What to do if your business needs to temporarily lay off workers due to the impact of coronavirus COVID-19?
If employees are temporarily laid off or have reduced work hours due to coronavirus COVID-19 in the state of Georgia, the EMPLOYER should file a partial unemployment claim on the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) website in the Employer Portal. If claims are filed online by the employer, then the employer will not be billed by GDOL for the claims paid, and Georgia employers will not have their tax rates affected. (Other states have differing rules related to charges and tax rates.) If the employer fails to file the partial claim for the employee and the employee files a claim with GDOL, the employer will be billed for the claims paid by DOL and will potentially impact their tax rate.
Employers should take steps now to ensure they have an online account with GDOL. In some cases, especially if employers have staff working remotely or staggered work hours, it might make sense to ensure that multiple people have access to the DOL online account, as well as the required data (each employee’s name, date of birth, employee’s home address, social security number) so that they can file the partial unemployment claims, should the need arise. This employee information is considered personally identifiable information (PII) and should be protected.
Attached to this email are Frequently Asked Questions from the Georgia Department of Labor. The document contains instructions on how the employer is to file the claim and contains recommended communication that should take place between the employer and the employee prior to the filing the unemployment claim.
For additional information, please visit the Georgia Department of Labor’s website.
Since each state’s rules may differ from what is presented by the Georgia Department of Labor, we have provided links below to each of our contiguous states’ unemployment program/EMPLOYER information related to COVID-19 claims. This may also be useful for employers who are headquartered in other states, but have offices in any of these states.
For information from the Alabama Department of Labor’s website:
CLICK HERE
For information from the Florida Department of Economic Outlook / Reemployment Assistance (unemployment insurance):
CLICK HERE
For information from the North Carolina Department of Commerce / Employment Security, related to COVID-19 and unemployment insurance:
CLICK HERE
For information from the South Carolina Department of Employment & Workforce, COVID-19 and unemployment insurance:
CLICK HERE
For information from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce, COVID-19 Unemployment for Employers: CLICK HERE
This information is provided by the Mauldin & Jenkins Government Advisory Services Practice. Tim Evans, a Government Advisory Consultant, worked for the past 20+ years with the Georgia Department of Labor. Our practice has extensive knowledge of workforce- and labor-related policies for Georgia and many of our contiguous states.
Nobody could have predicted the massive disruption caused by COVID-19, but significant events have occurred in the past causing governments to adapt to a new environment, and future events will likely occur. We can, and we will, get through this together. If we can be of any service during these trying times, please let us know. We are happy to have a virtual meeting to discuss any needs.
As a reminder, here is a link to the information we shared with our governmental clients last week of the services the governmental advisory team can provide at this time.
We truly believe our Firm’s mantra that:
“Together, we can: navigate, innovate, succeed, and do anything!”
David Roberts, Partner
Government Advisory Services Practice Lead
770.980.2487
droberts@mjcpa.com
