Shared Work Programs Expand in 13 States, Including Connecticut

State awarded $1,260,659 by feds to help prevent layoffs

Layoffs can be costly for employers. Trimming staff when business slows means if new employees are needed when business picks back up, the employer faces the cost of training and lower productivity as workers acclimate.

With $37,814,386 in new U.S. Department of Labor grants, employers in 13 states will soon have a new tool for developing or enhancing a shared work program and avoiding layoffs.

Connecticut is joined by Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin as grant recipients.

“Employers want to do right by their workers, and offering them resources to be flexible during tough business cycles is not only good for business, it’s good for our economy,” says U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez.

Short-Time Compensation (STC) programs enable employers to reduce work hours for a group of employees as an alternative to layoffs during times of economic difficulty. Programs allow workers with reduced hours to supplement their lowered wages with a percentage of the weekly unemployment compensation that would have been available to them had they been laid off entirely.

STC lets employees keep their jobs: and benefits such as employer-based retirement and health insurance: and helps employers keep skilled workers and avoid the costs of hiring and training new workers when business recovers. The program also eases the strain on local economies, which suffer acutely when layoffs occur.

For information about Connecticut’s shared work program, click here.