Each year, in every state, many businesses pay more in unemployment insurance taxes than they should. According to Intuit Quickbooks, such businesses could likely reduce their rates if they had better unemployment-related documentation and were more diligent when contesting fraudulent or spurious unemployment benefit claims.

Controlling your unemployment insurance rates requires you to …

Know your state’s specific laws related to unemployment insurance
Keep meticulous documentation

Furthermore, even when you think you know how the process works, you might have still overlooked some small-yet-important details. Each state has very specific rules, and, according to QuickBooks, every claim should be looked at individually.

Where to find state resources and information related to unemployment insurance

States have varying requirements and specific approaches related to such issues as traveling employees, multi-branch companies and any other business that happens in multiple states. In some instances, there are other laws and services that can provide assistance for the unemployment insurance exceptions. You need to know what those are. Look carefully at each specific law to know which situations apply to your business.

To find information about you state’s requirements, visit the
SmallBusiness.com WIKI’s State Resources Hub.
1. Click on the your state’s name.
2. Click on the”Taxation” link on your state’s page.
3. Click on the link to your state’s
unemployment insurance agency (department, etc.).

Keep detailed documentation about each unemployment claim

When reviewing a benefits claim, your state unemployment insurance office relies on your documentation and understanding of the situation to determine eligibility. Therefore, if you do not report the type of information that your state is looking for, you may be charged for benefits.

Document warnings and discussions you have with every employee.
Document whether or not the employee notified you of changes in their health or personal life before leaving the company.
In order to make the process simple, reliable and consistent, you should have documentation from initial employment until the final separation for each and every employee.

Also on SmallBusiness.com | Checklist: Items to Keep (and NOT Keep) in Employee Files

(via: Intuit Quickbooks)

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