N.Y. Labor Law § 563: Non-profit organizations

§ 563. Non-profit organizations. 1. Definition. A "non-profit

organization" shall mean any corporation, unincorporated association,

community chest, fund, or foundation organized and operated exclusively

for religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes,

no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any

private shareholder or individual.

2. Exclusions. In addition to services not included pursuant to the

provisions of section five hundred eleven, the term "employment" does

not include services rendered for a non-profit organization by

(a) a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in

the exercise of his ministry, or by a member of a religious order in the

exercise of duties required by such order,

(b) a lay member elected or appointed to an office within the

discipline of a bona fide church and engaged in religious functions;

(c) a person employed at a place of religious worship as a caretaker

or for the performance of duties of a religious nature, or both, unless

voluntary election has been made pursuant to the provisions of section

five hundred sixty-one of this article;

(d) a person who

(1) receives rehabilitative services 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

(2) is given remunerative work in a facility conducted for the purpose

of providing such work for persons who cannot be readily absorbed in the

competitive labor market because of their impaired physical or mental

capacity;

(e) an incarcerated individual of a custodial or penal institution;

(f) a person who participates in a youth service program designed to

foster a commitment to community service and occupational and

educational development and who, while participating in that program,

performs services in the community or attends school and receives a

stipend designed to cover expenses incurred in performing services or

attending school, and is eligible for an award or scholarship upon

leaving the program.

3. Coverage. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections five hundred

sixty and five hundred sixty-two, a non-profit organization

(a) shall become liable for contributions under this article

(1) if it has paid cash remuneration of one thousand dollars or more

in any calendar quarter and such liability shall commence on the first

day of such quarter or

(2) if it has employed four or more persons on each of twenty days

during a calendar year or the preceding calendar year, each day being in

a different calendar week, and the liability shall in this event

commence on the first day of the calendar year, and

(b) shall cease to be liable for contributions as of the first day of

a calendar quarter next following the filing of a written application to

this effect provided the commissioner finds that

(1) it has not paid cash remuneration of one thousand dollars or more

in any of the four calendar quarters preceding such day and

(2) has not employed four or more persons on each of twenty days

during the current or the preceding calendar year, each day being in a

different week.

4. Election of payments in lieu of contributions. A non-profit

organization, or a group of such organizations, liable for contributions

under this article, but not subject to taxation under the federal

unemployment tax act pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (8) of

subsection (c) of section thirty-three hundred six of that act, may

elect to become liable for payments in lieu of contributions as of the

first day of any calendar year by filing with the commissioner a written

notice to this effect before the beginning of such year or, if the

organization was not liable in the preceding calendar year, by filing

the notice not later than thirty days after the end of that calendar

quarter in which the event rendering it liable occurred. The

commissioner may for good cause shown extend the time for the filing of

such notice.

5. Obligations upon election. (a) A non-profit organization which is

liable for payments in lieu of contributions shall pay into the fund an

amount equal to the amount of benefits paid to claimants and charged to

its employer's account in accordance with the provisions of paragraph

(e) of subdivision one of section five hundred eighty-one on the basis

of remuneration paid on or after the date on which such liability became

effective. The amount of payments so required shall be determined by the

commissioner as soon as practicable after the end of each calendar

quarter or any other period. Such amount shall be payable at such times

and in such manner as the commissioner may prescribe and, when paid, the

employer's account of the non-profit organization shall be discharged

accordingly.

(b) If non-profit organizations elect payments in lieu of

contributions as a group, the members of the group shall be severally

and jointly liable for payments of amounts equal to the amounts of

benefits paid to claimants and charged to the employer's accounts of all

members of the group.

The commissioner may prescribe conditions and methods for such group

elections and for the discharge of the obligations and responsibilities

of the group and its members.

(c) If a non-profit organization was liable for contributions under

this article before nineteen hundred sixty-nine and elected payments in

lieu of contributions when such election first became available under

this section, the payments it is required to make shall include benefits

charged on the basis of weeks of employment which began before the date

on which such election took effect but shall not be greater than the sum

by which a balance in its employer's account as of such date is exceeded

by the amount of benefits charged on and after that date. The balance in

the employer's account as of such date shall for the purposes of the

foregoing provisions be deemed to include contributions paid on or

before January thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-one on the basis

of wages paid in the last calendar quarter of nineteen hundred seventy.

6. Termination of election. (a) A non-profit organization may

terminate its election to become liable for payments in lieu of

contributions as of the first day of any calendar year by filing a

written notice to this effect with the commissioner before the beginning

of such year.

(b) The commissioner may cancel at any time such election of a

non-profit organization which has failed to make any of the payments

required hereunder within thirty days after the commissioner has

notified it of the liability for and the amount of such payment. Such

cancellation shall remain in force and effect until the non-profit

organization files a new notice of election in accordance with the

provisions of subdivision four after having satisfied conditions and

requirements prescribed by the commissioner for this purpose.

(c) If such election is terminated by a non-profit organization or

cancelled by the commissioner, the non-profit organization shall remain

liable for payments in lieu of contributions with respect to all

benefits charged to its account on the basis of remuneration paid before

the date on which such termination or cancellation took effect.

7. Assessment and collection of payments in lieu of contributions. The

amount of payments in lieu of contributions due hereunder but not paid

upon notice shall be assessed and collected by the commissioner,

together with interest and penalties, if any, in the same manner and

subject to the same conditions in which contributions due from other

employers may be assessed and collected under the provisions of this

article.