52-04-03. Rates and base of contributions of wages paid by employer

52-04-03. Rates and base of contributions of wages paid by employer

1. Subject to the exceptions and modifications provided for in this section and elsewhere

in this chapter, each employer shall pay contributions to the fund equal to two and

seven-tenths percent of wages paid by the employer to any one individual employee

during a calendar year with respect to employment, which also includes service

constituting employment under the employment security law of any other state as

defined in the North Dakota unemployment compensation law or of the federal

government. "Employment", as so inclusive, is applicable throughout to this chapter.

2. The amount of an individual's wages paid to that individual in a calendar year by each

employer and subject to tax may not be in excess of three thousand dollars for the

years prior to 1968, nor in excess of three thousand three hundred dollars for 1968,

nor in excess of three thousand four hundred dollars for 1969, nor in excess of three

thousand eight hundred dollars for 1970, nor in excess of four thousand dollars for

1971, nor in excess of four thousand four hundred dollars for 1972, nor in excess of

four thousand two hundred dollars for 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1976, nor in excess of

four thousand three hundred dollars for 1977, and not in excess of six thousand dollars

in 1978.

3. For the year 1979 and each year thereafter, the amount of an individual's wages

subject to tax, paid by each employer, must be in such amount as determined to be in

an amount that is equal to seventy percent of a statewide average annual wage,

rounded to the nearest one hundred dollars, determined by the bureau on or before

each first day of October by the following computation:

The total wages reported on contribution reports for the third and fourth quarters

of the preceding calendar year and the first and second quarters of the current

calendar year must be divided by the average monthly number of covered

workers for the same four quarters, whose number must be determined by

dividing by twelve the total covered employment reported on contribution reports

for those quarters, and the quotient obtained by dividing the total wages by the

average monthly number of covered workers is the statewide average annual

wage.

4. Notwithstanding any of the provisions of subsection 3, the amount of an individual's

wages subject to tax must always be at least equal to the amount that is subject to tax

under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act [68A Stat. 439; 26 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.].