Shared Work Employer Representative Orientation 1
2 Shared Work Employer representative program information The employer representative is the employers contact person that serves as a liaison between the shared-work eligible employees at their company, and the Shared-Work Unit in Olympia. The representative must be informed and familiar with the Shared-Work Program to ensure a positive shared-work experience. With the information in this presentation, the Employer representative desk aid, Employer representative getting-started packet, Shared Work participant packet that were ed to you, and the following toll free phone number, you will be adequately equipped to assist your employees DO NOT distribute this phone number to your employees. Occasionally, when an employee files a weekly claim using the automated Unemployment Insurance claims line we may need additional information. The system will tell them to call the claim center and give them a phone number. Please have them disregard that number and call the Shared-Work Unit at If they do not call as instructed, their benefit check may be delayed or denied. This is the only time an employee should call the Shared-Work Unit. All other claim issues should be forwarded to the Shared-Work Unit by you, as the employer representative. Employment Security Department (ESD) account number Please use your nine digit ESD account number anytime you communicate with Shared-Work. The ESD account number is the number used when filing the Employer Quarterly Unemployment Insurance Taxes to the Employment Security Department.
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7 This page only needs to be completed if employee: Has a second job Has had another job, including out of state employment, in the last 2 years.
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10 The designated Shared-Work representative is to be a liaison between the department and the employees who participant in the shared-work plan [WAC (31)]. You are the Shared-Work employer representative for your business, and it is your responsibility to: 1.Attend the Employer representative online orientation. 2. Instruct your Shared-Work participants to contact you with any questions or issues about the Shared-Work Program or their unemployment-insurance claims. To prevent a delay of benefits, please call the Shared-Work Unit on behalf of your participants. The Shared-Work Unit phone number is for employer representatives only. 3. Review all documents and attachments the Shared-Work Unit sent to your business. 4. Inform your employees about their eligibility or ineligibility for participation in the Shared- Work Program. 5. Ensure that all participant forms are signed, complete, and readable before sending them to the Shared-Work Unit. 6. Distribute the Shared-Work participant packet to your eligible participants after you receive the Completion of Shared-Work benefit forms confirmation from the Shared- Work Unit. 7. Instruct participants to log-on to or call to file their weekly Shared-Work unemployment-insurance claims. Inform your participants to file a claim every week to keep their claims open and active, even if they worked full-time in a given week. Call the Shared-Work Unit to re-open your participants claims on their behalf if they miss filing a weekly claim. 8.Comply with state regulation (Washington Administrative Code (WAC) ) regarding employer responsibilities: Report business changes of your : Employment Security Department (ESD) number, Business name, pending sale or transfer, or designated employer representative within 10 business days. Provide wage & hour reports, documents, or other information as needed by the Shared-Work Unit within 10 business days of the request. Verify the information on the employer's Shared-Work payments report, and notify the Shared-Work Unit of any discrepancies in writing within 10 business days. Maintain Shared-Work participants health benefits and Employment Retirement Income Security Act retirement benefits as though their hours are not reduced.
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13 Shared Work payments report The unlabeled column will contain an S or R S = Shared Work payment R = Regular Unemployment Insurance payment
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16 To be eligible for Shared Work, an employee: Must be a full time, hourly employee. Must be able to establish a valid Washington State unemployment insurance claim by having 680 hours of covered employment within a four quarter base year period.
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20 As a Shared-Work participant, you are responsible to: 1.Read the information in this packet. 2.Contact your Shared-Work employer representative at your place of employment about your unemployment-insurance claims, issues or any questions you may have about the Shared- Work Program. Your Shared-Work employer representative is _______________________________________. 3.Remain able and available for all work offered by your Shared-Work employer. Program rules state: You are not eligible for Shared-Work benefits for any week that you do not work all hours scheduled by your Shared-Work employer. You must be able for additional hours of work, up to full-time, with the Shared-Work employer. If your employer gives you at least 24 hours notice that additional woke is available and you do not work those additional hours, you are not eligible for Shared-Work benefits for that week. When you are not eligible for Shared-Work benefits during any week claimed, we process your claim as a regular unemployment-insurance claim. 4.File your own unemployment-insurance benefits claim each week by telephone or Internet. Your employer representative at your place of employment will let you know when to start filing your weekly unemployment-insurance claims. Directions for filing your weekly unemployment-insurance claims are in this Shared-Work participant packet, titled Youve applied for Shared-Work benefits – whats next? (2 pages). File your claim every week to keep your claim open and active, even if you worked full-time. 5.Know when your unemployment-insurance claim expires and write it here. Your claim is good for 52 weeks. You will receive a Statement of Wages and Hours in the mail. The date your claim expires will be referred to as the benefit year end (BYE) date. My claim expires on ___________________________________________. (Insert date from Statement of Wages and Hours and keep for future reference) When your claim expires, you must complete and sign the Participant application for Shared-Work benefits and submit it to your Shared-Work employer representative at your place of employment. Rev. 5/12
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Shared-Work Unit responsibilities The Shared-Work Unit in Olympia is solely responsible for the administration of the Shared-Work Program and handles all matters pertaining to active employer plans and employee benefit claims. The Employer Representative and employee should not contact the regular unemployment insurance claims center for problem resolution while participating in the Shared-Work Program. The Shared-Work Unit will: 1.Determine approval or denial of Shared-Work plan applications. 2.Determine approval or denial of Shared-Work participant (employee) eligibility. 3.Process Shared-Work employer and employee forms and documents. 4.Issue non-monetary and overpayment decisions on Shared-Work claims. 5.Provide Shared-Work Program technical assistance and training. 6.Provide courteous and accurate information regarding the Shared-Work Program. 7.Actively promote and market the Shared-Work Program. 8.Provide dependable customer service. 27
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