Montana Code 39-51-1212. Experience rating for governmental entities
39-51-1212. Experience rating for governmental entities. (1) The rates of governmental entities who have accumulated experience rating credits must be adjusted annually as follows with each governmental entity assigned a rate based upon:
Terms Used In Montana Code 39-51-1212
- Annual payroll: means the total amount of wages paid by an employer, regardless of the time of payment, for employment during a calendar year. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Base period: means :
(a)the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an individual's benefit year;
(b)if the individual does not have sufficient wages to qualify for benefits under subsection (2)(a), the 4 most recently completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of the individual's benefit year;
(c)in the case of a combined-wage claim pursuant to the arrangement approved by the secretary of labor of the United States, the period applicable under the unemployment law of the paying state; or
(d)for an individual who fails to meet the qualifications of 39-51-2105 or a similar statute of another state because of a temporary total disability, as defined in 39-71-116, or a similar statute of another state or the United States, the first 4 quarters of the last 5 completed calendar quarters preceding the disability if a claim for unemployment benefits is filed within 24 months of the date on which the individual's disability was incurred. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Benefits: means the money payments payable to an individual, as provided in this chapter, with respect to the individual's unemployment. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Contributions: means the money payments to the state unemployment insurance fund required by this chapter but does not include assessments under 39-51-404. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Department: means the department of labor and industry provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 17. See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Employing unit: means any individual or organization, including the state government and any of its political subdivisions or instrumentalities or an Indian tribe or tribal unit, partnership, association, trust, estate, joint-stock company, insurance company, limited liability company or limited liability partnership that has filed with the secretary of state, or corporation, whether domestic or foreign, or the receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee or the trustee's successor, or legal representative of a deceased person in whose employ one or more individuals perform or performed services within this state, except as provided under 39-51-204(1)(a) and (1)(j). See Montana Code 39-51-201
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- State: includes , in addition to the states of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Canada. See Montana Code 39-51-201
(a)its benefit cost experience, to be arrived at by dividing the total sum of benefits charged to the employer’s account for all past periods that are completed transactions by December 31 by total wages from date of subjectivity of the employing unit through December 31; and
(b)the benefit cost for all past years of governmental entities electing to pay contributions compared with total payrolls reported for all past years by these governmental entities used as a median, with the rates fixed using the median so that the rates will, when applied to the total annual payroll for subject governmental entities, yield total paid contributions equaling approximately the total benefit costs.
(2)New governmental entities electing to pay contributions must be assigned the median rate for the year in which they become subject.
(3)The minimum rate may not be less than 0.06% and the maximum rate may not be greater than 1.5%. The rates are to be graduated at one-tenth intervals.
(4)If benefit charges exceed contributions paid in the last completed state fiscal year, governmental entities’ rates must be adjusted by increasing all rates to the next higher schedule.
(5)The computed rate is effective July 1 of each year.
(6)Governmental entities must be charged for their share of the total benefits paid to a claimant if the governmental entity contributed wages during the claimant’s base period. The benefit charged must be based on the percentage of wages paid by the governmental entity as compared to the total wages paid by all employers in the claimant’s base period.
(7)Subject to the provisions of 39-51-605, the department may relieve benefit charges paid by a governmental employer with respect to benefits paid to an individual if the governmental employer continues to provide employment to the individual without a reduction in hours or wages.