Commentary by, Kat Rutledge, Director of the KCC Small Business Development Center

We know one of your greatest concerns is that of your employees, your people. We know that you don’t want to eliminate jobs or lay people off, even temporarily, but we are all in difficult times. So, what do you need to know before you make that decision?

Consider an Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Contact your SBDC adviser to decide if this is the right choice for your business or if there are other options that might help.

In some situations, an employer may be able to use a program called Work Share Oregon, enabling them to avoid layoffs and retain valuable trained employees. Please learn about Work Share Oregon here.

If a layoff is unavoidable we would offer a few pieces of advice:

Try not to conduct the layoff on a Friday afternoon. It’s very important that the affected employee be able to do something actionable following the news. If you do so on a late Friday afternoon, the employee is left to stew and be anxious all weekend. Anxiety is already rampant. Given the news earlier in the week, they have the ability to complete actions such as filing for possible unemployment insurance and speaking to someone at WorkSource Oregon (Oregon’s Employment Department) about their options.
If the layoff is truly COVID-19 related and you hope it to be temporary, it is recommended that you indicate to both the employee and to WorkSource that it is a “temporary layoff.” If they are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits and it is categorized in this way, your former employee would be relieved of the obligation to seek other employment during the temporary layoff. They will still be required to remain in contact with you.
Please encourage your displaced employees to file their unemployment insurance claim online if at all possible. This is the most efficient means for filing claims. Guide them to Oregon.gov.
If you do need to layoff staff, please contact Penny Newton at WorkSource at newton@klamathcc.edu or 541-850-4573 for Rapid Response assistance.

There are obviously many more questions about laying employees off and how unemployment insurance works so we would strongly encourage you to visit the WorkSource Oregon’s COVID-19 page where you can find Frequently Asked Questions and other related resources.

As always, please know that your SBDC staff stands at the ready to help you find resources and answers. Please don’t hesitate to call 541-205-5404 or email SBDC@klamathcc.edu.

Stay Calm and Small Business On!

Kat Rutledge, Director of the KCC Small Business Development Center

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