The Idaho Department of Labor updated its COVID-19 employer webpage to reflect, as ordered by Governor Little, that state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in connection with COVID-19 will not be charged against contributory employer accounts. Nonprofit and government entities that have elected to reimburse the Department for UI benefits continue to be charged for COVID-19 state UI benefits. (Governor's news release, March 27, 2020.)

The Department's frequently asked questions for employers have been updated to state the following:

Q. If an employee receives unemployment benefits as a result of a coronavirus-related business shutdown, will my unemployment insurance account be charged?

A. It depends. Part of Gov. Brad Little's emergency proclamation provides that experience rated employers (most businesses) will not be charged for unemployment claims attributed to COVID-19. There is no change to cost reimbursed employers. Cost reimbursed employers include non-profit and government employers. Information about tax relief for employers from the IRS is available here.

The governor also ordered that workers affected by COVID-19 and filing for UI benefits will not be required to search for work or be subject to a one-week waiting period, retroactive to March 8, 2020.

The governor's news release states:

For unemployment insurance claimants, the proclamation does the following things:

• Makes it easier for claimants to be considered as job-attached if they have been laid off due to COVID-19 related reasons. An employer must provide reasonable assurance of a return to work and the claimant must be able and available for suitable work.
• Considers claimants have met the available-for-work criteria if they are isolated and unavailable to work at the request of a medical professional, their employer, or their local health district and they will be returning to their employer.
• Provides parties an additional 14 days to appeal claims decisions beyond the normal 14 days.

For employers:

• Businesses that pay a quarterly unemployment tax will not be charged when employees are laid off due to coronavirus.
• Parties will be given an additional 14 days to appeal claims decisions beyond the normal 14 days.

The unemployment provisions are in effect as of March 8, 2020.

The Department's website has been updated to reflect the following information on UI benefits:

Q. Will my employees be required to look for work if I had to temporarily or permanently shut down operations for work because of coronavirus (COVID-19)?

A. It depends. If they are unemployed due to COVID-19 related reasons and you are plan on having them return to work, they are not required to register for work or seek work. They will need to answer 'yes' to the question asking if they are returning to work within 16 weeks on the UI application. If they are not returning with you, they will be required complete two work search activities per week. Click here for more information.

Q. Is the waiting period waived?

A. Yes. The governor's emergency proclamation waived the waiting week for claims filed on or after 3/8/2020 until further notice. There are no provisions to waive the waiting week for claims filed prior to 3/8/2020.

See the Department's website for more information for employers regarding the Department's response to COVID-19.

For more information on the state's response to COVI-19, go here.

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