Employer Liability Specialist - Employer Tax Collections

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) is seeking to fill the position of Employer Liability Specialist in our Employer Tax Collections unit at our 1000 E Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA office.
Are you ready to join a team at Iowa Workforce Development as an Employer Liability Specialist (ELS), Employer Account Collections? In this role, the Collections ELS team will setup and maintain Iowa Unemployment Insurance tax accounts in accordance with the Iowa Employment Security Law, rules, and policies. This role is important to our team as you will be responsible to collect on delinquent Unemployment Insurance tax accounts to recover contributions, fees, penalties, and interest due.

• Initiate tax assessments, distress warrants, lien filings, satisfactions, levies, injunction requests and other collection enforcement actions.
• Identify accounts eligible for state and federal offsets. Respond to Notice of Bankruptcy and file claims in court actions.
• Manage employer appeals with respect to collection actions.
• Contact delinquent employers or claimants with a current overpayment to determine ability to pay and negotiate payments.
• Review and monitor accounts with outstanding balances. Answer questions from claimants, employers, attorneys, CPA, etc. about unemployment insurance debts.
• Explain effects of successorship to both predecessor and successor so they know their legal position regarding reserve fund balances, ability to be charged for future benefits, and in some cases the possibility of successor liability for predecessor indebtedness.
• Review wage adjustments submitted by employer and initiate assessments and collections of additional tax, interest and/or penalty due or issue credit statement as appropriate to the corrections made.
• Entering into payment agreements on behalf of the agency for delinquent contribution, filing liens, serving jeopardy assessments, distress warrants and/or investigating assets to be secured or securing total payment.
• Maintain a working knowledge of State and Federal Employment Security Law, Bankruptcy Law, and Civil Law regarding the collection of tax debt. Confer with employers, accountants, attorneys, legislators, and agency personnel regarding the Iowa Employment Security Law.
• Appears as a representative for the Iowa Workforce Development to verify legal points of the law and/or supply facts relating to liability determinations, rate computations, and other issues that are being appealed by the employer.

Essential Functions and Skills

• Initiate and conduct collection activities on delinquent Unemployment Insurance tax account. These activities include tax assessments, distress warrants, lien filings, satisfactions, levies, injunction requests and other collection enforcement actions.
• Identify accounts eligible for state and federal offsets and collection activities.
• Manage employer appeals with respect to collection actions.
• Maintain a working knowledge of State and Federal Employment Security Law, Bankruptcy Law, and Civil Law regarding the collection of tax debt. Confer with employers, accountants, attorneys, legislators, and agency personnel regarding the Iowa Employment Security Law
• Excellent communication skills with staff and customers
• Review legal contracts, detailed financial records, general ledger, correspondence, and employer-prepared documents to assess compliance with an application of tax law.
• Use basic accounting skills.
• Must be able to use personal computer to gather information.
• Must be able to use standard computer programs (MS Office Suite, Adobe PDF, etc.) as well as other agency specific applications to complete work timely and accurately.
• Must be able to use a telephone, fax machine, calculator, and photocopy machine.
• Able to prioritize work and meet established deadlines and detail oriented.
• Expected to maintain confidentiality.

Complete other duties as assigned.

Agency Overview
As of July 1, 2023, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services has become part of Iowa Workforce Development.
Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) is a state agency committed to providing employment services for individual job seekers and to connecting employers to available workers through our IowaWORKS partnership.
IWD continually strives to improve processes and align the organization to provide effective, demand-driven products and services. IWD staff in Des Moines consists of administrative services, disability determination services, information technology, labor market information, unemployment insurance services, vocational rehabilitation services, and workforce services. The agency also maintains a statewide delivery system of IowaWORKS Centers and satellite and expansion offices where both employers and job seeking Iowans can receive workforce assistance.
Employer Highlights
IWD is focused on serving Iowans and providing outstanding customer service. Our strength is driven by the skills and talents of our people. IWD offers a rewarding team atmosphere, a flexible working environment, and a great total compensation package for our full-time employees, including:

• Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS)
• Retirement Investors Club (RIC)
• Hybrid telework opportunities for eligible classifications
• Health, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Vacation Leave
• Sick Leave
• Paid Holidays (9 days/year)
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance

If you're looking for a career with a well-respected organization that values its employees and customers, you've come to the right place!
Our agency uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.e-verify.gov.
No applicant seeking employment with the Iowa Department of Workforce Development can have a current, ongoing overpayment balance with Iowa Workforce Development without a payment plan in place.?Select positions will be subject to a criminal background check. Graduation from a four year accredited college or university supplemented by four semester hours of accounting course work, and one year of financial auditing, tax collection, or related experience;an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting one year of financial auditing, tax collection, or related experience for one year of required minimum education with a maximum substitution of four years;an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting one year of financial auditing, tax collection or related experience for four semester hours of the required course work;employees with current continuous experience in the state executive branch that includes experience equal to nine months full-time work as an Accountant/Auditor 1.
For additional information, please click on this link to view the job description.Employment Type: Full-time