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New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Update

January 1st, 2007 Posted by Mark

New Jersey has special instances in its unemployment insurance system where the person who is actually considered the employer isn’t the person who you would think it was. In other words, employer in this case means the person or entity who is responsible for paying the unemployment benefits.

Take this case: There is a crew leader who is in charge of a crew of agricultural workers. In the New Jersey unemployment insurance system, that crew leader would be considered the employer for that crew and would be responsible for their unemployment insurance tax payments. That of course, wouldn’t happen without an open agreement between the crew leader and his ultimate employer, the agricultural company that he is doing the leading for.

This agreement between the crew leader and the agricultural company must also be fully in agreement with the state and federal laws. One such law holds that the crew leader, if he or she is going to take on this responsibility, has to be registered. The law that calls for this registration is none other than the New Jersey Crew Leader Registration Act.

Another interesting case is if you are a homeowner and have domestic workers under your keep, whether they be your cook, a babysitter, a nanny, or your yards man. You could be responsible for their unemployment insurance, even if you don’t pay them with your company’s bank roll. If you have paid any of these domestic workers more than $1000 in any calendar quarter, then you could be liable for their unemployment insurance taxes.

Otherwise, the standard rules of being liable for unemployment insurance taxes hold true in New Jersey. For instance, if you are a company that employed one or more workers, and have paid more than $1000 in wages in the calendar year, then you are liable for unemployment insurance taxes.