Business trying to survive a financial crisis face a dilemma. When business is slow it can be hard to keep your skilled staff and stay out of the bankruptcy courts. The two traditional options are to either sack enough workers to get out of the red or bite the bullet, keep your skilled workers and hope for better times. If your business is registered in Washington there is a third option, the Shared Work Program.

THE SHARKED WORK PROGRAM

The Shared Work Program is a voluntary program employers can enter as an alternative to laying off skilled workers during a widespread financial crisis. The program allows employees whose work hours have been reduced to claim unemployment benefits to offset a reduction in wages. This allows businesses to keep their workers and avoid the time and cost of rehiring and training new workers when the economy improves.

The program allows employees whose hours have been reduced to claim a percentage of their unemployment benefits equal to the percentage of work hours they have lost. For example, if your employer drops your work week from 40 hours to 20 hours, you have lost 50 percent of your work so you can claim for 50 percent of your unemployment benefits. You will still see a drop in your income but you will earn more than if you had been fired. This is a win-win-win situation. Your boss gets to keep his skilled/trained workers, the Washington ESD only has to pay a fraction of your unemployment benefits and you get to keep your job. The program is open to public and private sectors who reduce the weekly work hours of their employees by 10 to 50 percent.

HOW TO APPLY

Employers who wish to apply for the Washington Shared Work Program must prepare a company shared work compensation plan in writing that satisfies the following requirements:

- All workers included in the program must be identified by name and social security number.

- It must describe the reduction of hours of each worker. The reduction must be between 10 and 50 percent of their regular work hours.

- Health insurance and other benefits must be kept at the same level. If an employer tries to reduce health coverage and other benefits for workers in the program, the company will not qualify for the Shared Work Program.

- The company shared work plan must certify the reduction in hours is the only alternative to temporary lay-offs and not a way to subsidize seasonal or part-time workers.

- The company must provide relevant reports the commissioner of the program requires for the assessment of the application.

To receive unemployment benefits in Washington State you must first file an initial unemployment benefits claim. Once your initial claim is accepted you must start claiming for your weekly benefits. If you file your initial claim the same week you lose your job, you can file your first weekly benefit claim during your second week and your second during your third week of unemployment. The Washington Employment Security Department will send you your first check after you claim your second weekly benefit. The first week you claim for is called your waiting week. You must claim for this week to receive your benefits but you will not be paid for your waiting week.

CHECK SCHEDULE

Usually the WA. Employment Security Department sends your check the day after you filed your weekly claim. However, if you made your claim after 5.00 p.m the check will be sent two days later. Note that is the time it takes for the ESD to send the checks, the arrival date is not determined by the unemployment insurance agency. Do not expect checks to arrive on the same day, there may be mail delivery delays regardless of when you file your claim or how fast the ESD processes your claim.

If seven mail delivery days go by since you filed your weekly claim call call 1-800-318-6022 and confirm the payment has been made. If your check has been lost or stolen you will have to wait for the checks to be replaced, which will take time. While you are waiting for checks to be replaced you must continue claiming your weekly benefits or your claim will become inactive.

WEEKLY CLAIM SCHEDULE

You can claim your weekly benefits from Saturday at midnight of the week you are claiming for till Friday 5.00 pm of the next week. If you are late, i.e. later than Friday 5.00 pm, your unemployment claim will be closed and you will have to reopen your claim again. You cannot claim for back weeks online or over the automated telephone system. You must call 1-800-318-6022 during work hours (Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and ask to speak with a claims specialist.

DIRECT DEPOSIT

You can get your benefits faster and avoid trips the inconvenience of lost or stolen checks by setting up a direct deposit for your benefits payments. Direct Debit is also more convenient because you do not have to spend time and money to go to the bank or ATM, you don’t have to wait in line and you don’t have to pay commission fees to cash your checks.

To set up a direct deposit account go to WWW.GO2UI.COM and click on the direct deposit link.

Newer Posts »