Section 8 AAC 85.440 - Adjustment of quarterly decline quotients(a) An employer who makes wage payments that cause artificial peaks and declines in quarterly payroll, or whose quarterly payroll is affected by a labor dispute, may request that the director adjust the quarterly payroll in computing the quarterly decline quotient. Requests must be made on forms provided by the director. (b) The director may adjust an employer's quarterly payroll if(1) the employer paid wages in the form of an annual bonus; (2) the employer paid wages in the form of a lump-sum payment for service performed over a period of more than three months; (3) the employer made seven bi-weekly wage payments per employee in a calendar quarter; (4) the employer reported wages for services excluded from the definition of "employment" under AS 23.20.526 and for which an election has not been approved under AS 23.20.325;(5) the employer's quarterly payroll was affected by unemployment that was not compensable under the labor dispute provisions of AS 23.20.383; or(6) the employer had a change in accounting practices. (7) the employer had a fluctuation in payroll as a result of COVID-19 as substantiated by government declarations of a state of emergency and corresponding mandates directly related to COVID-19.(c) The employer's payroll may be adjusted as follows: (1) at the employer's option, annual bonuses and lump-sum wage payments may be deleted from the payroll or apportioned equally among the quarters in the calendar year in which the artificial peaks or declines occur; (2) at the employer's option, the seventh bi-weekly wage payment may be deleted from the payroll or apportioned equally among the quarters in the calendar year in which the payment was made; (3) excluded employment reported by the employer and for which an election has not been approved under AS 23.20.325 may be deleted from the payroll in the calendar quarter in which the payment was reported; (4) a decline in payroll that is caused by unemployment that is not compensable under the labor dispute provisions of AS 23.20.383 may be adjusted by adding to the payroll the wages that would have been earned during the quarter by the employees involved in the dispute; (5) a decline in payroll caused by a change in an employer's accounting practices may be adjusted by adding wages that would have been reported in the quarter if an accounting change affecting the employer's payroll had not occurred; a change in wages in one quarter must have an offsetting amount as a correction to another quarter. (6) a fluctuation in payroll as a direct result of COVID-19 may be adjusted for artificial peaks or declines, but only during a timeframe directly impacted by COVID-19 as established by government declarations.(d) If an employer elects to exercise an option under (c)(1) or (2) of this section, the employer may not revoke that option without the approval of the director. (e) In this section, "annual bonus" means something that is given or paid once a year, and that is over or in addition to what is due or expected, unlike a commission or an incentive payment.Eff. 3/27/82, Register 81; am 5/23/2003, Register 166; am 6/27/2014, Register 210, July 2014; am 4/6/2020, Register 234, April 2020 ; am 8/8/2020,Register 235, October 2020As amendment to add 8 AAC 85.060(c) took affect on April 6, 2020, as an emergency regulation, and was first published in Register 234 (July 2020). In reviewing the "permanent" regulation in accordance with AS 44.62.60 and AS 44.62.125(b), the regulation attorney made technical changes to AAC 85.60(c). The technical changes appeared in the "permanent" regulations as published in Register 235(October 2020).The history note for 8 AAC 85.60(c) does not reflect the changes made by the regulations attorney.
Authority:AS 23.20.045
AS 23.20.285
AS 23.20.325