People who have received unemployment benefits in Oregon are probably familiar with the triple A’s — a bedrock of the benefits system. Job seekers must attest they are able, available and actively seeking work to get unemployment on a week-to-week basis.
The Oregon Employment Department temporarily relaxed those rules when the coronavirus pandemic forced mass layoffs.
Now the agency says it has learned a lesson from the pandemic. It recently updated its availability requirements so that more people can get unemployment.
“The world of work has changed,” said Lindsi Leahy, director of the unemployment insurance division. “The child care crisis definitely put an exclamation point on it.”
To get benefits under the old rule, a job seeker would have to be available to work any schedule, on any days, that an employer in their field would normally require. In other words, they had to be completely available.
The amended rule lets the agency consider barriers such as lack of transportation, lack of child care or other caregiving responsibilities before denying benefits to someone with more limited availability.
FILE: A job center in North Portland. The Oregon Employment Department says it's expanding access to unemployment benefits for people who face barriers to work.
Kate Davidson / OPB
For example, say a parent looking for a manufacturing job can’t work during the day because their kid’s child care provider closed.
“You don’t have child care for day shift,” Leahy posited. “Are you available for swing shift and graveyard? Yes.”
Under the revised rule, as long as a worker is available 40 hours per week during times when an employer in their area would typically offer work, they may now be eligible for benefits. A person doesn’t need to be available around the clock.
The same could be true for job seekers caring for an elderly parent or attending classes during certain hours. Or for people whose availability depends on public transportation.
About 19,000 people are currently receiving unemployment benefits in Oregon.
Leahy said the agency doesn’t know how many more people will be eligible for benefits because of the rule change. She said some employers raised concerns their tax liabilities could rise if more claimants were paid benefits from the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund.
Any impact should be softened, however, by legislation Oregon lawmakers passed last summer cutting employer taxes by roughly $2.4 billion through 2029.
Leahy said the Employment Department would evaluate the rule change after a year, to see how often it gets used and measure its effect on the unemployment trust fund. She said additional changes could be made in the future.