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OLYMPIA – For the past three years, more than 97 percent of employers that have used Washington’s Shared-Work Program say they’d recommend the program to other businesses.

In each of those three years, a large majority said the program helped or probably helped their business survive the recession. Also, more than 90 percent said they would describe their participation as positive.

The Shared-Work Program is operated by the state’s Employment Security Department. The program allows employers to reduce the hours of their full-time employees by up to 50 percent, while the workers collect partial unemployment benefits to make up for some of the lost wages. This translates into immediate payroll savings for participating businesses and prevents the loss skilled employees.

In 2012, 2,449 Washington employers and more than 29,000 of their employees were approved to participate in Shared Work. The program saved an estimated 19,000 jobs or more last year and more than $12 million in unemployment benefit payouts.

The number of participating employers has dropped by about one-third since 2010.

“Shared Work was vital to thousands of employers during the worst days of the recession, but it’s available even when we’re not in a recession,” said Commissioner Dale Peinecke, who heads the Employment Security Department. 

Peinecke was an executive with several manufacturing companies before Gov. Jay Inslee appointed him to Employment Security.  He said, “Even in good times, a business can face market fluctuations that could result in layoffs. Shared Work allows companies to flexibly manage payroll costs without losing their skilled workers.”

Most employers who responded to Employment Security’s survey for 2012 reported the program helped them cut their payroll costs by 11 percent or more. About 8 percent used the program to trim payroll by more than 30 percent.  

The program is open to all sizes of employers. Among employers that participated in Shared Work 2012, 55 percent had 50 or fewer employees, while 27 percent had more than 100 employees. 

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Web links

• Shared-Work site
• Employment Security Department
  

Broadcast version

More than ninety-seven percent of employers used Washington’s Shared-Work Program last year say they’d recommend the program to other businesses.

Most of them also say the program helped them survive the recession.

The Shared-Work Program is operated by the state’s Employment Security Department.

It allows employers to reduce the hours of their full-time employees by up to fifty percent, and the workers can collect partial unemployment benefits to make up for some of the lost wages.

Last year, the program helped to save an estimated 19-thousand jobs and twelve-million dollars in unemployment benefit payouts in our state.

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