business backgrounder | education & workforce
SharedWork Helps Retain Employees and Avert Layoffs
For 35 years, Washington’ s SharedWork program has given employers a way to plan ahead and avoid laying off employees.
Brian Mittge
SharedWork is a voluntary business sustainability program that provides flexibility to retain employees at reduced hours. Employers, who sign up for the optional program in advance, can reduce hours for employees during a rough patch. Those workers can apply for unemployment benefits based on their reduction of hours— with no full layoffs.
At A Glance
By reducing hours, the program helps support workers, helps employers keep valuable employees through a rough patch and helps communities avoid the issues that come with increased unemployment.
Nearly half of SharedWork participants said the program helped them reduce their payroll costs 11-20 percent, according to an Employment Security Department survey. More than 94 percent of respondents said their experience with the program had been positive.
Private- and public-sector employers of all sizes can apply to be part of SharedWork. For employees to qualify, they must be permanent workers, eligible for unemployment benefits and not salaried. They do not have to look for full-time work while collecting partial unemployment under SharedWork. Under the flexible program, worker hours and unemployment benefits can change from one week to the next.
SharedWork: www. SharedWorkWA. com
Overview Video: bit. ly / SharedWork-Video
During the depths of the Great Recession, as businesses across the country were laying off employees and closing their doors, Falco’ s in Spokane found a lifeline.
One of their vendors told them about a well-established but little-known state layoff aversion program called SharedWork. It lets employers cut back worker hours, while those employees collect partial unemployment benefits to help make up those lost wages. The company can cut costs without losing valued workers. When business picks back up, the employer can bring those workers back up to full time.
For Falco’ s, a family-owned supplier of fireplaces, barbecues and heating equipment, the program was just what it needed to make it through.
“ It could not have come at a more perfect time,” Falco’ s Office Manager Jill Spurbeck told Washington Business.“ It could not have been a more perfect situation.”
Without SharedWork, the company would have had to lay off skilled, long-term workers. Instead, it kept all its employees through the recession and the expansions since then.
Employers sign up in advance for SharedWork so that if business slows down, they can engage with the program. Rather than laying off employees, SharedWork allows a business to reduce hours of permanent employees by up to 50 percent. Those workers can file for
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