(a)Failure to comply. If a covered employer fails to be in compliance with this chapter without reasonable cause, the covered employer is subject to a penalty for each covered employee for each calendar year or portion of a calendar year during which the covered employee was not enrolled in the Program or had not opted out of participation in the Program. The amount of any penalty imposed on a covered employer for the failure to enroll a covered employee without reasonable cause is determined as follows:
(1)prior to October 1, 2025, the maximum penalty per covered employee is $10.00;
(2)beginning on October 1, 2025 and ending on September 30, 2026, the maximum penalty per covered employee is $20.00;
(3)on or after October 1, 2026, the maximum penalty per covered employee is $75.00.
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(a) Failure to comply. If a covered employer fails to be in compliance with this chapter without reasonable cause, the covered employer is subject to a penalty for each covered employee for each calendar year or portion of a calendar year during which the covered employee was not enrolled in the Program or had not opted out of participation in the Program. The amount of any penalty imposed on a covered employer for the failure to enroll a covered employee without reasonable cause is determined as follows:
(1) prior to October 1, 2025, the maximum penalty per covered employee is $10.00;
(2) beginning on October 1, 2025 and ending on September 30, 2026, the maximum penalty per covered employee is $20.00;
(3) on or after October 1, 2026, the maximum penalty per covered employee is $75.00.
(b) Waivers. The Treasurer is authorized to establish a rule waiving the penalty for a covered employer that fails to be in compliance with this chapter for which it is established that the covered employer did not know that the failure existed and exercised reasonable diligence to meet the requirements of this chapter, provided that:
(1) no penalty shall be imposed on any failure for which it is established that the covered employer subject to liability for the penalty did not know that the failure existed and exercised reasonable diligence to meet the requirements of this chapter;
(2) no penalty shall be imposed on any failure if:
(A) the covered employer subject to liability for the penalty exercised reasonable diligence to meet those requirements; and
(B) the covered employer complies with the requirements set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection (b) with respect to each covered employee by the end of the 90-day period beginning on the first date the covered employer knew, or exercising reasonable diligence would have known, that the failure existed; and
(3) in the case of a failure that is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, the Treasurer may waive all or part of the penalty to the extent that the payment of the penalty would be excessive or otherwise inequitable relative to the failure involved. (Added 2023, No. 43, § 1, eff. July 1, 2023; amended 2023, No. 87 (Adj. Sess.), § 78, eff. March 13, 2024; 2025, No. 18, § 11, eff. May 13, 2025.)