Gainey Law, PLLC Seattle Employment Law Attorney

An excellent article on the issues faced by Washington workers and employers as we seek to re-open businesses during this on-going pandemic can be found here : June 4, 2020 Update from ESD. Employers and employees are facing some tension about going back to work. For employers it may not be reasonable to bring employees back full-time or at full-pay. For employees who may be making more on unemployment then you will make if you return to work. Especially if your employer wants to bring you back at part-time or at a lower rate of pay then you were making before. Actually, Scott Micheal from Washington's unemployment department points out that if an employee is brought back under reduced hours from their normal work hours everyone will get the best of both worlds. It is a win for the employer who can more slowly ramp up and safe money on payroll while doing so. It is a win to the employee who will receive the optimal amount of income while securing their job. For example, a worker wh...

It seems that as a society we have a lot of notions about work and what an employer can and cannot do under the law. Very few of these commonly held beliefs are true. In my day to day life as an attorney who focuses her work on employment law, I spend quite a bit of time discussing potential legal claims with people who have been mistreated at work. Very rare is the call where a person calling was, in my opinion, not mistreated by the employer. In one such rare case, the gentlemen calling had terrorized a female coworker and was genuinely confused about why he was terminated. Not quite as rare, is the caller who has been mistreated and has a remedy under the law. The most common caller has in their, and my, opinion been mistreated but has no legal remedy under the current law. Most callers are victims to an employment system that has become increasingly callous and indifferent to the plight of the worker. The system I am describing is called At-Will employment. Washington Sta...

In some cases workers are realizing that with the federal stimulus money they can do better financially by staying out of work. Especially if they are taking care of kids that would normally be at school or otherwise engaged outside the home during work hours. As an employment attorney I field a few of these "do I have to go back to work" calls a week.  This article from SHRM explains: "If you are recalled to work, your unemployment is stopped. It isn't really your choice."  Lindsey White, an employment lawyer and partner at Shawe Rosenthal in Baltimore, said, "The employees who are saying, 'Thanks for the offer of work, but I would rather stay on unemployment' won't be eligible for unemployment . That is going to be a rude awakening [for many]." Read more here: What happens when unemployment pays too well? The article addresses how Workers and Employers can get creative to solve some problems:  For example, when employers ar...