Nov 2003
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THE
PA UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION TAX
Each July the Department of Labor and Industry calculates the �trigger� percentage of the PA Unemployment Compensation (UC) Law used to prevent the UC trust fund balance from getting too low or too high. Based on a comparison of the fund balance as of June 30, 2003, with the average annual benefit cost for the last three fiscal years, the trigger percentage is 63 percent. As a result, the following measures will go into effect on January 1, 2004. o .09 percent (.0009) tax on employee wages or 90 cents for each $1,000 earned. The employee withholding UC tax is to be submitted with each UC-2/2A Quarterly Report. Failure to withhold and remit this employee tax could result in interest charges and affect your contribution rate for subsequent years. o 7.2 percent (.072) surcharge on employer contributions. The surcharge adjustment is computed by multiplying your base rate by the 7.2 percent surcharge. o 0.4 percent (.0040) employer additional contribution tax. The additional contribution tax is added on to your assigned tax rate. This new tax is not subject to the surcharge adjustment and is not applicable to newly liable and reimbursed employers. Any questions about these changes should be directed to your UC Employers Tax Services Field Service Office. To find your local office visit www.state.pa.us and enter PA keyword �unemployment.� Click on your local area on the state map. Select the county where your business is headquartered and scroll downto the UC Employer Tax Services. The Office covering that area will be listed.
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2003 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP SPONSORS
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT What is Total Quality Management? When business people talk of Total Quality Management they are referring to the practice of checking and/or controlling the quality of the raw materials going into their finished product. For example, most contractors know, no matter how skilled they are in construction, if they use rotten lumber the finished home is poor quality. Many times the end product (home) is judged on the quality of the raw material put into it and not the skill of the contractor. For the contractor, Total Quality Management would refer to the production management of raw materials such as: lumber, wires, nails, tools, etc. Some businesses regularly visit their supplier�s business site to ensure a high quality of material. They even request changes of their suppliers. If the supplier does not conform to their requirements, then they find a new supplier. Often the contractor uses what is available at the building supplier. The HBAA general membership meetings sponsors often want to introduce us to a new product. This is also our opportunity to give them feed back of the needs and/or problems we encounter. Maybe one of our suggestions may create a new product. If we can inform our suppliers of the issues we have with their product, we may both improve the quality of the finalproduct (home).
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