It’s rare for employers state-wide to get good news in this troubled economy. Today, however, the Texas Workforce Commission presented Texas employers with an early Christmas present in the form of the newly released 2012 unemployment tax rates. The tax rates range from .61 to 7.58 percent on the first $9,000 in wages
Texas to Announce and Mail New Unemployment Tax Determinations
The Texas Workforce Commission will announce the new 2012 state unemployment tax rates on December 12, 2011. The Commission will also mail each employer its 2012 unemployment tax determinations on that day.
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Should You Ever Hang Up on the Texas Workforce Commission?
In Texas, employees and employers are entitled to a telephone hearing before a hearing officer if either party disagrees with an initial determination issued by the Commission in unemployment benefit and Texas Pay Day Act claims. There are some occasions, however, where an employer may consider foregoing these telephone conferences –even if it means losing the unemployment
Handling Texas Unemployment Compensation Claims
Most Texas employers handle claims for unemployment compensation in-house (i.e., they don’t use an outside lawyer). A good resource to consult when handling these claims (and for answers to many Texas specific employment-related legal issues generally) is published by the Texas Workforce Commission titled "Especially for Texas Employers". According to its introduction,
Especially for Texas
Texas Employee Violating Attendance Policy Denied Unemployment Benefits
Texas employees are ineligible for unemployment benefits if the are terminated from employment for "misconduct connected with the work." Misconduct connected with the work includes "mismanagement of a position of employment by action or inaction, neglect that jeopardizes the life or property of another, intentional wrongdoing or malfeasance, intentional violation of a law, or violation of a policy
Calculating the 2011 Texas Unemployment Tax Rate
There continues to be a substantial increase in the number of unemployment claims filed by Texas employees. This increase has the potential to raise the unemployment tax rate for employers that do not take proactive steps to manage their Texas unemployment tax rates. The state unemployment tax rate is the only business tax an employer can control.
To understand how to
Texas Increases the Unemployment Tax Rate for 2011
The Texas Workforce Commission has published the unemployment tax rates for 2011. The minimum tax rate increases from .72 percent to .78 percent. The maximum tax rate; however, will drop from 8.60 percent to 8.25 percent. The average unemployment tax rate will increase from 1.83 to 2.03 percent and the average experience tax rate will be 1.96
El Paso Court Holds Employee Abandoned Job –Did Not Quit for Good Cause
Last week, the El Paso Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment in favor of an employer on an unemployment benefit eligibility issue where the employee, abandoned his job. The employee was a Nationwide Financed Agent from January 2003 until November 2005. A Financed Agent is an employee-agent of Nationwide who starts an insurance agency and operates it to the
Lower Your Texas Unemployment Taxes
In this post I want to outline a series of steps an employer can implement that may decrease its unemployment tax rate and taxes. The state unemployment tax rate is the only tax rate that an employer can effectively control. Because the tax rate is calculated over a three year rolling average, it may take a year or two to start