Gainey Employment Law

07/22/2021

09/16/2020

Each fall, the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (WBA) comes together for Stars of the Bar, a free networking event that kicks off the WBA's programming year. The WBA's typical in-person event brings together hundreds of leaders in the DC legal community—women and men alike—w...

06/11/2020

Sharing from friend and colleague Gemma Zanowski

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-CA), Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the Justice in Policing Act of 2020,the first-ever bold, comprehensive approach to hold police a...

05/05/2020

03/31/2020

Starting now. Up to date Information from local Heath care experts.

Membership starts at $500 and is open to any business or organization interested in increasing their presence in Seattle metropolitan region. Learn More

03/31/2020

Employers, please take a deep breath and assess your options before laying off or terminating workers right now. The CARE Act that just passed will provide "loans" to businesses with employees who retain those employees. The loans may be forgiven for employers who retain staff over a period of time (two years). If you do lay off or fire your staff - pay them what you owe them. That is still the law.

If you are a worker and your employer owes you unpaid wages you can file a complaint with the Department of Labor and Industry

03/27/2020

3 Million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week,. Yes, that is a world record.
Here's some information to help with the process.

Many Americans are out of work and may need to file for unemployment insurance benefits until the coronavirus outbreak is over. Here are steps experts recommend taking to navigate the process as smoothly as possible.

03/26/2020

What is an "essential business":

On March 23, 2020, Governor Inslee issued an Executive Order directing all residents immediately to heed current State public health directives to stay home, except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors and additional sectors as the State Public....

03/25/2020

During difficult times like this, think before you act!

Leaders are obligated to make responsible decisions to keep their companies afloat. But those who manage the economic effects of this crisis in a clear and compassionate way create more value for their companies and will come out of this pandemic stronger

03/24/2020

Businesses that are seeing significant revenue losses due to the coronavirus pandemic are weighing some stark options: furloughs, reductions in hours and pay cuts, or layoffs.

03/23/2020

Hi Folks,

These are some notes from a meeting on business and new unemployment rules this morning. Sharing to help those with questions...

Current options for ESD re Covid-19
1. Standby:

2. Partial Employment

3. Shared Work (no requirement to look for work ) “WAIVER OF WORK SEARCH”
Right now unemployment department is inundated with applications right now. Normal 3K last week 100K!!!!
So go online and apply when everyone else is sleeping.

File every week even if denied keep filing. They can fix it retroactively.
Still require a base year (first 4 quarters of the last five) must have worked 680 hours.
Also, can combine claims with other states if you moved.
Can open a claim while still working full time. Why? To see what your benefit rate would be if you file now rather than later. This helps if you know you are going to get cut back.
Self-employed – ok if can do it and work full time at the same time. May have to deduct income from benefits. May also depend if you were doing it before separated from the ER.

Are 1099 contractors eligible?
1099 contractors can be eligible if the ER mis-categorized them as contractors(self-employed). Direction and control are key to determination. EE has to request a review of that status.

If getting errors – try logging on later in the evening.

https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment/how-to-file-a-weekly-claim

Claim centers are opening earlier 7am – 6pm and will be open on Saturdays soon. Also implementing virtual hold to return calls. NO in person claims.

Call me if you need help working through this process. Contact info here www.gainey-law.com

FREQUENTLY USED LINKS Handbook for unemployed workers Apply for benefits or file a weekly claim online Check your claim and wage information online Sign up for direct deposit Sign up for a benefits debit card Restart your claim Job search video Request your unemployment records Overpayments UI custo...