NEWS RELEASE: State Workforce Agency Recognized with National Award

 

a news release from the OKLAHOMA EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION

 
CONTACT:

John Carpenter, Public Information Officer

Phone: (405) 557-5469

Email: john.carpenter@oesc.state.ok.us

http://oesc.ok.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

State Workforce Agency Recognized with National Award

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK  (September 27, 2012) – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) recently received the James F. Walls Team award from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA).  The award honors a state workforce agency team that demonstrates extraordinary service in its assignment area, functions, or community.  OESC’s UI Tax Modernization Team won the award for the design and implementation of the Ez Tax Express employer portal.

 
Ez Tax Express is an online resource that allows Oklahoma employers to file quarterly wage reports, pay unemployment taxes electronically, and access account information 24 hours a day, including copies of past wage reports filed through the portal, tax rates, and the status of appeals.  Many of the transactions handled by Ez Tax Express were formerly paper-only transactions.  Since Ez Tax Express was launched in 2009, more than four of every five eligible state employers have registered with and used the portal. 

 
Before Ez Tax Express, OESC staff physically received and processed more than 83,000 paper tax reports and payments each quarter.  In addition, quarterly wage information for every covered Oklahoma worker was entered by hand.  For second quarter 2012, more than three-fourths of all quarterly tax reports were submitted online and in excess of $100 million in tax payments were made electronically through Ez Tax Express.  Processing costs have been reduced by more than $62,000 per quarter, and so far online filing has saved OESC over $100,000 in postage costs.

 
“We appreciate this recognition of the planning and hard work our people put in to make Ez Tax Express a reality,” said OESC Executive Director Richard McPherson.  “Most importantly, we’ve been able to streamline the UI tax process for Oklahoma employers, making it significantly more efficient and less costly.”

 
The OESC UI Tax Modernization Team is comprised of Barbara Ramsey, Renae Tidwell, Denise Bowie, Mary Casey, Nahid Chafi, Debra Densmore, Keri Doak, Dwight Edwards, Valle Elliott, Darryl Hilterbran, Kathleen McClure, Darlene Miller, Linda Miller, Ron Remy, Jane Stout, Ken Swanson, Kris Thomason, Michael Wohnoutka and Gayla Zerbe.  The team was also recognized for this project with the Red Tape Reduction award at the 2012 Governor’s Quality Oklahoma Team Day held at the Oklahoma State Capitol in May.

 
The committee charged with selecting the James F. Walls Team award recipient is comprised of NASWA Board of Directors members.  NASWA is an organization of state administrators of unemployment insurance, employment services, training programs, employment statistics and labor market information that for more than 75 years has worked to strengthen the workforce system through information exchange, liaison, and advocacy.
For more information about the James F. Walls Team award or the Ez Tax Express employer portal, contact OESC Public Information Officer John Carpenter at (405) 557-5469 or email john.carpenter@oesc.state.ok.us.

 
About OESC – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission is Oklahoma’s state workforce agency.  OESC provides unemployment compensation to support unemployed workers and their communities; matches jobs and workers to benefit local labor markets; prepares a skilled workforce to meet employers’ needs; and gathers, analyzes and disseminates information about the labor force to improve local economic decisions.

 
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