OAR 471-031-0141: Partial Transfer of Experience

(1) Under ORS 657.480(1) A new or existing employing unit is a partial successor to the experience of an employing enterprise when an identifiable and segregable portion of the employing enterprise is transferred to or otherwise acquired by the employing unit, including the employees of that portion of the employing enterprise necessary to carry on day-to-day operations and essential business functions in the same manner and for the same purposes as carried on prior to the acquisition or transfer. (2) For the period beginning with the date of the transfer of the employment experience record through the end of the calendar year in which the transfer occurs, the contribution rate of the predecessor shall be the same as if there had been no transfer. Upon determination for partial transfer the Director shall: (a) Assign a contribution rate for a successor that is a new employing unit, to be effective from the date of the transfer through the end of the calendar year in which the transfer occurs; and (b) Notify the successor in writing of the tax rate assigned in subsection (2)(a) of this rule. (3) In a partial consolidation, when both employing units are existing employers, the tax rate experience shall be consolidated for the next year's rate determination only if the date of the transfer is on or before August 31 of the current year. (4) The percentage of employment experience attributable to the transfer shall be calculated by dividing the number of employees hired by the successor that are attributable to the transfer by the total number of employees of the predecessor prior to the transfer. This percentage, rounded to the nearest percentage number, shall then be applied to the benefit charges and taxable payroll of the predecessor and the resulting amounts shall comprise the employment experience to be transferred to the successor's account. The experience shall be added to the successor's account in the same quarter it is removed from the predecessor's account. The percent transferred plus the percent not transferred shall equal one hundred percent. (5) The Director may use other reasonable means of determining the percentage in section (4) that is attributable to the transfer. (6) Benefits charged to the predecessor in the quarter in which the transfer occurs and the next three quarters shall be split between the predecessor and successor in accordance with the percentage established in section (4) of this rule. For each quarter thereafter, none of the benefits charged to the predecessor shall be transferred to the successor. (7) For the limited purpose of calculating experience rates under this rule, if the transfer occurs after the fifteenth day of the middle month of a calendar quarter, wages paid by the predecessor during such quarter shall be split between the predecessor and successor in accordance with the percentage calculated in section (4) of this rule. If the transfer occurs on or before the fifteenth day of the middle month of a calendar quarter, none of the wages paid by the predecessor during such quarter shall be split. (8) For each calendar year commencing on or after the date of the transfer, the successor's contribution rate shall be based on its experience with taxable payroll and benefit charges, including the experience of the acquired portion of business as determined in sections (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7). (9) The successor, if not an employer at the time of the transfer, shall become an employer as of the date of the transfer. (10) In determining excess wages over the taxable wage amount, a successor may use the wages paid by the predecessor prior to the transfer. (11) When the Employment Department determines that a partial transfer has occurred, the Employment Department shall give the successor notice of the determination and its effects to the partial successor. The partial successor may request a hearing in accordance with the provisions of ORS 657.683. (12) Notwithstanding sections (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7), when an employing unit acquires a portion of the trade or business of an employer that has received the penalty tax rate under ORS 657.480(3), a proportionate share of the penalty tax rate will transfer and be added to its calculated rate. (13) Any transfer or acquisition described in section (1) must be reported to the Employment Department Tax Section within 60 days of the date the transfer or acquisition becomes final.