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On March 18th Governor Brian P. Kemp and the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) addressed an increase in the number of partial claims filed as a result of businesses reducing work hours or temporarily closing their doors in light of recent developments regarding COVID-19.
The GDOL is mandating that GA employers file partial claims online on behalf of their employees for any week during which an employee (full-time/part-time) works less than their normal hours due to COVID-19. This can result in heavy penalties for employers that don’t meet the requirements including repaying any unemployment claims their employees received.
Filing partial claims results in employees receiving unemployment insurance (UI) benefit payments faster, usually within forty-eight hours for claims filed electronically. Employees for whom a partial claim is filed are not required to report to a GDOL career center, register for employment services, or seek other work. All Georgia employers will share in the cost of unemployment benefits paid to employees temporarily displaced due to COVID-19.
Below is the official press release from the GDOL with links on how to handle the partial claims.
The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) has adopted an emergency Rule 300-2-4-0.5 Partial Claims, effective March 16, 2020. The rule mandates all Georgia employers to file partial claims online on behalf of their employees for any week during which an employee (full-time/part-time) works less than full-time due to a partial or total company shutdown caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Any employer found to be in violation of this rule will be required to reimburse GDOL for the full amount of unemployment insurance benefits paid to the employee. Download the How Employers File Partial Claims Desk-Aid found on the GDOL Alert Page and follow the step-by-step instructions.
Please continue to monitor our website at gdol.ga.gov for any updates to these guidelines.