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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.
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