A lot has changed.
Federal and state government have moved rapidly to respond to COVID-19, and a lot has changed for workers and employers.
Quarterly reporting during COVID-19.
Filing your reports on-time is still important—now more than ever.
An unprecedented number of Washingtonians are applying for unemployment and Paid Family and Medical Leave. Your reports are crucial to finding out if they are eligible to establish a claim. Quarterly reporting for both Unemployment Insurance and Paid Family and Medical Leave starts April 1, 2020 and ends April 30, 2020.
We know you're experiencing this crisis too.
COVID-19 has disrupted operations for businesses throughout our state. While it is still important to file in April, we are offering more leniency to employers who can't file on time because of COVID-19, including the waiver of penalties for late responses as a result of the crisis. Learn more.
Reduced hours, shutdowns and layoffs.
Help is available.
If your business has temporarily shut down, reduced its hours or you have had to laid off employees as a result of COVID-19, help is available.
Reduced hours: SharedWork is a smart alternative to layoffs. It allows employers to reduce hours and let their employees collect partial unemployment benefits to replace a portion of their lost wages. Changes have been made to make this program more accessible during the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more
Temporary shutdowns and layoffs: Employers who temporarily shut down and put their employees on standby can apply for relief of some benefit charges if their operations were directly impacted by COVID-19. Standby has also been automatically expanded from 4 to 12 weeks. Learn more
We’re all in this together.
COVID-19 has created an unprecedented demand for our services.
Increasing staff
We’re working to increase our capacity by hiring more people and expanding our hours.
Updating technology
Between unprecedented demand and rapid changes, we’re mobilizing our people and updating technology to implement new emergency rules and programs. We are also improving and updating the information on our website.
Thank you for your patience while we work to serve you better.
With 1000% increase in call volumes over the past couple of weeks, and the highest volume of new unemployment claims since the Unemployment Insurance program began in the 1930s, we know it has been difficult for customers to get through to us. We are so sorry we have not been able to answer everyone’s calls and emails. Please use our web services, they are your first and best option. If you have a problem that can only be fixed over the phone, please keep trying. Our dedicated experts are here for you, even if they’re hard to reach right now.
Please note, and spread the word, we will backdate claims so individuals are paid from the time they separated from employment or otherwise became eligible under the federal CARES Act. We know it has been frustrating to reach us in the past few weeks, and that it is making people anxious about getting their full benefit. Eligible claimants will receive all money they qualify for regardless of when they get through to us. We hope this information will provide some level of relief to the stress people are enduring at this time.
Questions? Visit our website.
More information for businesses and workers impacted by COVID-19 can be found at coronavirus.wa.gov/business-workers.
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