The U.S. Department of Labor awarded $2.36 million in grant funding to the Washington Employment Security Department to improve and promote its Short-Time Compensation (STC) program, known as the Shared Work Program.

Employers can use short-time compensation to avoid layoffs by reducing work hours for an entire group of workers rather than laying off some of them, and those workers can supplement their reduced wages with a partial unemployment benefit.

“These funds will make participation in Short-Time Compensation more efficient and user-friendly for employers in Washington as they manage the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training John P. Pallasch in a Jan. 7 U.S. Department of Labor news release. “Short-Time Compensation keeps workers connected to their jobs, helps employers retain skilled employees and helps stabilize local economies.”

For more information about the Shared Work Program in Washington, state go to the Employment Security Department website.

The state will also use the funds for outreach and education to employers about STC’s advantages. It anticipates increasing businesses participating in the program by 25% during the coming year.

Visit the Office of Unemployment Insurance’s Short-Time Compensation website page for more information. Twenty-seven states offer the program.

ETA administers federal government job training and worker dislocation programs, federal grants to states for public employment service programs, and unemployment insurance benefits. ETA provides these services primarily through state and local workforce development systems. Learn more about ETA.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.