(A) "Wages" means remuneration paid for personal services, including commissions and bonuses, sums paid to an employee by an employer pursuant to an order of the National Labor Relations Board or by private agreement, consent, or arbitration for loss of pay by reason of discharge and cash value of all remuneration paid in any medium other than cash. The reasonable cash value of remuneration paid in a medium other than cash is estimated and determined pursuant to regulations prescribed by the department. "Wages" includes all tip income, including charged tips, received while performing a service that constitutes employment and are included in a written statement furnished to the employer. "Wages" does not include:

(1) the amount of a payment with respect to services performed on behalf of an individual in its employ provided by a plan or system established by an employing unit which makes provision for individuals in its employ generally or for a class or classes of individuals, including an amount paid by an employing unit for insurance or annuities or into a fund to provide for any such payment, because of:

(a) retirement;

(b) sickness or accident disability;

(c) medical and hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability; or

(d) death, provided the individual is in its employ has not the:

(i) option to receive, instead of provisions for death benefits, part of payment or, if the death benefit is insured, part of the premiums or contributions to premiums paid by his employing unit; and

(ii) right, under a provision of the plan, system, or policy of insurance providing for a death benefit, to assign the benefit or receive a cash consideration in lieu of the benefit either upon his withdrawal from the plan or system providing for the benefit or upon termination of the plan, system, or policy of insurance or of his service with the employing unit;

(2) an amount received from this State or the Federal Government by a member of the South Carolina National Guard, the United States Naval Reserve, the Officers Reserve Corps, the Enlisted Reserve Corps, and the Reserve Corps of Marines as drill pay, including a longevity pay and allowance;

(3) the payment by an employing unit, without deduction from the remuneration of the individual in its employ, of the tax imposed upon an individual in its employ, pursuant to Section 3101 of the Federal Internal Revenue Code, only if the service is agricultural labor or domestic service in a private home of the employer;

(4) a payment, other than vacation pay or sick pay, made to an employee after the month in which he attains the age of sixty-five, if he did not work for the employer in the period for which payment is made;

(5) a remuneration paid in a medium other than cash for a service performed in an agricultural labor or domestic service.

(B) For the purpose of Chapter 31, Article 1 of this title, "wages" does not include that part of remuneration which, after remuneration equal to ten thousand dollars for the period of January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011, twelve thousand dollars for the period of January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2014, and fourteen thousand dollars from January 1, 2015, has been paid in a calendar year to an individual by an employer or his predecessor or with respect to employment during any calendar year, is paid to the individual by the employer during the calendar year unless that part of the remuneration is subject to a tax under a federal law imposing a tax against which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment fund. For the purposes of this subsection, employment includes service constituting employment under any unemployment compensation law of another state.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 68-22; 1952 Code Section 68-19; 1942 Code Section 7035-99; 1936 (39) 1716; 1939 (41) 487; 1940 (41) 1630; 1941 (42) 358, 369; 1949 (46) 383; 1952 (47) 1887; 1955 (49) 480; 1957 (50) 580; 1966 (54) 2640; 1971 (57) 950; 1977 Act No. 161 Sections 5, 6; 1981 Act No. 108 Section 4; 1983 Act No. 62 Section 2; 1985 Act No. 83 Section 1; 2010 Act No. 146, Section 22, eff March 30, 2010; 2010 Act No. 234, Section 3, eff January 1, 2011.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, the amendment made by 2010 Act No. 234, Section 3 to subsection (2) was redesignated as subsection (B).

Effect of Amendment

The first 2010 amendment, 2010 Act No. 146, Section 22, redesignated the paragraphs of the section; substituted "department" for two occurrences of "commission"; and made other nonsubstantive changes throughout the section.

The second 2010 amendment, 2010 Act No. 234, Section 3, in subsection (B), substituted "ten thousand dollars" for "seven thousand dollars", and inserted the following date ranges and dollar amounts.