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Government Shutdown: Supporting Federal Workers During the Employment System's Response

This presentation discusses the Employment System's response to the partial government shutdown and its impact on federal workers. It highlights the support provided, challenges faced, and lessons learned in serving these workers during the shutdown.

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Government Shutdown: Supporting Federal Workers During the Employment System's Response

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  1. Partial Government ShutdownThe Employment System’s Response Presentation to Employment System Advisory Committee Dan Zeitlin, Employment System Policy Director March 14, 2019

  2. ~74,000 federal workers in Washington About 16,000 federal workers in state affected by shutdown Protect waters and borders, ensure air safety, maintain national parks, and protect our food supply Federal Workforce in WA

  3. Federal Workforce in WA

  4. Federal workers furloughed by the shutdown were eligible for unemployment benefits During the shutdown we served 2,300 federal workers compared to 146 during the same period last year Federal workers generally expect stability in their jobs Supporting federal workers

  5. Adjusting to serve an influx of furloughed federal workers Specialized team, adjudicators and collectors, to handle claims Innovative outreach strategies Daily oversight of ad hoc processes, agency-wide efforts to overcome obstacles Supporting federal workers

  6. Workers required to stay on the job without pay presented different challenges Sought to include them in definition of “unemployed” Appropriation bill signed within hours of emergency rule Supporting federal workers

  7. UI benefits alone were not going to completely fill the void of a missed paycheck Other financial support was needed to aid these workers and support the state’s economy Collaboration with other state agencies and business leaders from varied industries Maintained lines of communications state agencies, as well as key partners in the workforce development system Assistance Beyond UI

  8. Since workers received back pay for the shutdown, we need to re-collect the benefits paid Clear, transparent communication from initial claim forward Adjudication and collection processes centered on empathy Collecting Back Pay

  9. Lessons learned here are being immediately applied to our economic cycle planning A sudden, fairly unpredictable event Response required changes to ESD rules, policies and procedures and unique guidance to claims centers Budget planning to serve customers with existing state, rather than federal, funds Lines of communication with other state agencies dealing with the shutdown Lines of communication with local workforce development areas, particularly as we began to see potential impacts throughout local communities Learning from the experience

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