Short-time compensation, or work sharing, is a boon to workers, employers and the economy that should be expanded, even as federal funding for the layoff-avoiding system recently expired, Labor Department officials and other speakers said Nov. 17.
Under STC, employers facing a business downturn can avoid layoffs by reducing the work hours of a group of employees, who then receive prorated unemployment benefits. Twenty-eight states plus Washington, D.C., have taken advantage of the DOL’s funding to adopt STC or boost an existing program, while the remaining 22 states don’t provide work sharing.
The federal financial incentives for states to introduce ...