A burning question for many employers has been, what will my unemployment rate be next year?
There has been concern about the handling of the claims so far this year. We have seen the overwhelming surge on the news, heard friends and family discussing it, or even experienced it firsthand. The unemployment office has struggled to meet the demands of the claims they have received. This is the time of year where we are looking at budgets and planning for the next year’s rate. As always, NAE is working to stay on top of updates that affect our members.
This year, the state economists have requested to leave the tax rate the same for employers. According to DETR, small business represents around 96.2% of eligible experience rated employers. To change the rate would be an adverse impact to a vast majority of employers in the state. Also, it keeps Nevada on a good path for rebuilding the unemployment fund. They currently project that the fund will increase to over $500 million by September 2021. This is significant due to the fact that before the pandemic, we were at just over $2 billion in the fund. Maintaining a consistent rate is also extremely beneficial from the budgetary standpoint for employers.
Employers should be aware that benefit charging from the second quarter of 2020 is not being included in this year’s reserve ratio calculation. For a vast number of employers, that is a significant relief. They have not yet indicated how they will handle the reimbursable employer accounts.
Currently, due to the backlog of claims and the high number of fraudulent claims, the department has not released any second quarter reports. They did however announce that the taxable wage is increasing in 2021 to $33,400 from $32,500 in 2020.
As we weather the ups and downs of this tumultuous time, NAE is working diligently to keep members updated. In relation to unemployment, we are monitoring the fraudulent cases, handling claims for members in our unemployment program, and assisting members as they call with questions. We are eagerly looking to the future and are hopeful that the unemployment rate will continue to decrease as we cautiously return to normal. As we receive updates to the unemployment saga, we will continue to keep our members updated.
