R 421.112 Determination of cash value of room and board.

Rule 112. (1) If board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage is extended in any medium other than cash as partial or entire remuneration for service constituting "employment" as defined in section 42 of 1936 PA 1, MCL 421.42, then the reasonable cash value of the board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage is wages unless the board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage is furnished solely for the convenience of the employer. However, for purposes of this rule, payments in any medium other than cash shall not apply to agricultural or domestic service, except for purposes of subrule (7) of this rule. (2) If the cash value for the board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage is agreed upon in any contract of hire, then the amount agreed upon is the value of the board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage. Check stubs, pay envelopes, and other documents which are furnished to employees and which set forth cash value are acceptable as evidence as to the amount of the cash value agreed upon in any contract of hire, except as provided in subrules (4) and (6) of this rule. (3) If the cash value for board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage is not agreed upon in a contract of hire, then the rate for board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage furnished in addition to money wages or wholly comprising the wages of an employed individual shall have the following cash value, except as provided in subrules (4) and (6) of this rule:Full board and room, per week...........$64.96 Meals without lodging, per week......... 44.66 Meals without lodging, per day.......... 7.45 Meals without lodging, per meal......... 2.29 Lodging without meals, per week..........20.87 Lodging without meals, per day........... 3.22 However, if lodging is furnished, for example, to superintendents of properties, caretakers, and janitors, then the value of the lodging shall be the amount that would be paid by an employee for similar or equivalent accommodations furnished by an individual other than his or her employer. (4) At the request of any employer or employee or on its own motion, the agency or its authorized agent, may after the expiration of a 1-year period from the effective date of this rule and after affording reasonable opportunity at a hearing for the submission of relevant information in writing or in person, determine the reasonable cash value of board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage in a particular instance or in a group of instances if it is determined that the values fixed in, or arrived at, under subrule (3) of this rule or in the contract of hire do not properly reflect the reasonable cash value of the remuneration. (5) The agency shall adjust the cash values in subrule (3) of this rule annually on March 1, based on a comparison of the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for Detroit-Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the preceding December with the corresponding United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for Detroit-Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the December preceding that December. (6) Except as provided in subrule (4) of this rule, if the agency determines that the reasonable cash value of board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage is other than as prescribed in a contract of hire or in subrule (3) of this rule, then the employer's payroll and contribution reports to the agency shall show the value of the remuneration as determined by the agency. (7) For the purpose of determining whether an individual is "unemployed" as defined in section 48 1936 PA 1, MCL 421.48, the reasonable cash value of board, rent, housing, lodging, meals, or similar advantage as compensation for personal services shall also be established pursuant to this rule.