(1) No agreement by a worker to waive, release, or commute his rights to benefits or any other rights under this chapter shall be valid. No agreement by any worker to pay any portion of a subject employer‘s contributions, required under this chapter from such subject employer, shall be valid. No subject employer shall directly or indirectly make or require or accept any deductions from wages to finance the subject employer’s contributions required of him. In cases involving awards to a worker by an arbitrator, court, or other administrative body or mediator, the secretary may require the employer to withhold benefits paid under this chapter from the award and pay the amount withheld into the unemployment insurance trust fund. All subject employers are required to notify the Office of Unemployment Insurance prior to paying any back pay award.
(2) No worker claiming benefits shall be charged fees of any kind in any proceeding under this chapter by the commission, the secretary, or his or her representatives. Any worker claiming benefits in any proceeding before a referee or the commission may represent himself or herself or may be represented by counsel or other agent duly authorized by such worker and shall be afforded the opportunity to participate in the proceeding without restriction; but no counsel or agent shall either charge or receive for such service more than an amount approved by the commission.

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Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 341.470

  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • Benefits: means the money payments payable to a worker under this chapter and under any previous unemployment compensation law of this state with respect to his unemployment. See Kentucky Statutes 341.020
  • Commission: means the Unemployment Insurance Commission. See Kentucky Statutes 341.005
  • Contributions: means the money payments, exclusive of interest and penalties, to the unemployment insurance fund required by this chapter and by any previous unemployment compensation law of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 341.020
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Corporation: may extend and be applied to any corporation, company, partnership, joint stock company, or association. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Federal: refers to the United States. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Fund: means the unemployment insurance fund established by KRS §. See Kentucky Statutes 341.020
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Partnership: includes both general and limited partnerships. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
  • Secretary: means the secretary of the Education and Labor Cabinet or his or her duly authorized representative. See Kentucky Statutes 341.005
  • State: includes , in addition to the states of the United States of America, the
    District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Dominion of Canada, and Virgin Islands. See Kentucky Statutes 341.020
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • subject employer: means :
    (1) Any employing unit which in any calendar quarter in either the current or preceding calendar year paid for service in covered employment wages of fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) or more. See Kentucky Statutes 341.070
  • wages: includes tips which are: (a) Received while performing services which constitute employment. See Kentucky Statutes 341.030

(3) (a) Any employer in any proceeding before a referee or the commission may represent himself or may be represented by counsel or other agent duly authorized by such employer; and
(b) Any person appearing in any proceeding before a referee or the commission who is an officer of, or who regularly performs in a managerial capacity for, a corporation or partnership which is a party to the proceeding in which the appearance is made shall be permitted to represent such corporation or partnership and shall be afforded the opportunity to participate in the proceeding without restriction.
(4) No assignment, pledge, or encumbrance of any right to benefits due or payable under this chapter shall be valid; and such rights to benefits shall be exempt from levy, execution, attachment, or any other remedy for the collection of debt. Benefits received by any worker, as long as they are not mingled with other funds of the recipient, shall be exempt from any remedy for the collection of all debts except debts incurred for necessaries furnished to such worker or his spouse or dependents during the time such worker was unemployed. No waiver of any exemption provided for in this subsection shall be valid.
(5) The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to child support deductions made in accordance with KRS § 341.392 and withholding for federal and state income tax in accordance with KRS § 341.395.
Effective:July 1, 2022
History: Amended 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 236, sec. 147, effective July 1, 2022. — Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 146, sec. 66, effective June 27, 2019. — Amended
2006 Ky. Acts ch. 211, sec. 153, effective July 12, 2006. — Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 167, sec. 7, effective July 15, 1998. — Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 266, sec. 16, effective July 15, 1996; and ch. 271, sec. 21, effective July 15, 1996. — Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 133, sec. 5, effective July 14, 1992. — Amended
1986 Ky. Acts ch. 26, sec. 7, effective July 15, 1986. — Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 12, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1984. — Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 67, sec.
10, effective July 15, 1982. — Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 74, Art. VI, sec.
107(21). — Amended 1950 Ky. Acts ch. 206, sec. 1. — Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 4748g-12.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/29/97). The word “Except” was deleted from the beginning of the sentence in subsection (1) of this statute that begins “In cases involving awards ….” by 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 266, sec. 16. This deletion was inadvertently omitted in the merger of the amendments to this statute by 1996 Ky. Acts chs. 266 and 271, and the text of the statute has been corrected to reflect this deletion.