Account balance

When the contributions paid and credited to an employer’s account exceed the benefits charged, the employer has a positive account balance and UI rates are based on the employer’s positive account percentage (see Account percentage ).

When benefits charged to an employer’s account exceed the contributions paid and credited, the employer has a negative account balance and UI rates are based on the employer’s negative account percentage. However, if on December 31, the negative account balance exceeds 21% (0.21) of the wages subject to contributions for the preceding payroll year (October 1 through September 30), the balance in excess of 21% (0.21) is transferred out of the employer’s account and charged to the General Account. For the following year, the employer is assigned a normal rate based on the employer’s negative account percentage prior to the transfer and, for the three succeeding years, will be assigned the maximum rate for that year’s size of fund index (see Normal Unemployment Insurance Rates ).

An employer with stable employment who has a negative account balance on December 31 will receive an improvement of four percentage points to their account percentage for the purpose of determining the next year’s normal rate. An employer is considered to be stable if the total wages paid by the employer during the payroll year preceding the computation date is greater than or equal to 80% (0.8) of the previous three years’ average total wages. However, the normal rate resulting from this adjustment may not be less than 6.1% (0.061).