclusion of payments from certain trusts and annuities. Wages does not include the amount of any payment made by an employing unit to, or on behalf of, an individual performing service for it, or the individual s beneficiary:

(1) From or to a trust exempt from tax under section 401(a) of the United States Code at the time of such payment unless such payment is made to an individual performing service for the trust as remuneration for such service and not as a beneficiary of the trust; or

(2) Under or to an annuity plan which, at the time of such payment, meets the requirements of section 401(a) of the United States Code. [Amended by 1973 c.300 4; 1981 c.77 7]

657.135 Wages; exclusion of payments to persons over 65. Wages does not include the amount of any payment, other than vacation or sick pay, made to an individual after the month in which the individual attains the age of 65 years, if the individual did not work for the employing unit in the period for which such payment is made. [Amended by 1981 c.77 8]

657.140 Wages; exclusion of assistance to individuals under community work and training program. As used in this chapter, wages or remuneration does not include the amount or value of public assistance provided in cash or in kind in consequence of participation in a community work and training program, as defined in ORS 411.855. [1961 c.631 7; 1965 c.291 5; 1967 c.130 10]

657.142 Inclusion of split week in calendar quarter; rules. The Director of the Employment Department may prescribe by rule that a week shall be in, within or during the calendar quarter that includes the greater part of the week. [2021 c.43 3]

BENEFITS AND CLAIMS

(Income Tax Matters)

657.144 Notice to individual of effect of filing claim for benefits; earned income tax credits. (1) An individual filing a new claim for benefits under this chapter shall, at the time the claim is filed with the Employment Department, be advised that:

(a) Benefits are subject to federal and state income tax;

(b) Federal and state law may require that a recipient of benefits make quarterly estimated tax payments during the tax year in which the benefits are received;

(c) Federal and state law may impose penalties on a recipient of benefits for the failure to timely make estimated tax payments; and

(d) A recipient of benefits may elect under ORS 657.146 to have amounts withheld from the recipient s payment of benefits for federal and state income tax purposes at the amount specified in:

(A) The federal Internal Revenue Code for the voluntary withholding of unemployment benefits for federal income tax purposes; and

(B) ORS 657.146 for the voluntary withholding of unemployment benefits for state income tax purposes.

(2) The Employment Department shall provide information to recipients of unemployment insurance benefits about the state and federal earned income tax credits. [1995 c.556 54; 1997 c.133 1; subsection (2) of 2017 Edition enacted as 2017 c.333 2]

Note: 657.144 (2) was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but was not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 657 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.