Applying for your Texas Work Commission (TWC) account

Once a Charter School has four or more employees on their payroll for more than 20 weeks, it’s time to apply for your Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) account. This means that the charter will now be obligated to report their employees’ wages to the state unemployment office and should start paying SUTA taxes.

The  “Status Application” must first be completed by a signing authority.

After the Charter applies and once they have received their State Tax number, they can apply to be a reimbursable employer, or stay as a regular reporting entity. The difference between the two is that one will obligate you to pay a tax on every employee you hire, and the other will obligate you to pay as ex-staff members claim unemployment.

• Regular Reporting Employer: The most common. You will be obligated to pay tax on the first $9000 per person annually. If you go this route, TWC will probably start you off at the current average tax rate, which is 2.7%. Your rate is dependent on your standing as an employer. If you are a high-risk employer (meaning you terminate a lot of employees without the proper cause), then your rate gets really high. If your turnover is low, or have very little claims, your rate will more than likely drop.
• Reimbursable Employer: The entity will be obligated to pay for any unemployment claims that the state processes that have you as a reporting employer. If you have very little turnover, this will work out great for you, but if you have a high dollar employee leave, you will be obligated to pay 100% of their benefits.

You don’t have to decide right now which type of reporting employer your Charter will be, but once you receive your State Tax number, this will be the time to submit the application for a reimbursable employer if you are interested.  Also, if you do choose to be a reimbursable employer, it doesn’t mean you will always be. You can apply to go back to a regular employer right before your year two is over if you choose to.

This link provides additional information: https://www.twc.texas.gov/businesses/reimbursing-government-employers#unemploymentTaxRegistration

Another thing to note as Charters go through this process is that once the State has you in their system, you will receive a bill for all prior quarters along with penalties and late fees. This is normal. Once you submit the quarterly reports (CSS can do this step for you!), we can request for any fees and penalties to be waived.

Hiring Resources

TWC has some employer hiring resources! Please visit this link for more information: https://www.twc.texas.gov/businesses/recruiting-hiring-resources

Questions?

Visit the Charter School Community Roundtable, where you can ask questions. get answers and more!