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If an employer (hereinafter referred to as a successor employer) during any calendar year acquires substantially all the property used in a trade or business of another employer (hereinafter referred to as a predecessor), or used in a separate unit of a trade or business of a predecessor, and immediately after the acquisition employs in his trade or business an individual who immediately prior to the acquisition was employed in the trade or business of such predecessors, then, for the purpose of determining whether the successor employer has paid wages with respect to employment equal to the first $4,800.00 paid during calendar year 1975, any wages paid to such individual by such predecessor during such calendar year and prior to such acquisition shall be considered as having been paid by such successor employer.

(3) For calendar years beginning on and after January 1, 1976, the "wages" of any individual, as defined in the preceding paragraph (2) of this subsection (b), shall be established and promulgated by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development on or before September 1 of the preceding year and, except as provided in paragraph (4) of this subsection (b), shall be, 28 times the Statewide average weekly remuneration paid to workers by employers, as determined under R.S.43:21-3(c), raised to the next higher multiple of $100.00 if not already a multiple thereof, provided that if the amount of wages so determined for a calendar year is less than the amount similarly determined for the preceding year, the greater amount will be used; provided, further, that if the amount of such wages so determined does not equal or exceed the amount of wages as defined in subsection (b) of section 3306 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. s.3306(b)), the wages as determined in this paragraph in any calendar year shall be raised to equal the amount established under the "Federal Unemployment Tax Act," chapter 23 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. s.3301 et seq.), for that calendar year.

(4) For calendar years beginning on and after January 1, 2020, the "wages" of any individual, as defined in the preceding paragraph (2) of this subsection (b) for purposes of contributions of workers to the State disability benefits fund, including the "Family Temporary Disability Leave Account" pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, shall be established and promulgated by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development on or before September 1 of the preceding year and shall be 107 times the Statewide average weekly remuneration paid to workers by employers, as determined under R.S.43:21-3(c), raised to the next higher multiple of $100.00 if not already a multiple thereof, provided that if the amount of wages so determined for a calendar year is less than the amount similarly determined for the preceding year, the greater amount will be used.

(c) Future rates based on benefit experience.

(1) A separate account for each employer shall be maintained and this shall be credited with all the contributions which he has paid on his own behalf on or before January 31 of any calendar year with respect to employment occurring in the preceding calendar year; provided, however, that if January 31 of any calendar year falls on a Saturday or Sunday, an employer's account shall be credited as of January 31 of such calendar year with all the contributions which he has paid on or before the next succeeding day which is not a Saturday or Sunday. But nothing in this chapter (R.S.43:21-1 et seq.) shall be construed to grant any employer or individuals in his