Important Notice to Employers

July 9, 2012

The national recession has led to record levels of unemployed workers receiving unemployment insurance benefits. As a result, New York State has borrowed over $4 billion from the federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund since 2009. New York must pay approximately $102 million in interest on these loans to the federal government by September 30, 2012. In order to pay the interest on these federal loans, New York State is required by law to assess a temporary charge on employers, called an Interest Assessment Surcharge (IAS).

The Federal interest rate on these loans is lower this year than it was when the IAS was assessed last year. This reduced New York's IAS rate for 2012 to 0.15 percent. Each employer's surcharge amount is determined by multiplying the total taxable wages in the most recently completed payroll year (October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011) by the IAS rate of .015 percent. The maximum amount that most employers will be assessed is $12.75 per employee. The IAS is due 30 days after the date of your bill.

As the bad economy continues to take a toll on employers, workers compensation premium recovery offers employers the opportunity to have a workers compensation audit performed that can generate workers comp refunds. These refunds could be used to offset additional surcharges like the Interest Assessment Surcharge.