UI Quarterly News
2nd Quarter 2005
 



Reminder: The UI Quarterly News is no longer mailed. The most current information regarding unemployment insurance (UI), including current and previous newsletters, is available
via the Internet at www.coworkforce.com/UIT/.

Hard copies of the UI Quarterly News are
available through UI Operations at:
303-318-9100 (Denver-metro area) or
1-800-480-8299 (outside Denver-metro area)
 



Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
Unemployment Insurance Operations
P.O. Box 8789, Denver, CO 80201-8789

303-318-9100 (Denver-metro area)
1-800-480-8299 (outside Denver-metro area)
www.coloradoworkforce.com
 

Bill Owens

Governor

Rick Grice

Executive Director


NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is pleased to introduce Rick Grice, the former Executive Director of the Office of Energy Management, as our acting Executive Director.

UPDATE YOUR MAILING AND LOCATION ADDRESSES

In the coming months Unemployment Insurance (UI) Operations will be mailing important information to the mailing address and location address of record for all employers. To ensure that you receive this information, it is important that the location address not be for a Power of Attorney or Tax Services Group. To verify that UI Operations has your correct mailing and location addresses, call 303-318-9100 or visit www.coworkforce.com. Select the E-Services link. Then select the Employer-Change-of-Business-Address link.






E3 BUSINESS AND CAREER FORUM
In recognition of Workforce Development Month (September 2005) the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and the Denver-Metro Workforce Centers have partnered to host the E3 Business and Career Forum. This unique event will take place Tuesday, September 20, 2005, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Denver Merchandise Mart.

The Forum is split with the morning focusing on the needs of business owners. The afternoon will be devoted to a job fair for prospective employees. Business owners will participate in workshops providing critical information on starting, growing, and managing their business. The job fair will focus on the theme of starting, growing, and managing one’s career. A wide variety of businesses and job seekers will be brought together by this event. All employers are invited to participate in the free job fair if they have job vacancies they wish to fill.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao has been invited to give opening remarks. She is respected as an effective and articulate champion of workforce development. Since her appointment in 2001, Secretary Chao has been dedicated to carrying out the U.S. Department of Labor’s mission of inspiring and protecting the hard-working people of America.

At lunch Bill Rancic, winner of NBC/Donald Trump’s first Apprentice competition, will speak on what he has learned as a small business owner, big business manager, and high profile, high-pressure job applicant.

If you have job openings in your company and would like a free booth at the job fair, contact Julie Berge at 303-318-8836. For further information about the E3 Business and Career Forum or events taking place around the state during Workforce Development Month, regularly check our Web site at www.coworkforce.com/wd.

FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) Program recently purchased the hardware and software to offer file transfer protocol (FTP) as a means for transmitting data electronically. While the UI Program envisions many applications for this technology, one of the first to be implemented is FTP that allows employers to submit employee-wage data electronically. For employers with many employees, submitting wage data via FTP will be a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to magnetic media and paper.

The UI Program will begin testing the FTP application soon. The conversion of employers with large employee bases from magnetic media and paper to FTP should begin this year. More details on FTP will be provided as the date for implementation approaches.

SUBMITTING QUARTERLY EMPLOYEE-WAGE DATA

The technology required to process employee-wage data reported on magnetic media, i.e., round magnetic tape, 3480 square magnetic-tape cartridges, and diskette, is becoming outdated. This is especially true in the case of round magnetic tape. Consequently, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Operations is no longer allowing new employers to submit quarterly employee-wage data on round magnetic tape. A long-term plan is in place to transition employers from reporting wages on all forms of magnetic media to reporting wages by file transfer protocol (FTP). (See the FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL update above for more details.) Employers who have been reporting employee-wage data on round magnetic tape can continue to do so until filing by FTP becomes available.

SUPER SYSTEM UPDATES

Current information about the State Unemployment Program E-government Resource (SUPER) system is available on the SUPER System Information Web page. Visit this Web page by clicking on the SUPER System Information link that is posted on the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Web site at www.coloradoworkforce.com/UIT/.

USE OF SOFTWARE VENDOR FORMS

Vendors of replicated forms will be unable to participate in the testing/approval process for tax and/or wage reports to be used with the new State Unemployment Program E-government Resource (SUPER) system. With the release of the SUPER system, employers who buy forms from vendors will be purchasing forms that are not authorized by the UI Program. Only employers with a large number of employees or tax-service groups who submit completed tax-and-wage reports on behalf of employers will be allowed to participate in the testing/approval process.

The new Form UIS-270, Unemployment Insurance Tax-and-Wage Report, contains scan-line and bar-code data exclusive to a particular employer and a particular quarter. A generic form provided by a forms vendor would not provide the required data. Also, electronic versions of replicated forms provided by a forms vendor would necessitate the form be printed by the employers. Printer output is by no means consistent in terms of quality or placement of data on the page from one brand of printer to another or from one computer configuration to another. Employers who print replicated forms cannot be assured that UI Operations can process these forms. It is ultimately your responsibility to submit tax-and-wage reports on forms acceptable to UI Operations.


NOTIFICATION OF TAX RATES

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Operations will not release an employer’s tax rate to an employer representative unless the employer has contacted UI Operations to arrange Power-of-Attorney status for the representative. Employers are responsible for providing rate information to their employer representatives. Employers are also responsible for ensuring that UI Operations is provided with the correct mailing address, whether the address is that of the employer or the employer representative.

CONTINUE TO FILE ON CURRENT TAX-AND-WAGE REPORTS

The release dates for the Benefits and Tax implementations of the State Unemployment Program E-government Resource (SUPER) system have yet to be finalized. You will be provided with detailed information about the impact of these releases on the way you do business with Unemployment Insurance (UI) Operations in ample time to make adjustments to your business processes.

In the meantime, please continue to do business with UI Operations in your usual manner, and monitor the progress of implementing the SUPER system by clicking on the SUPER System Information link at www.coworkforce.com/UIT/. This Web page contains recent information about the SUPER system including any updates that may occur to implementation dates.

With the release of the SUPER system, taxes and wages must be reported on the new Form UIS-270, Unemployment Insurance Tax-and-Wage Report. UI Operations will notify you in advance of the quarter in which you are to begin filing on the new tax-and-wage report. Until you are notified to begin filing on the new tax-and-wage report, please continue to file your tax-and-wage report (using the available option of your choice) in the current manner.

Please remember to make all checks for UI tax payments payable to the “Colorado State Treasurer.”

REMINDER

Please do not pay quarterly unemployment insurance tax-report payments that are less than $5. Quarterly tax-and-wage reports must be submitted by the due date regardless of the amount owed.

QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS?

To contact us, call 303-318-9100 (Denver-metro area) or 1-800-480-8299 (outside Denver-metro area). For tax questions and issues related specifically to your account, send e-mail inquiries to unemp.tax@state.co.us.

Send comments or questions related to the genesis Project and the State Unemployment Program E-government Resource (SUPER) system through the genesis Employer mailbox at uiemployerinquiry@state.co.us. For issues not related to the SUPER system or the genesis Project, please continue to use the unemp.tax@state.co.us e-mail address for faster service.

UI TAX TEAMS MOVING TO 251 EAST 12TH AVENUE

As of May 31, 2005, all Unemployment Insurance Program employees are located at 251 East 12th Avenue. As of June 1, 2005, employers who would like to address a concern in person need to visit the new location.

All telephone and fax numbers will remain the same except the fax number for UI Integrity, Benefit Payment Control (BPC). The new fax number for UI Integrity, BPC is 303-318-9037.

Post-office boxes used for correspondence have not changed.

CONSTRUCTION AT 251 EAST 12TH AVENUE IMPACTS APPEALS HEARINGS

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s office building at 251 East 12th Avenue is currently undergoing renovations. The renovation of the lobby area and the waiting area for Unemployment Insurance (UI) Appeals hearings has been finished. However, the hearing offices where hearings are conducted will soon be under renovation and in-person hearings will not be possible.

Consequently, later this summer, hearings will be conducted via telephone only; there will be no in-person hearings for approximately two months during the renovation. Participants will be notified when this occurs.