Unemployment Insurance Survey for Self-Insured Nonprofits

Is your organization one of the 100,000 or more nonprofits or governmental entities that has elected to self-insure under your state unemployment compensation system? Is your organization now facing burdensome payments to the state due to coronavirus-related layoffs and furloughs?

The broad nonprofit community is advocating for relief from crippling unemployment costs and we ask your help in identifying the problems and solutions. Please take the following CONFIDENTIAL survey.

The federal and state unemployment insurance was not designed to absorb the enormous job loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress recognized this fact by enacting the CARES Act which waives many state restrictions, extends and expands benefits, and holds many employers harmless. However, not all employers are treated the same. Most employers are required to contribute into the state unemployment trust fund, but some charitable nonprofits and governments have opted to self-insure, meaning they don’t pay in advance, but receive bills from the state for the unemployment benefits paid out to their former employees. (Learn more about self-insured nonprofits.)

In normal times, the system works well, but these are not normal times. Congress provided partial relief in the CARES Act for self-insured employers covering 50 percent of the costs, but guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor may cause states to send bills demanding immediate payment for 100 percent of these unemployment costs. The results from this survey will help nonprofits advocate for legislative and regulatory fixes that benefit organizations and their missions.