[Wade_Rogers_Forum_Moderator]

Hi Holly…you ask a good question and just happen to be stumbling upon a fellow North Carolinian! I have generally seen more organizations opt to pay into the fund rather than to self insure simply to reduce the potential for large payments when claims are filed by terminated employees.

In North Carolina, the annual cost to pay into the fund (rather than self insuring) would be (to start) 1% of the first ~$30K (increased annually) of earnings per employee, so around $300 per employee annually to start. The cost would increase or decrease based on your experience with unemployment claims.

Opting to self insure would mean that you would be required to reimburse the unemployment trust fund for any unemployment benefits claimed from terminated employees as well as maintaining an escrow account with the state totaling 1% of annual payroll.

Hope this helps in your decision!

[peggy]

Hi Holly:

We have used an organization called Unemployment Services Trust, http://www.chooseust.org for several years and are quite happy with it. Once our reserves were built up adequately we have hardly had to fund the account for year.

chooseust.org

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[kara]

Hi Holly, we have also been using UST for many years and it’s worked well for us. The only drawback is if you get hit with one or two hefty unemployment claims it can wipe out your reserve and will cost you more for a year or two until it builds back up. On the plus side, the staff at UST are extremely knowledgeable and very helpful in navigating the claims system.

[Holly]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I”m still researching…I won’t get dinged for not having the SUIT # until March 15th, so I’m hoping to figure it out before then!