US DOL Unemployment Weekly Claims Report
| Seasonally Adjusted (SA) Initial Claims Volume | Change from Prior Week | Year over Year Change in SA Initial Claims Volume | Unadjusted Insured UI Rate | Insured UI Volume | Year over Year Change in
Insured UI Volume |
||
| 2/05/2022 | 223,000 | -16,000 | -640,000 | 1/29/2022 | 1.4% | 2,000,770 | -3,037,893 |
| 2/06/2021 | 863,000 | +26,000 | 1/30/2021 | 3.5% | 5,038,663 |
For more information, please visit https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20220224.pdf
CALIFORNIA – COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave on Verge of Return
- California employers with more than 25 employees may soon be covered by new sick leave ordinances that are on the verge of being signed into law. The new COVID-19 supplemental sick leave (SPSL) covered in AB 84 will be retroactive to January 1, 2022, and will remain in effect until September 30, 2022, once this is signed. This has the potential to impact unemployment cases going froward. For example, an employee who quits due to one of the circumstances listed below who did not take advantage of the leave offered may be denied benefits.
The new leave policy will provide up to 80 hours of SPSL for full time employees, but those hours are broken down into 2 different 40-hour buckets:
- Up to 40 hours are available for COVID qualifying reasons. Leave must be provided if the employee is unable to work or telework if they are quarantined, advised by a healthcare provider to isolate or quarantine, they are getting or accompanying a family member in getting the vaccine or booster, they are experiencing symptoms, or caring for a family member experiencing symptoms from a vaccine or booster, they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and are seeking medical attention, they are caring for a family member who is isolated or quarantined, or they are caring for a child whose school or care facility has been closed related to COVID-19.
- Up to 40 hours of leave is available if the employee tests positive for COVID-19 or if they provide care for a family member who tests positive. The employer may require the employee to be tested again on or after the fifth day after the initial diagnosis and provide those results to the employer. The employer must make the test available to the employee at no cost.
- If you are a California employer, be prepared to comply with the new ruling once it is signed. For more information about the new ruling, please visit https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB84
WASHINGTON – WA Cares implementation delayed for 18 months
- The State of Washington recently notified employers that the premium collections for the WA Cares program won’t begin until July 2023. In the notification, WA states “On Jan. 27, Gov. Inslee signed a bill that delays parts of WA Cares implementation by 18 months… The Employment Security Department (ESD) won’t accept any WA Cares premium payments for the first quarter of 2022.”
For more information about the WA Cares Fund, please visit https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/employers/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
WEST VIRGINIA – Legislation Passed Tying UI Benefits to the State’s Economy
- West Virginia passed SB 2 that ties the number of weeks of unemployment benefits to the state’s overall unemployment rate. When the WV unemployment rate is 5.5% or below, claimants will be limited to 12 weeks of benefits. Currently the maximum duration for a claim is 26 weeks. If the jobless rate rises above 5.5%, one additional week of benefits will be added for each half percent increase in the jobless rate up to a maximum of 20 weeks. https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2022_SESSIONS/RS/bills/SB2%20SUB1.pdf
- SB 3 was also passed which requires claimants to complete at least 4 job searches per week and they must provide the details of their searches to the state. Previously, WV claimants only had to conduct 1 search per week and could self-attest that they completed their search activities. https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2022_SESSIONS/RS/bills/SB3%20SUB1.pdf
- SB 3 also allows individuals who are collecting benefits to work part-time (no more than 30 hours per week) if the wages earned from their part-time work do not exceed their weekly benefit amount. For example, a claimant receiving the maximum weekly benefit amount of $424 can earn up to $423 and still collect their benefits.
