Article 6. Financing Unemployment Insurance Coverage For Public School Employees of California Unemployment Insurance Code >> Division 1. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 6.

(a) Each school employer may, in lieu of the contributions required of employers, elect to pay into the Unemployment Fund the cost of benefits, including extended duration benefits and federal-state extended benefits, paid based on base period wages with respect to employment for an employing unit and charged to its account in the manner provided by Section 1026, pursuant to authorized regulations that shall prescribe the rate or amount, time, manner, and method of payment or advance payment or providing a good and sufficient bond to guarantee payment of contributions. The provisions of this article shall apply to school employers who have elected financing under this section.
  (b) Sections 1030, 1031, 1032, and 1032.5, and any provision of this division for the noncharging of benefits to the account of an employer, shall not apply to an employing unit under subdivision (a). The cost of benefits charged to a school employer under this section shall include, but not be limited to, benefits or payments improperly paid in excess of a weekly benefit amount, or in excess of a maximum benefit amount, or otherwise in excess of the amount that should have been paid, due to any computational or other error of any type by the Employment Development Department or the Department of Benefit Payments, whether or not the error could be anticipated.
  (c) The cost of benefits charged to a school employer under this section shall include credits of benefit overpayments actually collected by the department, unless the department determines that the payment was made because the school employer, or an agent of the school employer, was at fault for failing to respond timely or adequately to requests of the department for information relating to the individual claim for unemployment compensation benefits. The department shall make this determination when the school employer or agent fails to respond timely or adequately in two instances relating to the individual claim for unemployment compensation benefits. This subdivision shall apply to benefit overpayments established on or after October 22, 2013.
  (d) In making the payments prescribed by subdivision (a), there shall be paid or credited to the Unemployment Fund, either in advance or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the director, any sums he or she estimates the Unemployment Fund will be entitled to receive from each employing unit for each calendar quarter, reduced or increased by any sum by which he or she finds that his or her estimates for any prior calendar quarter were greater or less than the amounts that should have been paid to the fund. These estimates may be made upon the basis of a statistical sampling, or other method as may be determined by the director. Upon making the determination, the director shall mail notice of the determination, pursuant to Section 1206, to the employing unit. The director may cancel any contributions or portion thereof that he or she finds have been erroneously determined. The contributions due from the employing units shall be paid, transferred, or credited from the School Employees Fund established in the State Treasury by Section 822 to the Unemployment Fund by the State Treasurer, State Controller, or other officer or person responsible for disbursements on behalf of the employing unit within 30 days of the date of mailing of the director's notice of determination to the employing unit. Each employing unit shall send a copy of any and all notices, billings, or correspondence not normally routed to the administrator and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, regarding unemployment insurance for the school employees, to the administrator, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the county superintendent of schools, or agent thereof, with timely documentation of charges or determination. Article 8 (commencing with Section 1126) of Chapter 4 with respect to the assessment of contributions, and Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 1701) with respect to the collection of contributions, shall apply to the assessments provided by this article. Sections 1177 to 1184, inclusive, relating to refunds and overpayments, shall apply to amounts paid to the Unemployment Fund pursuant to this section. Sections 1222, 1223, 1224, 1241, and 1242 shall apply to matters arising under this section.
  (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no employing unit shall be liable for that portion of any extended duration benefits or federal-state extended benefits that is reimbursed or reimbursable by the federal government to the state.
  (f) To the extent permitted by federal law, including Section 121 (e) of Public Law 94-566, any school employer that elects a method of financing under this article shall not be liable to reimburse the cost of benefits paid to any individual whose base period wages include wages for services performed prior to January 1, 1978, if the benefits are reimbursable by the federal government under Section 121 of Public Law 94-566 and to the extent that the individual would not have been eligible for the benefits had this state not provided for benefits payable based on services performed prior to January 1, 1978.
  (g) The administrator and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall adopt rules and regulations for the administration of their respective functions under this article in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Regulations of the administrator shall be subject to Article 1 (commencing with Section 301) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1. Rules and regulations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall not be subject to the provisions of Article 1 (commencing with Section 301) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1.
  (h) Any election for financing coverage under this section shall take effect with respect to services performed from and after the first day of the calendar quarter in which the election is filed with the director, and shall continue in effect for not less than two full calendar years. Thereafter, the election under this section may be terminated as of January 1 of any calendar year only if the school employer, on or before the 31st day of January of that year, has filed with the director a written application for termination. The director may for good cause waive the requirement that a written application for termination shall be filed on or before the 31st day of January. School employers shall be prohibited from making a subsequent reelection under this section for 10 years from the date of termination of an election under this section. An election for financing coverage under this section is deemed to have been filed by every school employer effective as of January 1, 1976, is deemed to have been in effect for two calendar years prior to January 1, 1978, and may be terminated as of January 1, 1978, or as of January 1, 1980, or any later January 1 pursuant to this section. Upon the termination of any election under this section, the school employer shall be and remain liable for all benefits paid based upon wages paid by the school employer during the period of an election under this section.

As used in this article, "administrator" means the Director of Employment Development.

As used in this article, "employing unit" and "school employer" means the governing board of any school district or community college district, any county board of education, any county superintendent of schools, or any personnel commission of a school district or community college district which has a merit system pursuant to any provision of the Education Code, or any instrumentality of the foregoing, or any instrumentality of more than one of the foregoing, which employs one or more employees.

The provisions of Article 3 (commencing with Section 1326) of Chapter 5 of this part relating to filing, determination, and payments of unemployment compensation benefit claims, and all other provisions of this part not inconsistent with this article, shall apply to all claims and matters arising under this article.

(a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury the "School Employees Fund." The School Employees Fund is the successor of the "Classified School Employees Fund." Moneys received pursuant to Section 823, together with any charges, notices, fees, interest, penalties, assessments, or other revenue, shall be deposited in this fund. All moneys in the fund are hereby appropriated to the administrator without regard to fiscal year for carrying out the purposes of this article, for administrative costs, for making refunds, and for investment through the Surplus Money Investment Fund, with any interest or earnings credited to the School Employees Fund. Funds to be used for administrative costs shall be budgeted and expended in accordance with existing state law.
  (b) Notwithstanding any other law, the Controller may use the moneys in the School Employees Fund for loans to the General Fund as provided in Sections 16310 and 16381 of the Government Code. However, interest shall be paid on all moneys loaned to the General Fund from the School Employees Fund. Interest payable shall be computed at a rate determined by the Pooled Money Investment Board to be the current earning rate of the fund from which loaned. This subdivision does not authorize any transfer that will interfere with the carrying out of the object for which the School Employees Fund was created.

(a) For the purpose of payment by each school employer of all or part of the charges for unemployment compensation benefits, fees, assessments, interest, penalties, billings, notices, and other expenses of unemployment insurance for school employees pursuant to this part, moneys budgeted pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section shall be remitted by the school employer or on the school employer's behalf by the county auditor to the Treasurer pursuant to this article, and shall be deposited in the School Employees Fund.
  (b) (1) For each fiscal year, except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (d), each school employer shall budget and remit on or before the last day of the calendar month following the close of each calendar quarter to the Treasurer for deposit in the School Employees Fund in the State Treasury an amount determined by multiplying the contribution rate for the fiscal year by the total wages, including taxable wages as well as wages which would be taxable except for the limitation on taxable wages provided under Section 930, but excluding, to the extent permitted by federal law, wages paid to any individual to the extent that federal law provides for reimbursement to the State of California for all benefits paid from the Unemployment Fund to the individual based on the wages. The administrator shall, not later than March 31 each year, notify all school employers participating in the School Employees Fund of the contribution rate for the succeeding fiscal year.
  (2) The contribution rate for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988, and for each subsequent fiscal year shall be two times the amount disbursed for claims management fees, unemployment insurance benefit charges, and School Employees Fund administrative expenditures from the School Employees Fund during the 12-month period ending December 31 and immediately preceding the fiscal year for which the rate is to be effective, less the amount in the School Employees Fund on that December 31, with the resulting figure divided by total wages as described in paragraph (1) for the 12-month period ending June 30 and immediately preceding that December 31, and then rounded to the nearest one-hundredth of 1 percent. In no event shall the contribution rate be less than five one-hundredths of 1 percent.
  (c) If the administrator finds that the ability of the School Employees Fund to meet its estimated obligations promptly when due will become endangered, he or she shall increase the contribution rate otherwise provided by this section to a level estimated to be needed to protect the solvency of the fund, except that the rate shall not be increased to more than three-tenths of 1 percent. If the administrator finds that the School Employees Fund balance is in excess of an adequate reserve to meet its estimated obligations promptly when due, he or she shall, after consultation with the fund' s School Advisory Committee, decrease the contribution rate otherwise provided by this section, except that the rate shall not be decreased to less than one-tenth of 1 percent. The administrator shall notify all school employers participating in the fund of any increased or decreased contribution rate under this authority.

The administrator of the School Employees Fund shall, based on the total number of covered employees reflected on reports received by March 31, 1978, and by November 30, 1978, and each year thereafter by November 30, make a transfer from available interest earnings pursuant to investments authorized by Section 822 to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to support an Unemployment Insurance Management System and appeals program as set forth in Section 1330 of the Education Code. Such transfers shall be equal to two dollars ($2) per covered employee, less administrative costs of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and shall be made by April 30, 1978, and by December 31, 1978, and each year thereafter by December 31, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, as appropriate, and expended only for the purposes set forth in Section 1330 of the Education Code.

Whenever the unencumbered balance of interest deposited in or earned by the School Employees Fund, after deducting administrative expenses paid or encumbered, exceeds two million dollars ($2,000,000) as of the close of each fiscal year, the unencumbered balance shall be credited as of the close of that fiscal year to the account of each school employer which has a positive balance in the fund, in the proportion that each positive account balance bears to the total of all positive account balances.

Each school employer shall be responsible for a quarterly local experience charge as set forth below, together with the charges or penalties set by the administrator for administrative indiscretions, including tardiness and error, as well as all costs for benefits and administration resulting from failure to properly cover an employee. The reimbursement for charges shall be delinquent 30 days from the date of notice and if not paid within the time required, the school employer shall pay a penalty of 10 percent of the unpaid amount, plus interest at the adjusted annual rate established pursuant to Section 19521 of the Revenue and Taxation Code from and after the date of delinquency until paid. The local experience charge to be levied against each school employer shall be computed as follows: Local Experience Charge
  (a) The local experience charge rate shall be 10 percent for the first three complete fiscal years of participation in the School Employees Fund.
  (b) The local experience charge rate for the fourth fiscal year, and each succeeding fiscal year, shall be determined by dividing the reserve balance at the end of the fiscal year which began 24 months prior to the fiscal year for which the rate is being calculated by the benefits paid for that same prior fiscal year. The factor derived is the employer's reserve ratio. If, as of the computation date, the school employer's reserve ratio equals or exceeds that which appears on any line in column 1 of the following table, but is less than that which appears in column 2 of that table, the local experience charge rate shall be the figure appearing on that same line in column 3 of that table.

(Column 1)
  (Column 2)
  (Column 3) Line Reserve Ratio Rate 1 ..... negative to 1.00 15% 2 ......... 1.00 to 2.00 10% 3 ......... 2.00 to 3.00 5% 4 ......... 3.00 or more 0%

(c) The rate determined in subdivision (a) or (b) shall be multiplied by the employer's quarterly benefit charges to compute the local experience charges. The administrator shall, not later than March 31 of each year, notify each school employer participating in the School Employees Fund of their local experience charge rate for the succeeding fiscal year.

The total amount of the local experience charge computed for each school employer pursuant to Section 828 shall be the amount that the school employer, county superintendent of schools, or empowered entity shall, on behalf of the employers under that jurisdiction, reimburse the School Employees Fund in the State Treasury. However, this amount shall not exceed 1.7 percent of the actual annual wages paid by a school employer in the immediately preceding calendar year as indicated in the four quarterly reports to the department.

There is hereby created a School Employer Advisory Committee of five persons. The committee shall consist of one person appointed by each of the following: the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, Association of School Administrators, California School Business Officials, and the California School Board Association. All such members shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing power and their only compensation shall be per diem expenses for attending meetings, which shall be a cost of administration of the School Employees Fund. The advisory committee shall select a chairperson and meet at least semiannually with the administrator to consider and recommend improvements concerning the administration of this article.

The administrator shall at least annually calculate, as of the close of and for the immediately preceding fiscal year, the experiences of school employers relative to usage of the Unemployment Fund. The calculations shall include tabulations on the experience of each school employer in relation to the expenditures from and the income to the School Employees Fund from the wages paid by the employer. All school employers shall be listed and ranked by ratio of use. The report shall contain comments and recommendations on improvements to the administration, enforcement, and financing of the provisions relative to this article. The report by the administrator on the above shall be made each year to the affected school employer and governing board thereof prior to March 31. The administrator shall develop experience relationships on all benefits paid to employees via the School Employees Fund and on school employers' experience related to use and exposure. Data shall relate to numbers of employees and types of programs and shall be calculated as of the close of and for the immediately preceding fiscal year. A report by the administrator on the above shall be made each year to the Legislature prior to March 31 containing comments and recommendations on improvement to administration, enforcement and financing of the provisions relative thereto.