Title 28
Labor and Labor Relations

Chapter 43
Employment Security — Contributions

§ 28-43-3. Employer’s accounts — Credits and charges.

Subsequent to the establishment of a separate employer’s account for each employer subject to chapters 42 — 44 of this title as set forth in § 28-43-1(4), the credits and charges to each employer’s account, exclusive of the state of Rhode Island, its political subdivisions, and their instrumentalities, shall be determined as follows:

(1) Credits to each employer’s account:

(i) After the September 30, 1958, computation date all contributions required under § 28-43-8 and paid by each employer.

(ii) All surcharges required and paid under § 28-43-4.

(iii) All voluntary contributions made by the employer made in accordance with § 28-43-5.1.

(2) Charges to each employer’s account:

(i) Refunds of overpayments under § 28-43-13, as of the date refunded;

(ii) For benefit years beginning subsequent to September 30, 1993, an amount equal to the benefits provided in §§ 28-44-6(a) and (b), 28-44-7, and 28-44-8, and paid to each individual with respect to a benefit year, as of the date paid. Those benefits shall be charged to the account of the most recent base-period employer, as defined in § 28-43-1(7); provided, that if a claimant works for two (2) or more employers concurrently, either full-time or part-time, and becomes unemployed on the same day from more than one employer, any benefits paid as a result of the unemployment shall be charged to the employers’ accounts proportionately based upon the ratio of base-period wages paid by each employer to the total base-period wages paid by the concurrent employers from whom the claimant became separated from employment. No charge for benefits paid under § 28-44-7 shall be made against the account of any employer who shows to the satisfaction of the director that the employer has continued to employ the individual during the weeks of his or her claim to the same extent that the employer had employed him or her during that individual’s base period, and those benefits, if not chargeable to the most recent base-period employer, shall be charged to the balancing account;

(iii) If any base-period employer, whether or not the employer was the most recent, shows to the satisfaction of the director that the individual who is in receipt of benefits became separated from his or her last employment with that employer for reasons that did result or would have resulted in a disqualification under § 28-44-17 or § 28-44-18 had that base-period employer been his or her most recent, those benefits shall be charged to the balancing account;

(iv) The entire amount charged to the employer’s account under § 28-43-9 relating to the balancing rate;

(v) Whenever the provisions in this section specify that an employer’s account shall not be charged, that non-charging shall be limited to benefits paid based on service with an employer required to pay contributions under the provisions of chapters 42 — 44 of this title;

(vi) An amount equal to the benefits provided in § 28-44-62 and paid to each individual with respect to a benefit year as of the date paid minus the proportionate share of those benefits for which the state has been or will be reimbursed by the federal government. The federal share of any payments shall be charged to the balancing account and federal reimbursements shall be credited to the balancing account;

(vii) Whenever any benefits are paid for benefit years beginning subsequent to July 7, 1996, to an individual unemployed as a result of physical damage to the real property at the employer’s usual place of business caused by severe weather conditions, including, but not limited to, hurricanes, snowstorms, ice storms or flooding, or fire except where caused by the employer, those benefits shall be charged to the balancing account; and

(viii) An employer’s account shall not be relieved of charges relating to any benefit payments made if the director establishes on or after October 1, 2013, that the payment was made because the employer, or an agent of the employer, was at fault for failing to respond timely or adequately to the request of the department for information relating to the claim for unemployment benefits that was subsequently overpaid.