How your unemployment tax rate is set and appealed

The department of labor and industrial relations, as soon as is reasonably possible in each period, shall make its classification of employers for the period and notify each employer of the employer's rate of contributions for the period as determined pursuant to sections 383-63 to 383-69. The determination shall become conclusive and binding upon the employer unless the employer appeals the determination by filing a written notice of appeal within fifteen days after the mailing of notice of the determination to the employer's last known address. The appeal shall be heard by the referee in accordance with applicable provisions of sections 383-38 and 383-39 but no employer shall have standing, in any proceeding involving the employer's rate of contributions or contribution liability, to contest the chargeability to the employer's account of any benefits paid in accordance with a determination, redetermination, or decision pursuant to sections 383-31 to 383-43; provided that the services on the basis of which the benefits were found to be chargeable did not constitute services performed in employment for the employer and only if the employer was not a party to the determination, redetermination, or decision, or to any other proceedings under this chapter in which the character of the services was determined. The referee's determination shall become final unless a proceeding for judicial review in the manner provided in chapter 91 is commenced in the circuit court of the judicial circuit in which the employer resides or has the employer's principal place of business or in the circuit court of the first judicial circuit. An appeal may be taken from the decision of the circuit court to the intermediate appellate court, subject to chapter 602. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the director shall for calendar years 2021 and 2022 modify the annual computation to omit benefits charged for all employers to address the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.