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School Employees Fund

Latest Update

 

Contribution Rate

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) contribution rate for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026/2027 is 0.05%. Rate notices are sent in March 2026 with an effective date of July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027.

About the School Employees Fund (SEF)

Public school districts (kindergarten through 12th grade) and community colleges can choose to participate in the SEF, which is a special reimbursable financing method available for school districts.

The SEF is a fund administered by the EDD, which collects contributions based on a percentage of total wages paid by public schools and community college districts. The SEF reimburses the UI Fund for the cost of UI benefits paid to former school employees.

All 73 community college districts and 1,320 county offices of education, public school districts, and charter schools participate in the SEF. They have 1,038,032 employees and pay more than $74.1 billion in wages annually.

Contribution Rate

All school employers participating in the SEF have the same UI contribution rate with no UI taxable wage limit. The rate is determined by CUIC 823 and calculated to ensure the fund maintains a sufficient balance to be able to pay the estimated UI benefit charges for all participants for the following year.

In addition to the UI rate, a Local Experience Charge (LEC) is applied to each participant’s quarterly benefit charges. The individual employer LEC rate can be 0, 5, 10, or 15 percent. New SEF participants must pay a 10 percent LEC for the first three complete fiscal years.

School Employer Advisory Committee

The School Employer Advisory Committee (SEAC) works with the EDD Director on recommending improvements to the School Employees Fund (SEF).

The SEAC’s five members are appointed by:

Chair

Vice-Chair

Members

The Unemployment Insurance Technical Subcommittee serves under the direction of the SEAC. The members represent California’s school employer community and the EDD. The subcommittee meets quarterly to discuss the Claims Management System, new laws, and court decisions affecting the SEF and the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. This group and our EDD SEF program plan the annual School Employer UI Seminar.

Chair

Vice-Chair

Treasurer

Secretary

Members

For More Information

Contact the School Employees Fund (SEF) at 1-916-653-5380.

For UI benefits paid to your former employees, refer to: