Isn’t this an oxymoron? The reality: Successful organizations aggressively and proactively manage their unemployment program and costs. They are engaged and knowledgeable as to trends and key data points ultimately impacting their unemployment spend, and then mobilize to make timely adjustments. Indeed, employers who keep a keen eye on unemployment cost by maximizing effective solutions (UTCA… smile) for managing those costs strategically and in response to claim activity ARE good corporate citizens! How could that be?
Employers who conserve dollars flowing out of their unemployment accounts, bank a sufficient “reserve” – allowing them to pay legitimate claims without experiencing a costly spike in their rates. The old “Rainy Day” fund motto, truly applies to managing unemployment costs.
These employers can and should easily pay unemployment claims to those who have lost their jobs, through no fault of their own. And can absorb truly unavoidable job losses, without robbing from remaining employee wages or eliminating additional jobs to pay their unemployment bill. Being a good corporate citizens is not an either or proposition when it comes to unemployment.
During the Great Depression, when the first unemployment programs were launched, the original intent was to preserve the “buying power” of the average American household – essentially an economic stimulus. Since the Great Depression, we have witnessed flagrant abuses of UI benefits and broadening of the qualification standards. Along side this dynamic, of equal concern has been the disappearance of more accountable TPA firms (including the focus on payroll products) and the deterioration of service. With the onset of recent Benefit Integrity measures (TAAEA of 2011), employers and agents will be required to maintain much greater stewardship over their programs and services provided. Failure to do so will invite penalties, fines and loss of account credits. This will also permit improper benefit payments to cascade down to an employer’s bottom line. Employers concerned with good corporate citizenship understand how easily unemployment waste robs earnings from invested, productive employees and discourages job growth. A recent Federal study confirmed this dynamic (in large part) has contributed to our economic malaise and slow job growth