An ongoing list of enacted Washington State legislation related to employment issues.
(As of March 18, 2020)
Washington HB 2965, among other things, added $25 million appropriation from the budget stabilization account for expenditure into the COVID-19 unemployment account. It became effective on March 17, 2020.
Washington HB 2739 adjusted certain requirements of the shared leave program. Includes a provision of shared leave for employees in isolation or quarantine as requested or ordered by a public health offiical or health care provider as a result of COVID-19. It became effective on March 17, 2020.
This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of all COVID-19 related State legislature, or even all legislature that may tangentially affect employment.
I am not familiar with the “shared leave program” referred to in this bill. Is this new with this bill or is this an existing program for public employees or …?
Dave, the ESD shared work program is designed to be an alternative to layoffs by allowing employers to reduce the work hours of their full-time eligible employees, while allowing those employees to collect partial unemployment to replace a portion of the lost wages. Here is the ESD webpage with more information (https://esd.wa.gov/SharedWork).