CHAPTER 197
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION COMMISSION
AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT KNOWN AND CITED AS THE "UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION IAW," BEING CHAPTER 258 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE, 1937, BY CHANGING THE METHOD OF DETERMINING THE CONTRIBUTION RATES OF CERTAIN EMPLOYERS FOR EACH YEAR AFTER DECEMBER 31, 1941.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That Section 7 (c) of Chapter 258 of the Laws of Delaware, 1937 (known and cited as the "Unemployment Compensation Law"), be and the same is hereby amended by striking out all of the said Section 7 (c) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
(c) Future Rates Based on Benefit Experience:
(1) The commission shall maintain a separate account for each employer, and shall credit his account with all the contributions paid on his own behalf. But nothing in this Act shall be construed to grant any employer or individuals in his service prior claims or rights to the amounts paid by him into the fund either on his own behalf or on behalf of such individuals.
(2) The commission shall, for the calendar year 1942 and for each calendar year thereafter, determine the contribution rate of each employer with respect to whom there has been three calendar years throughout which benefits were payable to any individual in his employ who became unemployed and was eligible for benefits. Such contribution rate shall be based on the maximum liability of the fund for benefits to the employer's employees who have received benefits, modified by the State experience as to average duration of benefits, as provided below:
(A) When, in any benefit year, an employee is first paid benefits for total or partial unemployment, his wages during his base period shall be termed the "employee's benefit wages," and shall be treated, for the purposes of this subsection, as though they had been earned in the calendar year in which such first benefit is paid. For the purposes of this subsection, benefit wages shall include only the first $1170 of wages from any one employer to any one employee in such employee's base period.
(B) The "employer's benefit wages" for any calendar year shall be the total of the employee benefit wages of all of such employer's employees or former employees.
(C) The "benefit wage ratio" of each employer shall be the percentage obtained by dividing the total of his benefit wages for the most recent three completed calendar years by his total payroll subject to contributions for the same three years as shown on his contribution reports.
() For any calendar year, the total benefits paid from the fund during the previous calendar year, less all amounts credited to the fund in such previous calendar year other than employers' contributions, shall be termed the amount required from employers. The amount required from employers, divided by the state-wide total of benefit wages of all employers for that calendar year, after adjustment to the nearest multiple of one per cent, shall be termed the "state experience factor." The state experience factor shall be determined annually, prior to the due date of the first contribution payment for employment in the current calendar year.
(A) The contribution rate for each employer for the current calendar year shall be determined prior to the due date of the first contribution for such year in accordance with the following table:
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION COMMISSION
TABLE
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|
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|
|
|
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When the State
Experience
Factor is
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If the Employer's Benefit Wage Ratio Does Not
Exceed :
|
|
1%
|
50%
|
100%
|
150%
|
200%
|
250%
|
300%
|
350%
|
|
2%
|
25%
|
50%
|
75%
|
100%
|
125%
|
150%
|
175%
|
|
3%
|
17%
|
33%
|
50%
|
66%
|
83%
|
100%
|
117%
|
|
4%
|
13%
|
25%
|
38%
|
50%
|
63%
|
75%
|
88%
|
|
5%
|
10%
|
20%
|
30%
|
40%
|
50%
|
60%
|
70%
|
| |
8%
|
17%
|
25%
|
34%
|
_42%
|
50%
|
58%
|
| |
7%
|
14%
|
21%
|
29%
|
36%
|
43%
|
50%
|
|
8%
|
6%
|
13%
|
19%
|
25%
|
31%
|
38%
|
44%
|
|
9%
|
6%
|
11%
|
16%
|
22%
|
28%
|
_ 33%
|
39%
|
|
10%
|
5%
|
10%
|
15%
|
20%
|
25%
|
30%
|
35%
|
|
11%
|
5%
|
9%
|
14%
|
18%
|
23%
|
27%
|
32%
|
|
12%
|
4%
|
8%
|
13%
|
17%
|
21%
|
25%
|
_29%
|
|
13%
|
4%
|
8%
|
12%
|
15%
|
19%
|
23%
|
27%
|
|
14%
|
4%
|
7%
|
11%
|
14%
|
18%
|
21%
|
25%
|
|
15%
|
3%
|
7%
|
10%
|
13%
|
17%
|
20%
|
23%
|
|
16%
|
3%
|
6%
|
9%
|
12%
|
16%
|
19%
|
22%
|
|
17%
|
3%
|
6%
|
9%
|
12%
|
15%
|
18%
|
21%
|
The Employer's Contribution Rate Shall Be:
.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% 3.5%
If the employer's benefit wage ratio exceeds the percentage in the last column of the table opposite the state experience factor, his contribution rate shall be 4%.
(3) The commission may prescribe regulations for the establishment, maintenance, and dissolution of joint accounts by two or more employers, and shall, in accordance with such regulations and upon application by two or more employers to establish such an account, or to merge their several individual accounts in a joint account, maintain such joint account as if it constituted a single employer's account.
Section 2. This Act shall be effective as of January 1, 1939. Approved April 24, 1939.