California Code of Regulations › Title 22 - Social Security › Division 1 - Employment Development Department › Subdivision 1 - Director of Employment Development › Division 2.5 - WITHHOLDING TAX ON WAGES › Chapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 4305-1 - Employer Defined

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) The
					 term "employer" means any person for whom an individual performs or performed
					 any service, of whatever nature, as the employee of such person.
(b) It is not necessary that the services be
					 continuing at the time the wages are paid in order that the status of employer
					 exists. Thus, for purposes of withholding, a person for whom an individual has
					 performed past services for which he is still receiving wages from such person
					 is an "employer."
(c) An employer
					 may be an individual, a corporation, a partnership, a trust, an estate, a
					 joint-stock company, an association, a syndicate, group, pool, joint venture,
					 or other unincorporated organization, group, or entity. A trust or estate,
					 rather than the fiduciary acting for or on behalf of the trust or estate, is
					 generally the employer.
(d) The
					 term "employer" embraces not only individuals and organizations engaged in
					 trade or business, but organizations exempt from income tax, such as religious
					 and charitable organizations, educational institutions, clubs, social
					 organizations and societies, as well as the governments of the United States,
					 the States, Territories, and the District of Columbia, including their
					 agencies, instrumentalities, and political subdivisions.
(e) The term "employer" also means (except
					 for the purpose of the definition of "wages") any person paying wages on behalf
					 of a nonresident alien individual, foreign partnership, or foreign corporation,
					 not engaged in trade or business within the United States (including Puerto
					 Rico as if a part of the United States).
(f) If the person for whom the services are
					 or were performed does not have legal control of the payment of the wages for
					 such services, the term "employer" means (except for the purpose of the
					 definition of "wages") the person having such control. For example, where
					 wages, such as certain types of pensions or retired pay, are paid by a trust
					 and the person for whom the services were performed has no legal control over
					 the payment of such wages, the trust is the "employer."
(g) The term "employer" also means a person
					 making a payment of a supplemental unemployment compensation benefit which is
					 treated under Section
					 13028.5 of the code as if it were
					 wages. For example, if supplemental unemployment compensation benefits are paid
					 from a trust which was created under the terms of a collective bargaining
					 agreement, the trust shall generally be deemed to be the employer. However, if
					 the person making such payment is acting solely as an agent for another person,
					 the term "employer" shall mean such other person and not the person actually
					 making the payment.
(h) It is the
					 basic purpose to centralize in the employer the responsibility for withholding,
					 filing returns, and paying over the tax, and for furnishing the statements
					 required under Section
					 13050 of the code. The special
					 definition of the term "employer" in subdivisions (e), (f), and (g) of this
					 regulation are designed solely to meet special or unusual situations, and they
					 are not intended as a departure from the basic purpose.
(i) For the purpose of determining the
					 "employer" in the case of a temporary services employer or a leasing employer,
					 the entity determined to be the employer pursuant to Section
					 606.5 of this code shall also be
					 the employer for purposes of Division 6 of this code.
1.
						Editorial renumbering of former section
						4304-1(c) to
						section 4305(i) (Register
						86, No. 42).
2. Amendment of subsections (b), (g) and (h), repealer
						of subsections (i)-(i)(4), and new subsection (i) filed 6-30-92; operative
						7-30-92 (Register 92, No. 27).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
						  305
						  and
						  306,
						  Unemployment Insurance Code. Reference: Sections
						  13005
						  and
						  13020,
						  Unemployment Insurance Code.