Although the economy is humming along these days and the national unemployment average is very low – many employers have seen their Unemployment Costs stay the same or even rise.  What could possibly be the cause?  The answer is simple – these employers are not effectively managing their unemployment insurance (UI) costs. 

The following are some keys to establishing an effective UI cost management program – but this is by no means an all-inclusive list:

1.     Understand the UI Laws in your state(s) – many employers “don’t know what they don’t know” when it comes to managing unemployment.  Without that knowledge, employers often lose claims they should not lose – increasing their unemployment costs.  

2.     Audit your policies and employee handbook – if your handbook is not written in a way that follows unemployment laws – it is just going to hinder your ability to win UI protests.  Your progressive discipline and attendance policies, if no written correctly can ruin your ability to win UI protests.

3.     Track your claims, protests, taxes, and credits/charges with a database program.  If you are managing over 50 claims a year are likely missing opportunities to save because you are missing something claim related.  There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to UI claims, protests, and costs – these are hard to manage without a good way to track them – you might even be surprised by how much time you save over paper files and spreadsheets.

4.     Ensure that you are supporting your protest with effective documentation.  Proper documentation is the difference between winning a protest and losing one.  Be sure that you understand how to properly document employment actions such as discipline, separations, training, etc.  If you don’t – you run the risk of losing protests that you should win and your Unemployment Costs will be higher than they should.

5.     Audit your results – often overlooked, auditing your results and using them to improve your processes.  If you keep losing protests and it appears that it is because of a policy or process, then change it (improve it) so that you can start winning.  Winning and catching errors is the key to reducing your UI costs.

Use these tips to establish a strong and effective UI Cost Management Program and it will pay dividends for years to come!  For more information visit us on the web at unemploymenttracker.com.