Tag Archives: UI

Unemployment Online

In today’s world everything revolves around technology. Information is transferred over the web in all types of industries. With the ongoing progress being made to streamline work by utilizing online capabilities, one would think that unemployment claims would be processed online rather than by paper claim forms, however the government isn’t as quick as we would like.

There has been a push to create a centralized online unemployment claims processing system which is known as SIDES E-Response for employers, however this can be extremely tedious and cumbersome. To be honest, it is probably easier to just fill out the paper claim form and fax it back to the state.

At Dunn Corporate Resources, we’ve created an online system the allows for ease of processing unemployment information AND the ability to access customized reported for full transparency. Our claims management system gives our clients the absolute easiest way to communicate separations and receive real time updates on unemployment claims.

Simply the easiest and most organized way to respond to claims:

Once a claim is responded to, it goes straight to the claim archives. Clients can access claim archives to see exactly how a claim was responded to, what type of documentation was attached to the claim, and when the claim was sent.

For a comprehensive demo of the full capabilities of the Dunn Corporate Resources online system, feel free to contact us today! One of our experienced reps will be happy to answer any questions that you have.

UI Tax: Lower NJ Tax Rate

How to lower your unemployment tax rate:

Two things in life are certain: Death and Taxes. Whether it is income tax, sales tax, property tax, etc. you still have to pay it! The good new is – some taxes are controllable and even minimizable.

Employers are all too familiar with with the effects of taxes on their bottom line profits. Ever wonder if there’s a way to pay less money in taxes? Well, one tax that is CONTROLLABLE is the unemployment tax rate. For employers, it does not matter what state you do business in, you can still reduce your unemployment tax rate – all it takes is some know how.

There are three main areas that employers need to watch in order to control their unemployment tax:

Administration:

Every unemployment claim needs to be fought with the proper legal language that is written in the state laws. Be sure to to specifically identify the final incident that caused the termination and don’t mis-interpret the claimant’s actions for something that they weren’t.

Auditing:

Auditing is arguably the most important aspect in lower an unemployment tax rate. Did you know that each state admits that it pays out an excess amount in unemployment benefits each year? Check out the map here to see how your state stacks up against others. Employers must check to see how much each claimant is supposed to be getting paid out, and then determine if the claimant is actually receiving the proper amount of pay. Here’s the catch: this money has already been paid – the state is just letting you know they paid it. It is your job to check that the state is paying the proper amount of money out of your account!

Education:

You don’t know what you don’t know. And, your employees don’t know what they don’t know. Did you know that you can “buy down” your tax rate to effectively pay taxes at a lower tax bracket? This is call a voluntary contribution. Certain states allow voluntary contributions, while others do not. This is just one example of an opportunity to lower your tax rate without having to do any “work”.

Employers should be proactive in ensuring that their whole organization is on the same page. Managers should understand how the unemployment system works, since often times an unemployment claim will be decided based on a write up or termination letter from a manager. Companies should be following uniform procedures when disciplining employees and issuing write-ups in a logical progression.

Dunn Corporate Resources has the economies of scale to help your business achieve the lowest possible unemployment tax rate, while offloading all of the workload! Our award winning computer system is fully integrated with the Federal Government’s SIDES system allowing us to process unemployment claims electronically! Our systems ensure no overpayments are made, and that employers receive all possible credit’s to their unemployment accounts.

Tennessee Releases 2017-2018 Tax Rate Notice

TENNESSEE EMPLOYERS: The state has recently mailed out the unemployment tax rate notice for the taxable year 2017-2018. This year the state is using premium rate table six to assign tax rates to employers.

Are you sure that the numbers on the tax rate notice is correct? Should your tax rate be revised? Are the figures used in the tax rate calculation accurate?

Contact us today to see how Dunn Corporate Resources helps ensure that employers recieve the LOWEST POSSIBLE tax rate. We are happy to offer a no-cost analysis of you unemployment tax account to see what savings may be available!

UI Tip – Document, Document, Document!

Unemployment Tip – Document, Document, Document!

Unemployment claims can be difficult to win, especially if the issue at hand is a discharge. Each state can be a little different in terms of laws and regulations, however they all require one thing in common: documentation. These days, it isn’t enough just to tell the state that someone was “discharged for violating policy.” In fact, it probably isn’t enough to provide a simple write up either!

States are now requiring that employers provide sufficient documentation to prove that the claimant was fully aware of grounds for discharge and deliberately did not follow the rules. The type of documentation that the state is looking for is:

A write up of the final incident signed by the claimant and a witness.
Any prior write ups, whether they are related to the final incident or not.
A well thought out corrective action plan to help resolve the problem at hand.
A copy of the specific policy violated.
A signed acknowledgement of the company rules/policy/handbook.

Sometimes it can be tough to get an employee to sign a write up, especially when they don’t agree. So here’s an idea: Have the employee write that they disagree, and then have them sign it. Now there is sufficient evidence that a claimant was warned AND that they acknowledged the warning, even though they didn’t agree with it. This type of backup documentation can go a long way, especially if an unemployment claim gets appealed to a hearing.

Keeping these warnings in a chronological order, along with the policies and acknowledgement will absolutely help win an unemployment claim, not to mention an EEOC or Civil Rights claim should one arise.

For more helpful tips on how to proactively fight unemployment claims, take a look at our blog or contact us today!

Voluntary Contributions: What are they and how do they work?

What is a voluntary contribution?

Simply stated, a voluntary contribution is a way of “buying down” your tax rate in order to produce a savings over the course of a year. By making a voluntary contribution payment, an employer will reduce their tax rate by a single bracket or sometimes two depending on the tax rating system in a certain State. Once this voluntary payment is made, the sum of the following tax payments at the new rate plus the amount of the voluntary contribution should be less than the sum of tax payments at the original tax rate – resulting in a net savings over the course of a year.

Voluntary contributions can only be made by contributory employers. A contributory employer pays quarterly unemployment insurance tax at an assigned rate based on experience. A reimbursable employer repays the state agency dollar for dollar for all benefits paid to former employees. There are pros and cons to each, however reimbursable employers do not have the benefit of making voluntary contributions.

Each state may have different deadlines to make a voluntary contributions, so make sure you stay within the time limits of your state. Many states allow for a deadline of 30 days after the mailing date of the unemployment tax rate notice.

How do you know if it’s beneficial to make a voluntary contribution?

Deciding whether to make a voluntary contribution can be confusing. Here are some easy steps:

The first step is to understand how your state’s tax system works and how your tax rate is calculated. New Jersey simply divides the reserve account balance by average taxable wages to produce the reserve ratio. The reserve ratio is then translated into a tax bracket based on the current year’s tax table. The state of New York calculates the rate the same way, however adds an additional rate called a subsidiary rate, which is derived from a separate tax table. It’s important to keep track of each moving part of your tax rate as a voluntary contribution can affect more than one part of the rate, as seen in the case of New York.
Once you understand the method your state uses to calculate the tax rate you will need to determine how much money to add to your reserve account in order to get to your desired reserve ratio. This sum of money is called the “voluntary contribution”. Remember: reserve ratio = reserve account balance / average taxable wages.
After you determine the amount needed to achieve the desired reserve ratio, the next step is to multiply your average taxable wages by the desired tax rate. This will give you the projected amount that you will pay in UI taxes throughout the next year.
Add the value of the voluntary contribution you found in step to the total projected UI taxes found in step three.
Subtract the value found in step four from the total amount of UI taxes that will be paid at the original UI tax rate. If this is a positive number then it is beneficial to make a voluntary contribution. If this is a negative number, it will not be beneficial to make a voluntary contribution.

Can everyone make a voluntary contribution?

The answer is no. As mentioned before, you must be a contributory employer to make a voluntary contribution. Most government entities and nonprofit organizations are not contributory employers and cannot make voluntary contributions.

Only about half of the states in the U.S. allow employers to make voluntary contributions. Refer to the chart below to see if a voluntary contribution is allowed in your state:

State

Voluntary Contribution

Alabama	No
Alaska	No
Arizona	Yes
Arkansas	Yes
California	No
Colorado	Yes
Connecticut	No
Delaware	No
Florida	No
Georgia	Yes
Hawaii	No
Idaho	No
Illinois	No
Indiana	Yes
Iowa	No
Kansas	No
Kentucky	Yes
Louisiana	Yes
Maine	Yes
Maryland	No
Massachusetts	Yes
Michigan	Yes
Minnesota	Yes
Mississippi	No
Missouri	Yes
Montana	No
Nebraska	Yes
Nevada	No
New Hampshire	No
New Jersey	Yes
New Mexico	No
New York	Yes
North Carolina	Yes
North Dakota	Yes
Ohio	Yes
Oklahoma	No
Oregon	No
Pennsylvania	Yes
Rhode Island	Yes
South Carolina	No
South Dakota	Yes
Tennessee	No
Texas	Yes
Utah	No
Vermont	No
Virginia	No
Washington	Yes
West Virginia	Yes
Wisconsin	Yes
Wyoming	No
District of Columbia	No
Puerto Rico	No
Virgin Islands	No

To see whether it would be advantageous to make a voluntary contribution for your organization, contact us today! One of our experts will be more than happy to assist you.