Washington Business Summer 2018 | Washington Business | Page 45

business backgrounder | education & workforce
unemployment benefits to help fill in the gap for the lost hours. They’ll
still collect pay for the hours they work, and they keep their employer-
provided benefits, while collecting unemployment
That means lower payroll costs and the ability to keep trained
workers on staff, rather than losing them to layoffs. Employees
earn most of what they would if they were still at full time, and
much more than they would if they were jobless and collecting only
unemployment benefits. Even more importantly, they can return to
their regular working hours when business picks back up.
The system is flexible. From week to week, employers can change
their level of participation, from the number of employees to how
many hours to cut back.
Using the program will increase an employers’ unemployment
experience rating, but at a lower rate than a full lay-off.
Overall, the goal is to keep workers employed.
“It’s a win-win-win,” said Rafael Colón, SharedWork marketing
manager for the Employment Security Department (ESD), which
administers the program. “SharedWork is a win for employers, it’s a
win for employees, and it’s a win for the community.”
“We have employees on SharedWork who have
been there more than 20 years. It would be such
a detriment for us to have to lose them.”
— Virginia Gonzalez, human resources generalist,
Smith Gardens
a proactive step
Employer registration for SharedWork is a proactive readiness
strategy, Colón said, especially for small businesses to prepare for
an unforeseen economic issue: a recession, a natural disaster or a
localized issue like road construction outside the front door.
“We were able to retain our core employees and stay in business
during the recession. This is one of the best programs the state offers
for businesses,” one participant wrote in a 2015 survey of Shared-
Work employers.
Smith Gardens, a 110-year-old family-owned and operated
Bellingham-based wholesale flower producer, uses SharedWork
during the slow growing season, from October to mid-winter. It
keeps valued longtime employees on the job for 20 hours a week,
and SharedWork helps cover the rest.
SharedWork “has been our biggest stress reliever,” said Virginia
Gonzalez, a human resources generalist at Smith Gardens.
It averts the need for layoffs during the ebb and flow of the company’s
labor needs, allowing the company to keep its quality employees who
are trained and understand the work of raising flowers.
“By being able to utilize SharedWork,” Gonzalez said, “they
know they’re not going to sacrifice paychecks, because who can live
off 20 hours a week? They’ll keep their job and continue to receive
benefits. We have employees on SharedWork who have been here
more than 20 years. It would be such a detriment for us to have to
lose them.”
SharedWork is a joint federal-state layoff aversion program, and
has been in place in Washington since 1983. Washington’s program
has been held up as a national model among the 28 states that have
a version of the SharedWork program.
In Washington, there are currently 521
eligible businesses who have signed up for
SharedWork, extending its protections to
8,055 eligible workers, according to the
Employment Security Department.
Sign-ups with the program hit a height
during the Great Recession, with more
than 3,000 businesses using the program
to help protect the jobs of more than
47,000 eligible workers. That was up from
just 124 employers participating before the
recession hit.
Employers sign up in advance, and can
re-enroll to continue their participation
each year. There is no cost to apply.
Even during boom times — especially
then — is when employers should prepare
for the next downturn, Colón said. A
program like this can help a business keep
its talent in place during a rocky patch,
and can help keep a business afloat during
a sustained economic slump.
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