The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 21 : Labor

Chapter 017 : Unemployment Compensation

Subchapter 001 : GENERAL BENEFITS

• § 1329. Collection of unpaid contributions; suit

  (a)(1) If any employer fails to make, when due, any contributions or payments required of the employer under this chapter, the obligation shall carry interest at the rate of one and one-half percent per month from the due date.

  (2)(A) It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to collect the overdue obligations and interest. Interest collected shall be paid into the Contingent Fund established pursuant to section 1365 of this title.

  (B) If an employer has paid the contributions or payments timely to another state through error, the Commissioner may waive the interest.

  (C) The Commissioner may waive all or a portion of the interest if the Commissioner determines that the untimeliness of the payment was not caused by fault, neglect, or bad faith on the part of the employer.

  (b) In addition to other remedies and proceedings authorized by this chapter, a civil action in the name of the Commissioner may be maintained and the remedies available in a civil action, including attachment and trustee process, shall be available to the Commissioner for the collection of contributions, interest, and penalties under this chapter.

  (c) An employer failing, for any two calendar quarters during the preceding 20 calendar quarters, to make return or to pay contributions required under this chapter, and who has not ceased to be an employer as provided in section 1323 of this subchapter, may be required by the Commissioner to furnish a good and sufficient bond conditioned upon the payment of the delinquent contributions, together with interest and penalty from the due date of the delinquent contributions, and containing any terms required by the Commissioner. An employer who fails to furnish a bond when required by the Commissioner may be enjoined from employing individuals in employment, as defined by this chapter, upon complaint of the Commissioner in the Superior Court of any county in which the employer is doing business, until the contributions due, together with interest and penalty, are paid to the Commissioner.

  (d) In the event of an employer’s dissolution, adjudicated insolvency, adjudicated bankruptcy, receivership, assignment for benefit of creditors, or judicially confirmed extension proposals or composition, claims for contributions due under this chapter and for interest on the unpaid contributions shall be a lien upon the employer’s assets and shall have priority over all other claims except expenses of administration, taxes, wage claims, and prior liens valid under the laws of this State.

  (e) No action shall be commenced for the collection of contributions, interest, and penalties under this chapter more than three years after the date on which the contributions became due and payable, unless prior to the expiration of the three-year period:

  (1) an assessment proceeding has been instituted under the provisions of section 1330 of this title;

  (2) a civil action has been instituted under subsection (b) of this section; or

  (3) a lien has been created under section 1336 of this title.

  (f) The provisions of subsection (e) of this section shall not apply where an employer intentionally fails or refuses to file a report with the Commissioner or to include in any report all wages that the employer has paid, or otherwise attempts to avoid or reduce liability for the payment of contributions. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 22, eff. March 1, 1961; 1961, No. 210, § 15, eff. July 11, 1961; 1965, No. 27, eff. April 14, 1965; 1967, No. 61; 1969, No. 41; 1983, No. 16, § 6; 1985, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 16, 1986; 1987, No. 100, § 2; 2017, No. 74, § 50; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 408, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 187, eff. July 1, 2024.)