09/26/07 Business and corporate officer reporting requirement

Washington Ag September 26, 2007 A lot of people thought it was a hoax or scam but it's not. The Washington Employment Security Department recently sent letters to all corporations in the state informing them they had to register their officers with the department by September 30th. The information wanted includes name and social security number. It's all due to a new state law designed to ensure that people do not collect unemployment benefits for which they are ineligible. In most cases business and corporate officers are not eligible but a study showed many received the benefits anyway. Dan Fazio of the Washington State Farm Bureau says they lobbied against the bill during the legislative session but it went into the law books anyway. Fazio: "The best we could do is get people who are business owners and corporate officers can opt out of the unemployment insurance system. In order to do that you have to send a letter to the Employment Security Department telling them you want to opt out." September 30th is the deadline for the letter after which Fazio says there is a $25 fine. He says Farm Bureau is trying extend the response time to the end of the year before there would be a fine imposed. Find out more at www.wa.gov/esd I'm Bob Hoff.