Unemployment Reimbursement Program

Christian Brothers Services Unemployment Reimbursement Program has been saving members thousands of dollars in unemployment taxes for over 20 years. The Program is designed to offset the costs incurred by Catholic organizations when an employee becomes eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.

This program is open to all not-for-profit Catholic organizations listed in the Official Catholic Directory. In addition, organizations must meet their respective state requirements for the reimbursement method for settlement of state unemployment claims.

The Unemployment Reimbursement Program pools the risk of all member organizations in the program thereby reducing the claim amount paid by any single organization. This results in cost savings to all members. Contributions to the Program are based on an organization’s base payroll. The organization is required to make a deposit at the rate of 1 percent of their base payroll for the first year upon entering the plan. Thereafter the deposit is adjusted based on the organization’s change is base payroll. (Base payroll is currently defined as the first $12,960* earned by each employee.)

Yearly fees consist of the organization’s share of the pool’s claim experience (the pro-rata charges) and a nominal annual administration fee.

In the event of a claim, the member organization should follow the direction of the state regarding payment. After payment is made to the state, the organization should send evidence of payment to the Christian Brothers Services Unemployment Reimbursement Program and reimbursement will be made for the claim, less a processing fee.

*This figure is adjusted yearly by the Illinois Department of Employment Security since the Plan is domiciled in Illinois this is the established base.