Chapter 4141-30 Separation Pay and Pension Benefits

Payments made to employees in return for their agreeing to a separation from employment shall be deducted from unemployment benefits otherwise payable to them as provided under section 4141.31 of the Revised Code. Such payments shall be deemed to be remuneration in the form of separation pay.

Effective: 08/14/2008

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 05/15/2008 and 08/01/2013

Promulgated Under: 4141.14

Statutory Authority: 4141.13

Rule Amplifies: 4141.31

Prior Effective Dates: 6/3/96

(A) Except as provided in paragraphs (B), (C), and (D) of this rule, the director shall reduce the benefits payable to a claimant for any week by an amount equal to the amount of any pension, retirement, or annuity payment, interest or other distribution, that is reasonably attributable to that week if the director finds that:

(1) The payment has been or will be made under a plan maintained or contributed to by a base period or chargeable employer; and

(2) Services performed by the claimant affect eligibility for, or increase the amount of the payment under the pension, retirement plan or annuity.

Employers shall, on request from the director, provide information to the director with respect to the pension, retirement plan or annuity that is necessary for the director to make such a finding.

(B) Payments, interest, and other distributions under pensions, retirement plans, and annuities will not be deemed to have been received by the claimant with respect to a week of unemployment if the claimant establishes and the director finds that:

(1) The claimant had a right to defer receipt of payments, interest and other distributions under the pension, retirement plan, or annuity; and

(2) The claimant did not receive payments, interest, or other distributions under the plan with respect to the week; and

(3) The claimant elected, within sixty days after initial distribution under the plan to transfer or roll over the entire pension payment, interest or distribution to an individual retirement account, individual retirement annuity or a qualified plan as listed in paragraph (C), and defined in paragraph (D), of this rule.

(C) Payments, interest, and other distributions under pensions, retirement plans, and annuities that are transferred or rolled over, as provided in paragraph (B) of this rule shall not reduce the benefits payable to a claimant effective with weeks after the date of the transfer or roll over, if such payments, interest, or distributions are transferred or rolled over into the following types or retirement accounts, annuities and plans as defined by paragraph (D) of this rule:

(1) Individual retirement accounts;

(2) Simplified employee pensions;

(3) Employer and employee association trust accounts;

(4) Individual retirement annuities; and

(5) Qualified employer plans, including 401(K) and Keogh plans.

(D) Old age or retirement payments made under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 401 et seq., or the corresponding provisions of prior law, shall be reduced in accordance with the determination of the director made pursuant to the provisions of section 4141.312 of the Revised Code.

(E) For the purposes of this rule the following definitions are provided for the terms in paragraph (C) of this rule:

(1) “Individual retirement account” means a trust or custodial account set up for the exclusive benefit of a claimant or the claimant’s beneficiaries that meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 408(a);

(2) “Simplified employee pension” means a written arrangement that allows the claimant’s employer to make contributions to a claimant’s individual retirement account and meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 408(k);

(3) “Employer and employee association trust account” means a trust established by the claimant’s employer, or a labor union or other employee association to provide individual retirement accounts for its members, that meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 408(c);

(4) “Individual retirement annuity” means an annuity contract or an endowment contract from a life insurance company in the name of the claimant as the owner, that provides that only the claimant or the claimant’s beneficiaries who survive the claimant can receive benefits or payments from the annuity, that meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 408(b);

(5) “Qualified employer plan” means an employer retirement plan that sets up individual retirement accounts for the benefit of the employer’s employees and meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 408(q);

(6) “401(k) plan” means a plan or arrangement, generally included in a profit-sharing or stock bonus plan, that allows the claimant to have compensation from his employer paid into a plan that meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 401(k);

(7) “Keogh plan” means a retirement plan established by a self-employed claimant that provides for the claimant’s benefit and meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 401(c).

Effective: 05/17/2007

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 01/01/2011

Promulgated Under: 4141.14

Statutory Authority: 4141.13

Rule Amplifies: 4141.31, 4141.312

Prior Effective Dates: 6/3/96, 1/15/01, 1/1/06