In March 2020 the state of Washington passed a law allocating $25 million to the COVID-19 Unemployment Account. This is not a refund or reimbursement but an offset against benefit charges instead of charging them to your experience rating account. Companies can apply to offset your benefit charges from the first two quarters of 2020 if certain criteria are met:
Companies are eligible to apply if the Employment Security Department (ESD) paid unemployment benefits in the first two quarters of 2020 to employees who:
- Were temporarily laid off as a direct or indirect consequence of COVID-19, and
- Returned to work for you after the layoff
The offset currently only applies to benefit charges between February 29 through June 30, 2020. The offset will be determined from a formula by the ESD.
Applications have not yet been completed by the ESD, but will be available on the ESD site when ready https://esd.wa.gov/. Applications must be submitted or postmarked by September 30, 2020.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
