Sorry if this topic has already been covered; I didn't see anything that answers this specific question. My wife is a dental/orthodontic assistant. Her office shut down indefinitely on Monday of this week. She and her co-workers are getting conflicting guidance. Should they file for unemployment, or should her dental office continue to pay the employees and then with the stimulus package, the office would be reimbursed for the salary they paid their employees who aren't working? Is it either/or (i.e. should the employees hold off filing for unemployment while hoping the office will pay them full wages)?

Thanks for any advice you good folks have!

My advice is to file. Like ASAP.

And where are you hearing businesses will get reimbursed thru the stimulus package? What if they run out of money? The government doesn't.

Should file for unemployment. The Texas Workforce Commission will confirm if she has been laid off and what unemployment benefits she is due.

The owners of the dental buisness will have to decide if they want to not lay off staff and continue paying wages on the liklehood that they will get some kind of money from the government, i.e. the tax payer, to cover those wages during their shutdown. If they have decided to keep paying employees that should let them know and will respond to TWC's request for confirmation of employment status accordingly.

Thanks for the responses! I'll tell her to go ahead and file.

To mazzag, I've just read various articles, including from the Washington Post, that mentioned the stimulus bill would likely have provisions in it that would reimburse small businesses that continue to pay their employees while they are shut down. Nothing concrete though.

That would be insane, IMO. And likely in a future package. I applaud businesses that offer this, but I can't imagine it's sustainable. TWC is suspending the requirement to look to work. Duh, nobody's hiring.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/19/trump-coronavirus-economic-plan-stimulus/%3foutputType=amp

I probably didn't post the link correctly, but this is the article that mentioned what I was talking about.

The stimulus bill has not passed yet. What passes will likely be a compromise bill that is different than what is currently proposed. Better to file for unemployment now than wait for Congress to decide what to do in the future.

File now, worry about the rest later.

Periodontist here, the state board has effectively shut down practicing dentistry normally. The definition of allowable treatment is urgent care only.

The Congress has indicated that we pay employees out to 10 weeks as a small business owner. They are currently indicating a tax credit payable in 2021 will cover this cost. Problem is without any income there is no money to pay the employees now. The shutdown is likely to last for dentistry until at least Mid-May if not longer. Possibly August.

The government's answer to the small business owners concern about liquidity to make these payments is either future credit or a loan. Therefore, most are choosing to close shop and furlough employees so they can actually be eligible for unemployment as opposed to not getting paid at all.

I'm researching the SBA loan as an option but I'm currently not eligible in Texas despite being told to shut down before even Dentists in Washington state shut down. Apparently the Governor has submitted the necessary information to make us eligible, but it has not gone through.

I'm hearing rumors that those who take an SBA loan may be given a grant of sorts as long as it's being used to pay employees.

My advice right now is for your wife to take unemployment if that's what is decided from her dental office. There are way too unknowns for any small business owner to depend on specific guidance beyond the fact the we are shut down and with no idea when we will be allowed to return to business as usual.

It sucks because we want to help our team, but quite literally most dentists I talk to are thinking bankruptcy is a real possibility with multiple months of restricted practice or no practice.

Thanks to all for the quick advice--really appreciate it!!

Sorry to hear that about your practice. I sincerely hope you can make it through this challenging time. Appreciate your thoughtful response.

I'm a dentist and told staff not on the skeleton crew to file for unemployment. Even the skeleton crew might be eligible too because their hours are significantly going to be reduced.