Signing bonuses may be commonplace at the C-suite level, but not so much for the rank-and-file ”“ and certainly not from the state government.
But that is the aim of Gov. Ned Lamont”™s “Back to Work CT” program, which will provide a one-time $1,000 bonus payment to 10,000 long-term unemployed people who live in Connecticut and obtain new jobs.
The program is designed to encourage long-term unemployed individuals to find work, in the face of reports across the nation that some workers have elected to collect unemployment instead of returning to a job ”“ either because unemployment pays better, or over safety concerns in the face of Covid-19.
While Connecticut”™s economy added 17,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2021 and the pace of the recovery accelerating as the pandemic subsides, the state maintains that it has made it possible for jobseekers to access vaccines, affordable childcare, workforce development opportunities, and a fair minimum wage.
The Back to Work program is meant to complement those efforts by encouraging those who have been out of work the longest to find employment and helping them cover the costs of searching for and starting a new job.
To be eligible, workers must:
- Have filed an unemployment claim with the state for the week immediately prior to May 30, 2021.
- Obtain and maintain a full-time job for a period of eight consecutive weeks prior to December 31, 2021.
- Not receive unemployment compensation during the required eight-week period of employment.
The program is being administered by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. In the coming days, the department will create a form on its website for individuals to apply.
The first applications will be accepted eight weeks from the start date of the program. Workers will be eligible to receive only one incentive payment.
“We have already proposed millions of new investments in programs aimed at supporting our residents when it comes to workforce development,” Lamont said, “one of the largest expansions in affordable childcare in our state”™s history, and investment in our urban centers aimed at providing more opportunity that will lead to stronger communities.”
The program will be supported by Connecticut”™s Coronavirus Relief Fund, which utilizes federal funding obtained through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
“The Back to Work CT initiative offers a tangible incentive to those taking affirmative steps to transition from unemployment back to the workforce. These and other innovative efforts will continue to fuel economic growth and with it, Connecticut”™s comeback,” remarked Revenue Services Commissioner Mark Boughton said.
At the end of the month, the Connecticut Department of Labor will also reinstate work search requirements for UI recipients and pre-pandemic guidance on what constitutes suitable work. Work search requirements were waived last year, pursuant to federal law, when jobs were scarce and job searches were especially difficult. Twenty-nine states have reinstated those requirements.
