Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced that certain provisions of the state's unemployment insurance (UI) law will be waived to make UI benefits available to employees affected by the COVID-19 emergency and that UI benefits paid to employees in connection with the COVID-19 emergency will not be charged to employers' accounts. See the following page, however, for a policy change that could limit employer non-charge for COVID-19 UI benefits.

Specifically, Governor Reynolds announced the following provisions pursuant to COVID-19 UI benefits:

• If employees are laid off due to COVID-19 or must stay home to self-isolate, care for family members or due to illness related to COVID-19, they can receive unemployment benefits, provided they meet all other eligibility requirements. Those requirements essentially include working for wages from an employer that claims the individual as an employee in six of the last eighteen months and who earned at least $2,500 in the same time period. A more specific explanation of benefit eligibility can be found here
• UI claimants can expect to receive payment within 7-10 days after the date the claim is filed.
• UI claims that are filed and identified as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19 will not be charged to employers. Fact-finding interviews for these claims will be waived and not be held, although employers will be notified of claims received.
• Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) will process unemployment insurance payments to ensure payment will continue to be paid in a timely manner.

According to the IWD website, fact finding interviews for COVID-19 UI claims will not be held although employers will be notified of claims received.

IWD links non-charge for COVID-19 UI benefits to size of state's UI trust fund

Note, however, that the IWD's FAQs for employers states the following regarding non-charge:

Question 3: If an employee receives unemployment benefits as a result of a COVID-19-related business shutdown, will the employer's unemployment taxes increase?

Answer: All unemployment claims filed and paid as a result of COVID-19 will have the charges waived for employers for a time. At this time, IWD is allowing non-charging to employers until the Iowa Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund drops below $950 million dollars. At that time, IWD will begin charging employers so as to maintain the integrity of the Trust Fund. IWD will announce when this occurs on its web page.

Attention: At this time, IWD is not charging employers for claims made by their employees due to COVID 19 related unemployment. We have established a trigger for the balance of the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund at which point, it will be necessary to begin to charge employers accounts for respective unemployment claims. We have established the trigger at $950M and the trust fund balance is currently at $1.10B or $180 million dollars over that trigger of $950 million. This decision was made to assist with our recovery by minimizing any increases they may face in the unemployment tax rate which is based in large part on the trust fund balance. CARES Act claims for the self-employed and the $600 weekly benefit will not be paid from the trust fund. (Update - April 9, 2020.)

IWD encourages employers to consider Iowa's shared-work program

The IWD is encouraging employers that must reduce work hours to consider a shared-work program. According to IWD's FAQs for employers, employers will not be charged with the UI benefits paid as the result of an approved work-share plan:

Question 2: We may need to reduce work hours; what options do we have?

Answer: Employers experiencing a slowdown in their businesses or services as a result of the COVID-19 impact on the economy may apply for the Voluntary Shared Work Program. This program allows employers to seek an alternative to layoffs — retaining their trained employees by reducing their hours and wages that can be partially offset with unemployment insurance benefits. Visit https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/voluntary-shared-work-frequently-asked-questions to learn more about its benefits for employers and employees, and how to apply. Employers in an approved Voluntary Shared Work plan will not be charged for the benefits paid out. If you reduce hours or have a temporary lay-off, workers will be available for partial or full unemployment insurance benefits.

Work-search requirements are waived for COVID-19 related claims; state does not have a waiting week requirement

IWD's COVID-19 websites states that workers filing for COVID-19 UI benefits are not required to meet work search or work availability requirements.

Note that unlike most states, Iowa UI law does not have a provision that requires UI claimants to serve a one-week waiting period to collect state UI benefits.

Access the COVID-19 unemployment insurance resources here.

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