{"id":139727,"date":"2021-09-24T23:08:36","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T23:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=139727"},"modified":"2021-09-24T23:08:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T23:08:36","slug":"return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Return To Work’ Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Relatively few workers have received incentive payments in the states that created special \u201creturn to work\u201d bonuses to encourage unemployed people to take jobs earlier this year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As businesses complained they couldn\u2019t find workers earlier this year, Republican governors cut federal unemployment benefits, including an extra $300 per week that they claimed caused workers to refuse low-paying jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But nine states, led by Montana, used pandemic relief funds to create signing bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 to encourage people to resume work. Several Democratic-led states that didn\u2019t cut federal unemployment benefits also offered employment incentives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Congressional Democrats did not expect states to cut federal unemployment benefits or to use the relief money for employment incentives, though Republican lawmakers had proposed bonuses as an alternative to more generous unemployment benefits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, the programs have had a seemingly small impact, according to data provided by states that responded to a HuffPost survey this week.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arizona <\/strong>told HuffPost it has distributed 760 bonuses, and has nearly 6,000 completed applications.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colorado <\/strong>is the outlier, having paid out $14 million in bonuses to more than 11,000 applicants, nearly matching the state\u2019s total decline in unemployment claims from May to September.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Connecticut<\/strong> has sent 1,500 payments so far, having received 11,000 applications.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

In <\/span>Maine<\/strong>, 448 workers were \u201cprovisionally eligible\u201d as of Aug. 20, the deadline for employers to submit applications on behalf of their new hires.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still in the early stages of processing grant payments, as new hires must first work eight weeks, and then the employer must provide documentation of their wages,\u201d a spokesperson for Maine\u2019s Department of Labor said in an email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Montana<\/strong> has approved only 1,061 return-to-work payments out of 5,000 applications as of Thursday morning, according to its public data dashboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Virginia\u00a0<\/strong>projected it had reached 500 workers by the end of August, having dispersed $300,000 to 84 small businesses that made\u00a0<\/strong>payments to eligible workers. Virginia\u2019s incentive is smaller than others \u2014 a $500 match to small firms that themselves offer $500 hiring bonuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Labor departments in Kentucky, New Hampshire and Oklahoma did not provide bonus information.<\/p>\n

Overall, in the six states that provided data, 15,284 workers have been able to get a bonus, most of them in Colorado.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s out of nearly 92,000 workers in those states who stopped receiving unemployment from May to September, with an increase of about 173,000 employees in those states during that time, according to Matt Darling, an employment policy expert at the Niskanen Center, a libertarian-leaning think tank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a small impact,\u201d Darling said. \u201cIt looks like a lot of people that should have gotten this haven\u2019t gotten this.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not everyone who stopped receiving benefits or who gained a job would necessarily have been eligible for a bonus. And the programs haven\u2019t closed yet in all states, so more workers will likely receive bonus payments in the coming weeks as states work through their application backlogs. But red tape could be a major obstacle to more people receiving the payments.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason Colorado has proved to be such a success could be the simplicity of its program. When workers get a new job, they opt in to the bonuses on the same portal they used to get unemployment insurance, and report their employer and wages one time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it! The first half of your Colorado Jumpstart incentive will be paid after approximately four weeks of employment, with the second half paid after approximately eight weeks of employment,\u201d says Colorado\u2019s <\/span>explanation of how its bonus program works<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Connecticut has received its maximum number of applications and stopped accepting new requests in mid-September. The state said it would award the one-time $1,000 bonuses to the first 10,000 workers who got a job over the summer and kept the post for eight weeks. So far, 1,500 people have been approved as having met eligibility requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cReview of applications continues, with another round of checks scheduled to be mailed in the next week or two,\u201d a spokesperson said in an email.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Arizona offers a $2,000 bonus for workers who stopped receiving unemployment before May 15 and worked at least 320 hours between May and September at an hourly wage of less than $25. The state requires applicants to provide pay stubs and employer contact information for eligibility verification.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The paperwork in Arizona might be a bit of an obstacle \u2015 the state said nearly 18,000 applications have been started but not completed. But a spokesperson said the state expects \u201c<\/span>the expediency by which the bonuses are issued to significantly increase in the next few weeks.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Montana\u2019s initiative offers one-time payments of $1,200 for people who stopped receiving unemployment insurance and held a job for at least four weeks between May and November.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to incentivize Montanans to reenter the workforce,\u201d Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) said in May. \u201cOur return-to-work bonus and the return to pre-pandemic unemployment programs will help get more Montanans back to work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear whether the program has had much impact on hiring. The state\u2019s unemployment numbers did not significantly drop after Gianforte pulled federal benefits and instituted the return-to-work bonuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

The state still has more than 4,000 people receiving unemployment benefits as of the beginning of September, a number that has been steadily declining since March, before the incentive program was announced.<\/p>\n

Nationally, there\u2019s been\u00a0<\/span>very little data<\/span> to back Republicans\u2019 concerns that the federal unemployment benefits were a disincentive for Americans to get back to work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the summer, businesses, particularly in the hospitality industry, were hiring at a rapid pace. And wage increases in the restaurant industry, in large part to make up for the depressed wages during the pandemic recession, proved to be a good way to get people back to work. That growth stagnated in August with a <\/span>disappointing jobs report<\/span> showing hiring had stalled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The economy is still missing millions of jobs that existed before the pandemic, and millions of Americans are now receiving significantly less financial support without the federal benefits, which expired this month in the states that hadn\u2019t already canceled them.<\/span><\/p>\n

HuffPost readers: Did you apply for a return-to-work bonus? Tell us about it \u2015 email arthur@huffpost.com. Please include your phone number if you\u2019re willing to be interviewed.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Relatively few workers have received incentive payments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23055],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n'Return To Work' Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Return To Work' Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment - Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Relatively few workers have received incentive payments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-24T23:08:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/614d19672800004b00a71dfe.png?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/\",\"name\":\"'Return To Work' Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment - Pre Coin News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-24T23:08:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-24T23:08:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Politics\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/politics\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"‘Return To Work’ Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Pre Coin News\",\"description\":\"precoinnews.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Return To Work' Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment - Pre Coin News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Return To Work' Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment - Pre Coin News","og_description":"Relatively few workers have received incentive payments","og_url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/","og_site_name":"Pre Coin News","article_published_time":"2021-09-24T23:08:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/614d19672800004b00a71dfe.png?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale"}],"author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/","name":"'Return To Work' Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment - Pre Coin News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-24T23:08:36+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-24T23:08:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/return-to-work-bonuses-trickle-out-in-states-that-tried-to-lure-workers-off-unemployment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Politics","item":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/category\/politics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"‘Return To Work’ Bonuses Trickle Out In States That Tried To Lure Workers Off Unemployment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/","name":"Pre Coin News","description":"precoinnews.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5f13cb3b94fc348d515c0951f6ca073?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}