Maryland Department of Labor Work Sharing - English
Transcript
Maryland Department of Labor Work Sharing - Español
OVERVIEW
In 1984, the Maryland General Assembly enacted legislation establishing the Work Sharing Unemployment Insurance Program. Work Sharing is a voluntary program that provides an alternative to layoffs for employers faced with a temporary, non-cyclical decline in business due to lower economic activity. The program is designed to avoid layoffs by preserving jobs for current employees and to assist businesses that have already undertaken layoffs to reopen and resume operations gradually. Employers who participate in Work Sharing can retain employees by temporarily reducing the hours of work, within a range of 10% to 60%, among employees within the affected unit(s). The employees with reduced work hours receive partial unemployment insurance benefits to supplement lost wages.
Work Sharing can mitigate or prevent the adverse effects of the COVID-19 economic impact by keeping businesses connected to their employees, and ensuring employees continue to receive compensation. Work Sharing can also serve as a means of bringing most or all of a temporarily laid off workforce back to the job, a decline in business or other factors prevent operating at full staffing levels immediately.
EMPLOYER BENEFITS
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
REQUIREMENTS
* Requirement can be waived with good cause
** For businesses reopening after a temporary closure due to COVID-19, the employer must confirm that all employees were employed by their company prior to the temporary closure/layoff; however, there is no set minimum length of employment in this situation.
SAMPLE SCENARIO
An employer has 20 full-time employees in a unit, each of whom works 40 hours per week. Due to an unexpected reduction in business, the employer must reduce payroll by 25%. Instead of laying off 25% of the employees, the employer may apply for Work Sharing and reduce each employee's hours by 25%, or 10 hours per week, so each employee works 30 hours per week. If the Work Sharing plan is approved, affected employees would receive 25% of the full amount of unemployment insurance benefits they would be entitled to had they been fully laid off, while also being paid for hours worked at the Work Sharing employer. So, if the employee had been completely laid off and was deemed eligible for a weekly unemployment insurance benefit amount of $400, the Work Sharing employee with a 25% reduction in work hours would receive $100 (25% of $400) of unemployment benefits in addition to the 30 hours of wages earned from the employer. When business improves, the employer has retained its trained workforce and may resume normal operations.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please review the following FAQ pages for additional information:
Contact ui.WorkSharing@maryland.gov for additional information or questions.
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