Washington Administrative Code
Title 192 - Employment Security Department
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
Chapter 192-320 - Experience rating and benefit charging
Section 192-320-066 - Eligibility for relief from benefit charges from the COVID-19 unemployment account- Section 5, chapter 7, Laws of 2020
Universal Citation: WA Admin Code 192-320-066
Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
(1) Application for relief. The department will consider an employer's application to have a portion of unemployment benefits paid to an approved employee paid by the COVID-19 unemployment account instead of charged to its experience rating account if the employer:
(a) Submits an application on a form
approved by the department.
(i) Electronic
application forms can be accessed on the department's website.
(ii) Paper application forms can be accessed
by either downloading them from the department's website or calling the
accounts management center and asking for a copy of the form to be sent via
mail.
(b) Timely submits
the application.
(i) An electronically
submitted form is submitted timely if the department's information technology
system receives the form on or before 11:59 p.m. on September 30,
2020.
(ii) A form sent via mail is
submitted timely if it has a postmark date of September 30, 2020.
(c) Attests that the information
provided on the application is true and accurate.
(i) Employers must retain documents
sufficient to substantiate the information provided on the
application.
(ii) After the
application is submitted, the department may ask employers for documents
substantiating the information provided on the application.
(iii) The department may deny relief of
benefit charges from the COVID-19 unemployment account if the department
requests documentation from an employer and the employer fails to provide
documentation sufficient to substantiate the information provided on the
application.
(2)Definition of approved employee. For purposes of this section, an "approved employee" is an employee who:
(a) Became temporarily
unemployed as a direct or indirect consequence of COVID-19. For purposes of (a)
of this subsection, an employee became temporarily unemployed as a direct or
indirect consequence of COVID-19 if either:
(i) The individual's employer was required to
close or severely curtail operations due to a state or federal executive order
adopted in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19; or
(ii) The individual left employment due to a
request from a medical professional, local health official, or the secretary of
health in order to be isolated or quarantined as a consequence of COVID-19,
even if the employee or the employee's immediate family member was not actually
diagnosed with COVID-19.
(b) Spent at least one week of their
unemployment described in (a) of this subsection on standby pursuant to WAC
192-110-015; and
(c)
(i)
Prior to September 26, 2020, worked at least four weeks with their employer in
suitable work with a rate of weekly pay at least ninety percent of the rate of
weekly pay the employee had prior to becoming unemployed as described in (a) of
this subsection.
(ii) Worked less
than four weeks with their employer if, after working at least one day, the
employee:
(A) Was discharged for misconduct;
or
(B) Voluntarily quit for reasons
not attributable to the employer.
(3) Benefits not eligible for relief. In calculating the amount of benefits eligible for full or partial payment by the COVID-19 unemployment account, the department will not include:
(a) Benefits paid on or before
February 29, 2020;
(b) Benefits
charged to the third quarter of 2020 or after;
(c) Benefits subject to federal reimbursement
or payment under
Public Law 116-136, Title
II, Subtitle A (Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus Act) or other
federal law;
(d) Benefits for which
the department granted relief of benefits charges pursuant to
RCW
50.29.021;
(e) Benefits that the employer would have
been eligible to receive relief of benefit charges pursuant to RCW 50.29.-021
but for which the employer failed to timely request relief; or
(f) Benefits paid for weeks where the
approved employee was not on standby pursuant to WAC
192-110-015.
(4)Ineligible employers. The following employers are not eligible to apply for relief of benefit charges under this section:
(a) Employers described
in RCW
50.44.010,
50.44.030, and
50.50.030 who have properly
elected to make payments in lieu of contributions;
(b) Employers who are required to make
payments in lieu of contributions;
(c) Taxable local government employers as
described in
RCW
50.44.035;
(d) Any employer that has not submitted all
quarterly reports for the second quarter of 2020 and all prior quarters by
September 30, 2020; and
(e) Any
employer that has not paid all contributions, penalties and interest due by
September 30, 2020, or has not entered into a department-approved deferred
payment contract by September 30, 2020.
(5) Appeal rights.
(a) If the department denies all or part of
an employer's application for relief of benefit charges from the COVID-19
unemployment account, the department will provide the employer with the reasons
for the denial.
(b) An employer may
not appeal the denial of an application for relief of benefit charges from the
COVID-19 unemployment account.
(c)
Independent of the right to request relief of charges from the COVID-19
unemployment account pursuant to this section, an employer still retains the
right to request relief of the underlying benefit charges pursuant to WAC
192-320-065 and appeal any denial of that request under WAC
192-04-060.
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