(a) Each school employer may, in lieu of the contributions required of employers, elect to pay into the Unemployment Fund the cost of benefits, including extended duration benefits and federal-state extended benefits, paid based on base period wages with respect to employment for an employing unit and charged to its account in the manner provided by Section 1026, pursuant to authorized regulations that shall prescribe the rate or amount, time, manner, and method of payment or advance payment or providing a good and sufficient bond to guarantee payment of contributions. The provisions of this article shall apply to school employers who have elected financing under this section.

(b) Sections 1030, 1031, 1032, and 1032.5, and any provision of this division for the noncharging of benefits to the account of an employer, shall not apply to an employing unit under subdivision (a). The cost of benefits charged to a school employer under this section shall include, but not be limited to, benefits or payments improperly paid in excess of a weekly benefit amount, or in excess of a maximum benefit amount, or otherwise in excess of the amount that should have been paid, due to any computational or other error of any type by the Employment Development Department or the Department of Benefit Payments, whether or not the error could be anticipated.

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(c) The cost of benefits charged to a school employer under this section shall include credits of benefit overpayments actually collected by the department, unless the department determines that the payment was made because the school employer, or an agent of the school employer, was at fault for failing to respond timely or adequately to requests of the department for information relating to the individual claim for unemployment compensation benefits. The department shall make this determination when the school employer or agent fails to respond timely or adequately in two instances relating to the individual claim for unemployment compensation benefits. This subdivision shall apply to benefit overpayments established on or after October 22, 2013.

(d) In making the payments prescribed by subdivision (a), there shall be paid or credited to the Unemployment Fund, either in advance or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the director, any sums he or she estimates the Unemployment Fund will be entitled to receive from each employing unit for each calendar quarter, reduced or increased by any sum by which he or she finds that his or her estimates for any prior calendar quarter were greater or less than the amounts that should have been paid to the fund. These estimates may be made upon the basis of a statistical sampling, or other method as may be determined by the director.

Upon making the determination, the director shall mail notice of the determination, pursuant to Section 1206, to the employing unit.

The director may cancel any contributions or portion thereof that he or she finds have been erroneously determined. The contributions due from the employing units shall be paid, transferred, or credited from the School Employees Fund established in the State Treasury by Section 822 to the Unemployment Fund by the State Treasurer, State Controller, or other officer or person responsible for disbursements on behalf of the employing unit within 30 days of the date of mailing of the director’s notice of determination to the employing unit.

Each employing unit shall send a copy of any and all notices, billings, or correspondence not normally routed to the administrator and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, regarding unemployment insurance for the school employees, to the administrator, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the county superintendent of schools, or agent thereof, with timely documentation of charges or determination. Article 8 (commencing with Section 1126) of Chapter 4 with respect to the assessment of contributions, and Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 1701) with respect to the collection of contributions, shall apply to the assessments provided by this article. Sections 1177 to 1184, inclusive, relating to refunds and overpayments, shall apply to amounts paid to the Unemployment Fund pursuant to this section. Sections 1222, 1223, 1224, 1241, and 1242 shall apply to matters arising under this section.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no employing unit shall be liable for that portion of any extended duration benefits or federal-state extended benefits that is reimbursed or reimbursable by the federal government to the state.

(f) To the extent permitted by federal law, including Section 121(e) of Public Law 94-566, any school employer that elects a method of financing under this article shall not be liable to reimburse the cost of benefits paid to any individual whose base period wages include wages for services performed prior to January 1, 1978, if the benefits are reimbursable by the federal government under Section 121 of Public Law 94-566 and to the extent that the individual would not have been eligible for the benefits had this state not provided for benefits payable based on services performed prior to January 1, 1978.

(g) The administrator and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall adopt rules and regulations for the administration of their respective functions under this article in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Regulations of the administrator shall be subject to Article 1 (commencing with Section 301) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1. Rules and regulations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall not be subject to the provisions of Article 1 (commencing with Section 301) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1.

(h) Any election for financing coverage under this section shall take effect with respect to services performed from and after the first day of the calendar quarter in which the election is filed with the director, and shall continue in effect for not less than two full calendar years. Thereafter, the election under this section may be terminated as of January 1 of any calendar year only if the school employer, on or before the 31st day of January of that year, has filed with the director a written application for termination. The director may for good cause waive the requirement that a written application for termination shall be filed on or before the 31st day of January. School employers shall be prohibited from making a subsequent reelection under this section for 10 years from the date of termination of an election under this section. An election for financing coverage under this section is deemed to have been filed by every school employer effective as of January 1, 1976, is deemed to have been in effect for two calendar years prior to January 1, 1978, and may be terminated as of January 1, 1978, or as of January 1, 1980, or any later January 1 pursuant to this section. Upon the termination of any election under this section, the school employer shall be and remain liable for all benefits paid based upon wages paid by the school employer during the period of an election under this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 783, Sec. 2. (AB 1845) Effective January 1, 2013.)