| April 13, 2020The CARES Act provides for an additional $600 per week in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) payments to eligible individuals. This week, the US Department of Labor issued initial guidance on the FPUC payment procedures. Key take-aways for employers include: - Each state will issue the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) payments either: (a) at the same time and in the same manner as regular unemployment insurance (UI) payments; or (b) separately, but still weekly. It is anticipated that most states will issue the FPUC payments at the same time and in the same manner as regular UI payments.
- Workers will be eligible for the $600 FPUC payment for each week in which the employee is eligible for any regular UI payment. A California worker who is receiving UI benefits will receive at least $40 per week, which is the minimum Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA) paid by the California Employment Development Department (EDD).
- A California worker who is “partially unemployed,” which means the employee is working a reduced work schedule, and whose actual earned wages for a week exceed that employee’s established WBA, will not receive UI benefits for that week and, therefore, will not receive the $600 FPUC payment either.
- For this reason, employees may be understandably reticent to work if such work will result in the loss of the UI payments plus the $600 FPUC payment, especially if co-workers are receiving these payments and not working. Employers may want to confer with partially employed staff members in order to determine the maximum wages that the employee can earn each week and still be eligible for at least $40 in UI benefits (plus the FPUC payment), but not more than the employee’s WBA. As long as the employee is receiving at least $40 in UI benefits, and is earning less than their WBA in wages, the employee will be eligible for UI benefits and the additional $600 FPUC payment for that week.
- California’s Work Share Program (WSP) may resolve this problem for employers that already have an established WSP. For employers who do not already have an established Work WSP, the EDD’s current backlog makes it unlikely that the paperwork required to initiate the WSP will be processed any time soon.
- It is our understanding that the EDD may begin issuing FPUC payments as early as April 12, 2020. Employers may monitor the EDD website for additional information as it becomes available at: https://edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019/pandemic-unemployment-assistance.htm.
California has not yet issued guidance on exactly how the EDD will administer the FPUC payments, but the FPUC payments will likely be retroactive back to the end of March 2020. In the meantime, if you need further assistance, you can reach the EAC Hotline attorneys at Scott & Whitehead by calling our office at (949) 222-0166, or possibly more quickly by email: Brian Cole: bcole@employerlaw.com
Sherri Fanger McInnes: smcinnes@employerlaw.com
R. Craig Scott: rcraigscott@employerlaw.com
Diane D. Stalder: dstalder@employerlaw.com
Nancy Rader Whitehead: nwhitehead@employerlaw.com
Anita York: anita@employerlaw.com | |
