Unemployment Insurance & Furloughs
Unemployment insurance and furloughs raise a lot of questions right now, with all the new legislation. It can be challenging to make sound business decisions and determine how these laws impact your employees.
Depending on which state you’re in and the amount of reduced hours, most furloughed employees will qualify for unemployment. If the state considers them “partially employed”, working 20% less hours, then the employee will likely be able to claim unemployment. If employees choose to quit “voluntarily”, they may not qualify.
Employers can choose to keep furloughed employees on their health insurance, but the furlough could trigger COBRA. Alternatively, if you have to lay off, you may be able to keep them on your payroll. An employer may lay off employees for lack of work even if they are currently on FMLA or paid leave under the FFCRA.
When it comes to exempt employees, you can implement a temporary salary reduction. Be sure to take into account how their salary impacts the employees exception under FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act. This federal law establishes minimum wage, overtime pay eligibility, record-keeping, and child labor.
With the amount of claims that are being filed, many states have a backlog, so receiving a check could take some time. Some states have had issues with their software and their systems have crashed. A few are still using COBOL platforms, a system that was heavily utilize in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. There are skilled COBOL programmers out there, but the supply outweighs the current demand. COBOL software developers and engineers account for less than 5% of the IT developer candidate pool, nationwide. The largest employers that still use COBOL are banks and the government.
H2 Recruits has been engaged in some of these searches in the Mid-West, as competition for this skillset is high. If you need a hiring resource or HR consulting, consider H2 Recruits as a solution.
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