Gainey Law, PLLC Seattle Employment Law Attorney

A word from the Unemployment Department of Washington State ALERT:  Our system update is complete and eServices is online. However, both the site and our phone lines are experiencing extremely high volumes. Pages are loading slowly and call wait times are long. Please keep trying or come back and try later. If you are calling to submit your weekly claim, please try back after 5 p.m. Thank you for your patience. We apologize for the inconvenience. For more information visit www.ESD.gov   

While many of us are itching to get back to some semblance of "normal life," the indicators are not there to suggest that will be possible or safe immediately. The curve may be flattening, but without adequate testing for antibodies what does that mean for re-opening businesses? Its hard to say. Here are the statistics we do know to date. Read more about Washington's confirmed cases here. Seattle-King County Public Health’s Jeff Duchin  spoke out this week  about how prepared Washington is to reopen, noting that even with the outbreak waning, it’s not yet time to relax social distancing measures. Read more. Dr. Gordan Cohen joined Seattle's morning news to explain: Reopening the Economy before a vaccine will call for strict sanitation protocols. So, hang in there Washington and we will get through this together. To that end, I found this list of the 80, yes 80, things to do while stuck at home. Read More about things to do while stuck at home bored here.

EEOC addresses back to work issues in recent COVID-19 update. Law360 outlines a few of the issues: One question covered what employers should do about potential harassment and discrimination once their workplaces reopen. The EEOC said that employers can remind its workers that bias won't be tolerated and advise management of its role in stopping and reporting harassment and discrimination. In the new section on returning to work, the EEOC fielded inquiries about screening workers and providing accommodations for personal protective equipment. The agency said the ADA lets employers make inquiries and conduct medical exams if they're necessary for keeping out workers who have a medical condition that poses "a direct threat to health or safety." But the agency also advised that employers should be careful not to "engage in unlawful disparate treatment based on protected characteristics in decisions related to screening and exclusion." Additionally, whil...

Gig Workers and the Self-Employed are Eligible for Unemployment Benefits An important component of the CARES Act significantly expands unemployment insurance benefits for U.S. workers impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. The legislation increases the amount of weekly unemployment assistance workers receive; extends how long they can receive it; and expands eligibility to nontraditional workers such as independent contractors, gig workers and the self-employed. See more at SHRM here .

GO to CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PAGE FOR INFO  and better formatting. Or see text below. There were many questions about providing health benefits to employees during this time. For most employer-sponsored plans, employees can continue to stay on employer-sponsored health insurance while on an unemployment program. This would fall under “NON-FMLA leave of absence”. It is a provision that would allow accommodations in this regard. Employers can self-manage/determine how they implement, but it would allow employers to decide to maintain eligibility. There also needs to be at least one active employee in the business at all times (which can be the owner). Most employer-sponsored programs can continue to cover employees. Most employer plans (including Business Health Trust) have non-FMLA Leave of Absence. This means, that employees can still participate and that employers have discretion in this. Check with your broker or health plan if you have more questions. Note the provision below: ...