Of all the business expenses and taxes that I pay, Unemployment Insurance Premiums
are the worst. I detest, hate & loath :-@ paying first quarter unemployment premiums.
I have not had an unemployment claim since 2009
My rate this year just went below 10%, 1st time in many years
Yep, you guessed I just received the paper work from the accountant, the fist quarter premiums owed, due on or before April 30th.
ONLY business owners know what what saying.
And I know they too, feel the pain.
You Pay Because Other Surveyors Lay Off
Just another way to spread the wealth.
Paul in PA
I'm an owner, but I don't mind the premiums -- it's an insurance policy, and like most insurances, the fact that you've never had a claim is usually a good thing -- I've had to lay people off in the past and I was glad the insurance was there for them.
I respectfully disagree. I do not own a surveying business and have never had an employee. The overhead is a big reason. There are a lot of us out there who are well aware of the pains and choose not to endure them...
> I'm an owner, but I don't mind the premiums -- it's an insurance policy,
To call the payment a "premium" on a policy is a misnomer-
It's really a repayment against the claims drawn on the account
> My rate this year just went below 10%, 1st time in many years
What state? Mine is only 6%, of which 4.3% is federal. I think my last claim was around 2010 or so, but he didn't draw much.
I don't miss the days when I had to pay those premiums. I am much happier now that I am solo.
:-S
:-S
>
> What state? Mine is only 6%, of which 4.3% is federal.
??:-S
This is what it says on my state collection agency web site
Premiums are contributions paid by employers to help protect the economy. We administer these contributions by paying unemployment insurance benefits to persons unemployed through no fault of their own.
The premium rate for most employers (who are not a new employer) is primarily a function of three components:
Premiums Paid – All contributions made by the employer over the life of the account.
Benefits Charged – All benefits charged to the employer over the life of the account.
Average Annual Payroll – The average annual chargeable wages reported during the previous three state fiscal years (July-June).
With these three variables, the Percent of Excess is calculated using the following formula1:
(Premiums Paid - Benefits Charged) / Average Annual Payroll = Percent of Excess
With any given Rate Schedule2, the Percent of Excess determines the rate assigned:
With a higher Percent of Excess, the lower the rate assigned.
With a lower Percent of Excess (including negative excess), the higher the rate assigned.
In general:
An increase in the amount of Premiums Paid will result in an increase in the Percent of Excess (assuming that Benefits Charged and Average Annual Payroll remain unchanged).
An increase in the amount of Benefits Charged will result in a decrease in the Percent of Excess (assuming that Premiums Paid and Average Annual Payroll remain unchanged).
:-$
> With any given Rate Schedule2, the Percent of Excess determines the rate assigned:
>
> With a higher Percent of Excess, the lower the rate assigned.
> With a lower Percent of Excess (including negative excess), the higher the rate assigned.
The federal rate is 6%, and the feds allow a credit of up to 5.4% for the state rate. If your overall rate is around 10%, your firm's UI claims history must be pretty high, especially since you haven't had any claims since 2009. Did you have a lot of claims prior to that?
> ....Did you have a lot of claims prior to that?
I don't know about other States, but in Oklahoma the rates are not determined by the actual number of claims. They are determined by the percentage of claims vs. total number of employees.
If I employ two people and lay off one, that is considered 50% of my work force. A large firm with 100 employees would have to lay off 50 employees to see the same increase in "premiums".
The unemployment laws around here are slanted to favor the large corporate folks and us little guys get it stuck in us.
I don't mind paying it. It was a business expense I knew about when I made the decision to start a business. Since I'm solo, and my only other employee is my wife, who is also an owner, I doubt I'd ever be allowed to collect anything from it.
Still, I hope to never have to use my E&O and general liability, but I still pay for it.
I've been paying it on myself for almost 40 years, but like you I don't think I could lay myself off and collect. Although, when I retire I wonder what would happen if I went in and said I fired myself?
> Of all the business expenses and taxes that I pay, Unemployment Insurance Premiums
> are the worst. I detest, hate & loath :-@ paying first quarter unemployment premiums.
>
> I have not had an unemployment claim since 2009
> My rate this year just went below 10%, 1st time in many years
>
I don't begrudge unemployment payments made to those whose lost their job, but the reality of it is, the money paid to them is paid by the employer.
And the real injustice is having the "benefit" being extended for 13 weeks, to 26 weeks to over 50 weeks (in a lot of states)- and whose paying for it? The business owner. His account is charged and his rate increases and continues paying for it, years later.
> > Of all the business expenses and taxes that I pay, Unemployment Insurance Premiums
> > are the worst. I detest, hate & loath :-@ paying first quarter unemployment premiums.
> >
> > I have not had an unemployment claim since 2009
> > My rate this year just went below 10%, 1st time in many years
> >
>
> I don't begrudge unemployment payments made to those whose lost their job, but the reality of it is, the money paid to them is paid by the employer.
>
> And the real injustice is having the "benefit" being extended for 13 weeks, to 26 weeks to over 50 weeks (in a lot of states)- and whose paying for it? The business owner. His account is charged and his rate increases and continues paying for it, years later.
That's one way of looking at it. Others might consider the "real injustice" to be firing people due to "no fault of their own".
> >
> > And the real injustice is having the "benefit" being extended for 13 weeks, to 26 weeks to over 50 weeks (in a lot of states)- and whose paying for it? The business owner. His account is charged and his rate increases and continues paying for it, years later.
>
> That's one way of looking at it. Others might consider the "real injustice" to be firing people due to "no fault of their own".
So who's left holding the bag and paying the unemployed? - The business owner
And that is why I will never hire the large numbers of people, Like I had in 2008.
I believe that the extension of unemployment benefits to over a year is in fact nothing more than the 'spreading of wealth' and the beginning of the decline of small business and the squelching of entrepreneurial desire.
:bad:
Ok ... you win ... poor you. And shame on all those people who were fire without cause ....
If you weren't paying it to the Government then you would be paying it to your employees instead. Look at other types of employment that have no job security - athletes, actors etc. All of those people know that their income could stop at anytime, so they charge as much as possible for their services.
