52-04-05. Each successive rate group for negative employer rate groups must be
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assigned a rate equal to the previous group's rate plus four-tenths of one percent. The
number of rate groups in the negative employer schedule must be the number
required to provide for a rate group at each four-tenths of one percent interval between
the negative employer minimum rate and the negative employer maximum rate
determined under section 52-04-05. All results calculated under this subsection must
be rounded to the nearest one-hundredth of one percent. 3. Positive employers must be assigned to the rate in the positive employer rate schedule
in the rank order of their reserve ratios, as determined in subsection 1, with the highest
reserve ratio positive employers assigned to the first positive employer rate. Each
successively ranked positive employer must be assigned to a rate within the positive
employer rate schedule so that the first rate within the rate schedule is assigned sixty
percent of the positive employer's prior year's taxable wages and each of the
remaining nine rates within the rate schedule are assigned the same proportion of the
remaining forty percent of the positive employer's prior year's taxable wages. Negative
employers must be assigned to the rate in the negative employer rate schedule in the
rank order of their reserve ratios, as determined in subsection 1, with the highest
reserve ratio negative employers assigned to the first negative employer rate. Each
successively ranked negative employer must be assigned to a rate within the negative
employer rate schedule so that each rate within the rate schedule is assigned the
same proportion of the negative employer's prior year's taxable wages. 4. a. After each year's rate schedule has been established, an employer may pay into
the fund, or cause to be paid into the fund on the employer's behalf, an amount in
excess of the contributions required to be paid under this section. That amount
must be credited to the employer's separate account. The employer's rate must
be recomputed with the amount paid pursuant to this subsection included only,
except as allowed by subdivision b, if that amount was paid by April thirtieth of
that year. Payments may not be refunded or used as credit in the payment of
contributions.
b. An employer that enters a contract with a staffing service, other than a temporary
staffing service, may make the payments authorized by this subsection at any
time during the rate year and the agency will determine if that payment is
adequate to allow the staffing service to comply with subsection 3 of section
52-04-24; however, the employer's tax rate will remain in effect for the remainder
of the tax year. The agency will deposit any payment received pursuant to this
subsection immediately and will credit it to the employer's separate account, but
the agency will apply the payment to the calculation of the employer's tax rate for
the following rate year. In order to take advantage of this subdivision and
subsection 3 of section 52-04-24, an employer may not be delinquent in its
unemployment insurance tax payments on the date on which the payment
authorized by this subdivision is made. 5. In the bureau's determination of the projected income requirements for computing
contribution rates and taxable wage base, only the wages paid by, and the cost of
benefits attributable to, tax-rated employers may be taken into account. 6. If an employer has a quarterly taxable payroll in excess of fifty thousand dollars and at
least three times its established average annual payroll or the average annual payroll
is zero, and the employer's cumulative lifetime reserve balance is positive, then the tax
rate for that employer is ninety percent of the positive employer maximum rate in effect
that year or a rate of one percent, whichever is greater, beginning the first day of the
calendar quarter in which it occurred and for the remainder of the calendar year. If the
employer's cumulative lifetime reserve balance is negative, then the tax rate for that
employer is the negative employer maximum rate of contribution in effect that year,
beginning the first day of the calendar quarter in which it occurred and for the
remainder of the calendar year.
52-04-06.1. Construction project risk protection. 1. Any project in this state with an estimated construction cost of at least fifty million
dollars which is planned to be completed or discontinued within a period of seven
years is subject to this section. The general or prime contractor, or the owner in those
situations in which there is no general or prime contractor, of a project that meets the
criteria specified under this section shall post the bond or irrevocable letter of credit
required in subsection 2 before commencement of construction work on the project
and shall report annually, within thirty days of the anniversary date the project
becomes subject to this section, to the bureau any change in the construction costs of
projects subject to this section. 2. If the bureau determines that the project is or will be within the criteria stated by this
section, the bureau shall require the general or prime contractor, or the owner in those
situations in which there is no general or prime contractor, for whom the project is
being constructed, on behalf of each employing unit, excluding design and engineering
firms, to post a bond executed by a surety company authorized to do business in the
state or an irrevocable letter of credit from a federal deposit insurance corporation
insured state or nationally chartered bank authorized to do business in the state which
will insure payment for all benefits claimed by employees of all employing units
working on the project. The bureau may adjust the amount of bond or irrevocable letter
of credit required under this subsection to cover any significant increases or decreases
in project construction costs reported by the general or prime contractor or owner. If
any general or prime contractor or owner fails to comply with this subsection, the
bureau may apply to any court of this state within the jurisdiction in which the
contractor or owner is found, located, or transacts business to obtain an order to
compel the general or prime contractor or owner to post the required bond or
irrevocable letter of credit required under this subsection. Any failure to obey an order
of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt of court. 3. The amount of bond or irrevocable letter of credit must be the difference between the
estimated benefits paid and estimated contributions, multiplied by fifty percent. The
estimation of contributions expected must be made as follows: multiply the current
year's positive employer minimum rate times the current year's taxable wage base
times the estimated number of employees on the project using figures from project
plans, times the number of years between the start date and the estimated completion
date of the project. The estimation of benefits paid must be made as follows: multiply
the estimated number of employees, from the project plans, times the current year's
maximum weekly benefit amount times the duration, twelve weeks for the first year
and twelve weeks for subsequent years, times the number of years between the start
date and the completion date rounded up to the next whole number. 4. Thirty months after the completion or discontinuance of the project, the bureau shall
determine the total benefits paid to employees of the employing unit or units. If the
total amount paid to the employees of the unit or units exceeds the total amount of
contributions collected from the units under the North Dakota unemployment
compensation law, the general or prime contractor, or the owner in those situations in
which there is no general or prime contractor, shall pay the total amount of benefits
paid to the employees of the units which exceeded the total amount of contributions
collected from the unit or units. If the general or prime contractor, or the owner in those
situations in which there is no general or prime contractor, does not pay the payment
requirement, job service North Dakota shall collect the payment from the surety
company that executed the surety bond or bank that issued the irrevocable letter of
credit. The general or prime contractor, or the owner in those situations in which there
is no general or prime contractor, shall remain liable for any amount of benefits paid to
the employees working on the project which exceeds the amount of contributions
collected from the employers who worked on the project which is not covered by the
amount of the bond or irrevocable letter of credit. 5. For the purposes of this section, a project includes all entities that employ or contract
for the employment of, or is employing directly or indirectly through agents,
independent contractors, or subcontractors, excluding design and engineering firms.
Each employing unit, whether contractor, subcontractor, or otherwise, involved in the
project is subject to this section, excluding design and engineering firms. 6. Each employing unit having employees working on a project subject to this section,
excluding design and engineering firms, shall maintain separate records for all
employment on the project showing each individual's name, social security number,
wages paid, and the dates the wages were paid. The employers shall submit separate
reports from other employment subject to the North Dakota unemployment
compensation law under a separate reporting account established for the project. 7. This section applies to projects for which bids are let after August 1, 2001. 8. The determination of whether a project is subject to this section must be made in the
same manner as provided for in section 52-04-17. 9. This section does not apply to any project in which the state is the owner or contractor.
52-04-07. Benefits paid chargeable to accounts of base-period employers. 1. Benefits paid to an individual must be charged against the accounts of the individual's
base-period employers. The amount of benefits so chargeable against each
base-period employer's account must bear the same ratio to the benefits paid to an
individual as the base-period wages paid to the individual by such employer bear to
the total amount of the base-period wages paid to the individual by all of the
individual's base-period employers. 2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, an employer's account may not be charged for any of
the following:
a. With benefits paid to an individual for unemployment that is directly caused by a
major natural disaster declared by the president pursuant to section 102(2) of the
Disaster Relief Act of 1974 [Pub. L. 93-288; 88 Stat. 143; 42 U.S.C. 5122(2)], if
the individual would have been eligible for disaster unemployment assistance
with respect to that unemployment but for the individual's receipt of
unemployment insurance benefits.
b. With benefits paid to an individual who:
(1)Left the employment of the base-period employer voluntarily without good
cause or with good cause not involving fault on the part of the base-period
employer;
(2)Was discharged from employment by the base-period employer for
misconduct;
(3)Was separated from employment with the most recent employer for reasons
directly attributable to domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault; or
(4)Is a military spouse who voluntarily left the most recent employment to
relocate because of permanent change of station orders of the individual's
military-connected spouse.
c. As provided under section 52-06-29.
d. With benefits paid to an individual who is in training with the approval of
job service North Dakota.
e. With benefits paid to an individual who is subsequently determined not entitled to
receive the benefits.
f. With benefits paid to an individual who is currently employed part time with that
employer when the hiring agreement between the individual and the employer
has not changed since the individual commenced work for that employer. This
subdivision does not apply to an employee of a temporary help firm.
3. Subsection 2 does not apply to benefit payments if:
a. Benefit payments are financed under a reimbursable method.
b. An overpayment of unemployment compensation benefits results from:
(1)The employer, or the agent of the employer, failing to respond timely or
adequately to the request from the bureau for information relating to a claim
for unemployment compensation; and
(2)The employer, or agent of the employer, has established a demonstrated
pattern of failing to respond to such requests.
This section applies to overpayments established after October 21, 2013.
4. Any nonprofit organization which elects to make payments in lieu of contributions into
the unemployment compensation fund as provided in section 52-04-18 is not liable to
make such payments with respect to the benefits paid to any individual whose
base-period wages include wages for previously uncovered services as defined in
subsection 3 of section 52-06-04 to the extent that the unemployment compensation
fund is reimbursed for such benefits pursuant to section 121 of Public Law 94-566.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1, an employer's account may not be
charged with benefits paid for previously uncovered services as defined in
subsection 3 of section 52-06-04 to the extent that the unemployment compensation
fund is reimbursed for such benefits pursuant to section 121 of Public Law 94-566.