Unemployment Insurance and Workers' Compensation Rates for 2013
Today the Employment Security Department (ESD) announced that unemployment insurance rates will either stay the same or be reduced for most employers in Washington for 2013. In 2013, 14 percent of employers will move into lower rate classes, 61 percent won’t change, and 25 percent will move into higher rate classes. More than one-third of […]
26th of November 2012
Maps of Unemployment Benefits Maximum Duration Since 2008
In 2008, the federal government enacted temporary emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) for people who run out of their regular state unemployment benefits. The program expires at the end of the year. Washington workers are eligible for 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, and under the EUC program, they may currently be eligible for 37 additional […]
22nd of October 2012
New Brief: Labor Costs in Washington
In a new policy brief today, we take a general look at some aspects of labor costs in Washington. Unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation have been reformed recently by the legislature, but they remain costly compared to other states. Additionally, Washington’s minimum wage is the highest in the country, and laws regarding prevailing wage, paid […]
1st of December 2011
2012 Workers' Comp and UI Taxes
Today the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) and the Employment Security Department announced the workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance tax rates for 2012. For workers’ compensation, there will be no overall increase in premiums. The L&I press release states: In September, the agency proposed a 2.5 percent increase. The decision to hold overall rates […]
15th of September 2011
Overpayment of Unemployment Benefits in WA
In a blog post yesterday, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) has released data on overpayment of unemployment benefits. As part of a plan to lower these overpayments, DoL will target certain states with high overpayment rates–including Washington. Nearly $19 billion in state unemployment benefits were paid in […]
5th of April 2011
New Thrive Washington paper on employment cost drivers published today
The latest in the series of white papers published by the Washington Research Council and Washington Roundtable examines workers’ compensation reform and unemployment insurance. In particular, the report urges lawmakers to act this session to fix the state’s broken workers’ comp system. Here’s the link to Employment Cost Drivers in Washington State: The Case for […]
25th of February 2011
Unemployment insurance compromise tough to replicate for workers' comp reform
In the Puget Sound Business Journal today, my column examines the 2011 legislative session’s big accomplishment so far: an agreement on unemployment insurance that drew overwhelming bipartisan support. It’s a good deal, providing tax relief to 90 percent of the state’s employers and increasing benefits for 70,000 unemployed workers. Conditions aligned for this to be […]
16th of February 2011
Washington's UI Trust Fund
Stateline.org has more today on unemployment insurance — specifically that for many states interest payments on federal loans are coming due. Washington is not one of them; in fact, our unemployment insurance trust fund is the healthiest in the country. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.
11th of February 2011
Governor scheduled to sign UI bills this afternoon
A week of anticipation culminated in a welcome compromise on unemployment insurance legislation. The state Senate this morning concurred with the House, passing EHB 1091 (41 yea, 4 nay, 3 excused). The Wednesday, the House passed the measure, which provides permanent unemployment insurance tax relief to a reported 90 percent of employers and temporary extension […]
9th of February 2011
House unanimously passes UI bill
Unanimous votes on important legislation are rare. Following the recent unemployment insurance contention, this outcome looks pretty good. Brad Shannon has the story in the Olympian. The state House of Representatives swiftly and unanimously voted today to approve an unemployment insurance deal that came after days of negotiating on a sharply contentious issue. If ratified […]