State program saving jobs, keeping businesses afloat

As the attention focuses on some major modifications to the state’s unemployment insurance system moving through the Legislature in order to provide tax relief to businesses and extended benefits to the unemployed, we thought we’d shed a little light on an innovative program at ESD called the Shared Work Program.

Instead of just eliminating jobs, the Shared Work Program allows struggling employers to cut their payroll costs by reducing the hours of their full-time employees. ESD then provides those workers with partial unemployment benefits to make up for some of the lost wages.

According to ESD, more than 32,000 Washington workers kept earning a paycheck in 2010, up from the record 22,000 saved jobs in 2009.

“The Shared Work program is a great example of the kind of assistance the state can provide to struggling business owners,” said Chris Reykdal, the freshman legislator from the 22nd District who sits on the Labor and Workforce Development Committee. “It’s helping keep businesses afloat, paychecks going to workers, and money flowing into our local communities. Before any employer considers layoffs, I highly recommend giving the Shared Work Program a shot at saving jobs first.”

Employment Security paid out $35 million in shared-work benefits to participants in 2010. The department would have paid an estimated $69 million more in unemployment benefits if the workers had been fully laid off and collected the state average of 20 weeks for regular unemployment benefits.

Click here for more information about the Shared Work Program or call ‘em up at 800-752-2500.