(1) Employees applying for pandemic leave assistance will be required to attest in a manner approved by the department that they did not meet the hours worked threshold for eligibility under RCW 50A.15.010 or 50A.30.020(1) due to reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(2) Employees must attest that they were not:

(a) Separated from employment due to misconduct; or

(b) Voluntarily separated from employment for reasons not related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An employee had a part time job in 2019 resulting in 1,000 hours reported to the department for that calendar year. The employee's workplace closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the employee was unable to find additional work. The employee experiences a qualifying event in June, 2021, and applies in August, 2021. The department determines that the employee would not qualify under the normal qualifying period but would qualify under the pandemic leave assistance qualifying period. As a part of the application process, the employee must attest that the lack of qualifying hours for their normal qualifying period is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic before they can be approved.

An employee had a part time job in the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 resulting in 820 hours reported to the department for those four quarters. The employee's child care facility was closed in April, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The employee had to end their employment to care for their child. The employee experiences a qualifying event in August, 2021, and applies for leave. The department determines that the employee would not qualify under the normal qualifying period but would qualify under the pandemic leave assistance qualifying period. As a part of the application process, the employee must attest that the lack of qualifying hours for their normal qualifying period is attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic before they can be approved.