It鈥檚 been more than seven weeks since the Southern Oregon University board approved a furlough for many employees, cutting staff pay 鈥� and the work week 鈥� by 20 percent.
Since then, the Portland Public Schools and other school districts and colleges also took advantage of the opportunity to save money for next school year, while protecting educators and school staff from pay cuts.
But teachers and union leaders report school employees still haven鈥檛 received the weekly $600 and unemployment benefits included in Oregon鈥檚 Work Share .
鈥淓ducators took a risk in accepting the furlough because we wanted to ensure the best possible school year for our students in the fall,鈥� outgoing Portland Association of Teachers president Suzanne Cohen said. 鈥淲hile some delay was to be expected, this prolonged wait is very difficult for many of our members 鈥� some who have partners who are also waiting for unemployment.鈥�
Oregon鈥檚 largest school districts adopted the Work Share program as a way to save money. With districts likely to face revenue shortfalls because of COVID-19, the Work Share program was heralded as a way for districts to save millions of dollars without having to eliminate or reduce staff.
Colleges in addition to SOU also adopted the program, including Portland State University, University of Oregon and Lane Community College.
鈥淢any educators around the state, along with thousands of other Oregonians who have applied for unemployment but have not received relief, deserve to see this resolved quickly,鈥� said president of the Oregon Education Association John Larson in a statement to OPB.
鈥淭hese are resources that will immediately go back into local economies and help our state move forward.鈥�
Earlier this month, the Oregon Employment Department to lessen the backlog of unemployment claims by hiring more staff and volunteers to process claims and make applying for unemployment more accessible.
In a statement sent to OPB after this story originally published, the Oregon Employment Department said a 鈥渟taggering increase in demand for Work Share鈥� has led to a delay in processing claims quickly. The time 鈥渂etween receiving an employer鈥檚 plan and paying the first weekly benefit is approximately 8 weeks.鈥�
OED said 1,231 employers have participated in the program between March 15 and June 13. But for a year before that, there were only 168 employers participating. And with more employers participating, they鈥檝e had to increase the number of staff on the program. Before COVID-19, it was two to four staff. Now there are more than 50, with plans to hire more people to handle the workload.
鈥淲e have been hiring new team members each week鈥ith a goal of bringing on more than 100 new team members to focus on Work Share within the next month,鈥� OED shared in a statement to OPB.
For employers like SOU and PSU, the $600 weekly payments for employees will end July 24.
This article contains additional reporting by Liam Moriarty, 老夫子传媒
Copyright 2020