(1) The shared work program is a voluntary program that offers Washington employers an alternative to laying off skilled employees during periods of general economic downturn.

(2) An employer may reduce an employee's usual weekly hours of work from ten to fifty percent and the employee can receive the same percentage of unemployment benefits. For example, an eligible employee who usually works forty hours each week is reduced to thirty hours per week, a reduction of twenty-five percent. The employee is eligible to receive twenty-five percent of his or her weekly benefit amount, regardless of the wages earned that week.

(3) Both public and private sector employers are eligible to participate in the program.

(4) An employer or employers' association must submit a signed shared work plan application to the commissioner for approval. A plan that meets the approval criteria listed in RCW 50.60.030 and this chapter will be approved for a maximum of fifty-two weeks.