(The Center Square) – Friday marks Day 24 of the federal government shutdown and the first missed paycheck for thousands of federal employees in Washington state.
“Through Oct. 23rd, we’ve had 1,832 federal workers apply for unemployment benefits,” Washington Employment Security Department Communications Director Chris Barron told The Center Square on Friday. “Usually after the first two weeks of a shutdown, although that doesn’t happen very often, we’ll see an increase in benefits. And that’s been the case where we’re seeing about 80 claims per day.”
To assist federal workers impacted by the shutdown, ESD hosted a webinar on Thursday to answer questions from furloughed employees.
“There were 489 on the webinar yesterday, which shows the demand for services and information,” Barron observed. “The next webinar will be on Oct. 30th at 10 a.m., and we’ll continue to have these weekly as the shutdown happens.”
He explained that essential government workers are generally not eligible for unemployment benefits, because they are considered to be still working, even if they are not being paid.
“So essential workers, who are working without pay, don’t qualify for unemployment benefits and that’s tough for folks,” Barron said. “If you’re furloughed, then you can apply for unemployment benefits. Essential workers who are working without pay are still technically working. So, it’s all part of federal unemployment law.”
Unemployment claims for federal employees are a small percentage of all unemployment claims, but according to ESD they are more complex and take longer to process.
“Federal workers impacted by the shutdown, whether furloughed or laid off, are encouraged to gather as much information about their wages (e.g., pay stubs or quarterly income reports) before applying for unemployment to help with quicker processing of their claims,” wrote ESD in an Oct 16 news release.
Barron said this time of year always brings more unemployment claims.
“It’s naturally the busiest because of seasonal workers, and construction workers, and those in agricultural [who] start applying for unemployment benefits, because this is the time where they’re temporarily laid off for three to five months,” he said. “So our unemployment claims workload already grows this time. And of course we’ve seen private sector layoffs, where we have ongoing claims which are about 20% higher than they were last year at this time.”
Barron noted a large number of military personnel are impacted by the shutdown.
“It’s not a good situation, and I really feel for those folks who are in that situation. I personally know many people who are in that situation. I live in Kitsap County with the largest number of federal workers and most of those in that county are essential workers. They work for the naval shipyard, and work on the military bases. So, they’re all working without pay right now. And they can’t apply for benefits.”
Washington’s economy lost 13,600 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.5%. More current data is not available due to the government shutdown.
“There are financial resources for federal workers who are not receiving pay to get help with a mortgage or car loan or food services,” Barron said.
Click here for details on what documents are needed when applying for assistance.
