What is Unemployment Insurance (UI)?
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs provide unemployment benefits to eligible workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own, and meet certain other state eligibility requirements. Unemployment Insurance is a federal program that is administered by state agencies, like the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development (DEED). The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), along with state unemployment systems, provides for payments of unemployment benefits to workers who have lost their jobs. Most employers pay BOTH a federal and a state unemployment tax. The funds to pay unemployment benefits are provided by state UI taxes paid by employers based on their layoff history. The employer is directly responsible for paying the UI tax; deductions cannot be made from an employee’s wages to cover these taxes. Federal unemployment taxes (often referred to as FUTA) are a separate tax to pay for the administration of the program.
In 1936, the Minnesota Legislature created the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program to provide workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own a partial wage replacement to assist them in becoming reemployed. The Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) supervises and administers the Unemployment Insurance Program. For more information about Minnesota Unemployment Insurance, visit www.uimn.
Unemployment Insurance (UI) is an employer-paid insurance program that helps workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own. It provides temporary financial help to qualified individuals, based on their previous earnings, while they are looking for other work. Employer taxes and reimbursements support the Unemployment Trust Fund. Employers cannot deduct any money from employees’ paychecks to pay for this program. Apply for UI benefits anytime online or call the TWC Tele-Center nearest you. The law governing UI benefits in Texas is the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act, which is Title 4, Subtitle A of the Texas Labor Code. From here on, we will refer to that law as “the Act.” The Act is available online at www.texasworkforce.org (choose the link for Job Seekers and Employees; then Employee Rights and Laws), and it is in the Vernon’s law book series found in most public libraries.
