2023 Tennessee Code › Title 50 - EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE (§§ 50-1-101 — 50-11-106) › Chapter 7 - TENNESSEE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY LAW (§§ 50-7-101 — 50-7-913) › Part 2 - DEFINITIONS (§§ 50-7-201 — 50-7-219) › Section 50-7-213 - "Wages" defined

(a)
"Wages" means all remuneration paid for personal services from whatever source, including commissions, bonuses, tips that are both paid to an employee while performing services that constitute employment and included in a written statement furnished by the employee to the employer pursuant to § 6053(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (
26 U.S.C. § 6053(a)
), tips allocated by the employer pursuant to § 6053(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (
26 U.S.C. § 6053(c)(3)
), employee salary reduction contributions to cash or deferred plans pursuant to §§ 401(k), 403(b), 457 (
26 U.S.C. §§ 401(k)
,
403(b)
and
457
, respectively), or any similar plan contained in the Internal Revenue Code, employee salary reduction contributions to cafeteria plans pursuant to § 125 of the Internal Revenue Code (
26 U.S.C. § 125
), and the cash value of all remuneration in any medium other than cash. The reasonable cash value of any remuneration in any medium other than cash shall be determined in accordance with rules prescribed by the commissioner; provided, that "wages" does not include that part of the remuneration that, after remuneration equal to the taxable wage base, as defined in subsection (e), with respect to employment has been paid to an individual by an employer during any calendar year, is paid to the individual by the employer during the calendar year. The remuneration paid to the individual by the employer during the calendar year in excess of the taxable wage base, as defined in subsection (e), shall be deemed "wages" solely for the purpose of determining the benefit rights under this chapter of the individual.
(b)
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, "wages" shall always include remuneration paid for services if the employing unit for which the services are performed is liable for any federal tax on the remuneration against which credit may be taken for premiums paid under this chapter. The remuneration paid to an individual by an employer with respect to employment in another state or states, upon which premiums were required of and paid by the employer under an unemployment compensation law of the other state or states, shall be included as a part of remuneration equal to the taxable wage base, referred to in this section, as defined in subsection (e).
(c)
With respect to weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 1, 1978, wages for insured work shall include wages paid for previously uncovered services. For the purposes of this subsection (c), "previously uncovered services" means services:
(1)
That were not employment as defined in §
50-7-207(b)(1)
, and were not services covered pursuant to §
50-7-405(d)
at any time during the one-year period ending December 31, 1975; and
(2)
That are:
(A)
Agricultural labor as defined in §
50-7-207(f)
or domestic service as defined in §
50-7-207(b)(8)
; or
(B)
Services performed by an employee of this state or a political subdivision of the state, as provided in §
50-7-207(b)(3)
, or by an employee of a nonprofit educational institution that is not an institution of higher education, as provided in §
50-7-207(c)(5)(D)
, except to the extent that assistance under Title II of the Emergency Jobs and Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974, contained in
26 U.S.C. § 3304
note, was paid on the basis of the services.
(d)
"Wages" does not include:
(1)
The amount of any payment with respect to services performed on behalf of an individual in its employ under a plan or system established by an employing unit that makes provision for individuals in its employ generally or for a class or classes of the individuals, including any amount paid by an employing unit for insurance or annuities, or into a fund to provide for any such payment on account of:
(A)
Retirement;
(B)
Sickness or accident disability made to an employee or any of the employee's dependents that is awarded under a workers' compensation law. Any third party that makes the payment on account of sickness or accident disability to an employee or any of the employee's dependents that is awarded under a workers' compensation law shall be treated, for purposes of this chapter, as the employer with respect to the wages, except as otherwise provided in regulations prescribed by the commissioner;
(C)
Medical and hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability; or
(D)
Death, provided the individual in its employ does not have:
(i)
The option to receive, instead of provision for the death benefit, any part of the payment, if the death benefit is insured, any part of the premium, or contributions of premium, paid by the individual's employing unit; and
(ii)
The right under the provisions of the plan or system or policy of insurance providing for the death benefit to assign the benefit, or to receive a cash consideration in lieu of the benefit either upon the individual's withdrawal from the plan or system providing for the benefit or upon termination of the plan or system or policy of insurance or of the individual's services with the employing unit;
(2)
The payment of an employer, without deduction from the remuneration of the individual in its employ, of the tax imposed upon an individual in its employ under
26 U.S.C. §§ 3101
and
3102
; or
(3)
Any payment on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, made by an employer to, or on behalf of, an employee after the expiration of six (6) calendar months following the last calendar month in which the employee worked for the employer.
(e)
For purposes of this chapter, "taxable wage base" means:
(1)
The first seven thousand dollars ($7,000) paid to each individual employee during any period with respect to the calendar years beginning January 1, 1983, and ending December 31, 2008, and at any time after December 31, 2008, that the unemployment trust fund balance is greater than one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), as determined in accordance with §
50-7-403(j)
;
(2)
The first eight thousand dollars ($8,000) paid to each individual employee during any period after December 31, 2008, when the unemployment trust fund balance is greater than nine hundred million dollars ($900,000,000) but lower than or equal to one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000), as determined in accordance with §
50-7-403(j)
; and
(3)
The first nine thousand dollars ($9,000) paid to each individual employee during the period after December 31, 2008, and at any time after December 31, 2008, that the unemployment trust fund balance is lower than or equal to nine hundred million dollars ($900,000,000), as determined in accordance with §
50-7-403(j)
.
Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 642, s 2, eff. 7/1/2018.
Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 751, s 1, eff. 7/1/2016.
Acts 1947, ch. 29, § 2; 1949, ch. 226, § 8; 1949, ch. 249, § 1; C. Supp. 1950; § 6901.2 (Williams, § 6901.26); Acts 1953, ch. 244, § 1; 1955, ch. 115, § 2; 1957, ch. 146, § 2; 1959, ch. 160, § 1; 1963, ch. 176, § 1; 1967, ch. 208, § 1; 1970, ch. 397, § 1; 1971, ch. 204, § 3; 1977, ch. 330, §§ 11, 12; 1980, ch. 641, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 50-1315; Acts 1983, ch. 368, § 3; 1985, ch. 318, §§ 13-16; 1985, ch. 323, §§ 1-4; 1992, ch. 694, §§ 3, 4; 2001, ch. 82, § 1; 2009 , ch. 550, §§ 1 - 3.