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ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 6413
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State of Washington 54th Legislature 1996 Regular Session
By Senators Pelz, Newhouse and Winsley; by request of Employment Security Department
Read first time 01/15/96. Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Trade.
AN ACT Relating to the selection of successor employer contribution rates; amending RCW 50.29.062; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 50.29.062 and 1995 c 56 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Predecessor and successor employer contribution rates shall be computed in the following manner:
(1) If the successor is an employer, as defined in RCW 50.04.080, at the time of the transfer, its contribution rate shall remain unchanged for the remainder of the rate year in which the transfer occurs. From and after January 1 following the transfer, the successor's contribution rate for each rate year shall be based on its experience with payrolls and benefits including the experience of the acquired business or portion of a business from the date of transfer, as of the regular computation date for that rate year.
(2) If the successor is not an employer at the time of the transfer, it shall pay contributions at the lowest rate determined under either of the following:
(a)
The contribution rate of the rate class assigned to the predecessor employer at
the time of the transfer for the remainder of that rate year ((and
continuing until the successor qualifies for a different rate in its own right)).
Any experience relating to the assignment of that rate class attributable to
the predecessor is transferred to the successor. For transfers on or after
January 1, 1997, and beginning with the January 1 following the transfer, the
successor's contribution rate shall be based on the transferred experience of
the acquired business and the successor's experience after the transfer; or
(b) The contribution rate equal to the average industry rate as determined by the commissioner, but not less than one percent, and continuing until the successor qualifies for a different rate in its own right. Assignment of employers by the commissioner to industrial classification, for purposes of this subsection, must be in accordance with established classification practices found in the "Standard Industrial Classification Manual" issued by the federal office of management and budget to the third digit provided in the standard industrial classification code.
(3) If the successor is not an employer at the time of the transfer and simultaneously acquires the business or a portion of the business of two or more employers in different rate classes, its rate from the date the transfer occurred until the end of that rate year and until it qualifies in its own right for a new rate, shall be the highest rate class applicable at the time of the acquisition to any predecessor employer who is a party to the acquisition, but not less than one percent.
(4) The contribution rate on any payroll retained by a predecessor employer shall remain unchanged for the remainder of the rate year in which the transfer occurs.
(5) In all cases, from and after January 1 following the transfer, the predecessor's contribution rate for each rate year shall be based on its experience with payrolls and benefits as of the regular computation date for that rate year including the experience of the acquired business or portion of business up to the date of transfer: PROVIDED, That if all of the predecessor's business is transferred to a successor or successors, the predecessor shall not be a qualified employer until it satisfies the requirements of a "qualified employer" as set forth in RCW 50.29.010.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This act applies to unemployment contribution rates effective on and after January 1, 1996.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state or the eligibility of employers in this state for federal unemployment tax credits, the conflicting part of this act is hereby declared to be inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and such finding or determination shall not affect the operation of the remainder of this act. The rules under this act shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state or the granting of federal unemployment tax credits to employers in this state.
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