This issue brief looks at how work-sharing provisions signed into law by President Obama in February 2012 as part of the Middle Class Relief and Job Creation Act could help states reduce their unemployment rates and also save unemployment insurance (UI) costs for up to three years

Dean Baker

Nicole Woo

English

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 Issue BriefMay 2012  *Nicole Woo is Director of Domestic Policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington D.C. Dean Baker is an economist and Co-director of CEPR. They thank Alan Barber and Kris Warner for helpful comments and edits. States Could Save $1.7 Billion per Year with Federal Financing of Work Sharing  The Middle Class Relief and Job Creation Act, signed into law by President Obama in February 2012, includes work-sharing provisions that could help states reduce their unemployment rates and also save unemployment insurance (UI)  costs for up to three years, but only if they take advantage of these useful provisions.  Work-sharing programs, also known as short-time compensation, benefit both employees and employers. Work sharing allows employers to reduce workers’ hours, rather than lay them off.  The workers, in turn, receive pro-rated UI benefits for the hours not worked, and are able to remain employed. Employers are able to keep trained employees on staff, and, once demand picks up, to avoid the costs of hiring and training new workers by simply increasing the hours of their existing staff.  The new law’s work-sharing section – based on bills originally introduced in Congress by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) – provides federal support for work-sharing programs nationwide, giving states more incentive to promote work sharing. In addition to clarifying and updating work-sharing provisions in federal law, it also provides temporary funding to states that adopt new, or expand existing, work-sharing programs.  Prior to passage of the law, states paid the actual regular UI benefits provided to workers in work-sharing programs. Under the new law, the federal government provides 100 percent of work-sharing UI benefits for up to three years in states that already have work-sharing programs (currently there are 24, including the District of Columbia), and 50 percent for up to two years in states that enter an agreement with the federal government to provide work sharing.  At the moment, the take-up rate for work-sharing programs is low. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average number of work-sharing participants in 2011 was about 50,000 nationwide. 1   It peaked at about 153,000 participants across the nation in June 2009, and with work-sharing claims averaging a bit over one-quarter of a job, that represented about 40,000 full-time equivalent jobs.  Participation has  Center for Economic and Policy Research 1611 Connecticut Ave, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20009 tel: 202-293-5380 fax: 202-588-1356 www.cepr.net BY NICOLE WOO AND DEAN BAKER* CEPR States Could Save $1.7 Billion per Year with Federal Financing of Work Sharing2  varied widely from state to state, with Rhode Island seeing the highest participation rates.  Over 20 percent of UI claims in Rhode Island were from work sharing when the program was at its peak.2  If states were to take advantage of the federal financing for work sharing in the new law, it would be reasonable to expect that they could reach approximately the same level of participation as Rhode Island did in 2009.  At that level, they could save about 5 percent of their UI costs in states that have existing work-sharing programs, and about 2.5 percent in the states that do not.  Table 1 shows that this adds up to $1.7 billion dollars per year nationwide.    TABLE 1 Potential Annual Savings per State with Federal Financing of Work-Sharing (dollars) States with Existing Programs  States without Existing Programs Arizona            25,438,200   Alabama              8,418,600  Arkansas            18,144,800   Alaska              4,278,500  California          319,377,200   Delaware              3,062,300  Colorado            30,093,600   Georgia            22,593,300  Connecticut            38,882,400   Hawaii              6,265,200  D.C.              8,490,600   Idaho              4,341,000  Florida            66,671,200   Illinois            53,976,600  Iowa            18,763,000   Indiana            17,144,800  Kansas            18,320,600   Kentucky            12,065,500  Louisiana            16,476,600   Michigan            32,875,200  Maine              7,359,400   Mississippi              4,792,600  Maryland            35,688,200   Montana              2,880,100  Massachusetts            79,806,800   Nebraska              3,486,100  Minnesota            38,365,000   Nevada            12,795,600  Missouri            26,517,000   New Jersey            57,359,700  New Hampshire              5,518,200   New Mexico              6,882,900  New York          158,581,600   North Carolina            33,256,200  Oklahoma            13,028,200   North Dakota                 996,000  Oregon            37,413,000   Ohio            35,620,300  Pennsylvania          136,180,800   South Carolina            10,331,600  Rhode Island            11,433,000   South Dakota                 683,200  Texas          119,406,200   Tennessee            14,443,600  Vermont              4,226,800   Utah              5,829,000  Washington            68,411,800   Virginia            14,506,300     West Virginia              3,982,800     Wisconsin            22,881,300     Wyoming              1,967,700  Total       1,302,594,200             397,716,000  Grand Total                                                                                1,700,310,200 Sources: Authors’ calculations, based upon Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. “Unemployment Insurance Data Summary:  4th Quarter 2011.” http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/content/data_stats/datasum11/DataSum_2011_4.pdf and 112th Congress. “H.R.3630 -- Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3630:    CEPR States Could Save $1.7 Billion per Year with Federal Financing of Work Sharing3  Before states can access this funding, the federal government will provide guidance on how the work-sharing provisions of the law will be implemented. 3 In early May, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Short-Time Compensation (STC) Fact Sheet, which clarified some of the key dates specified in the new law.4 In addition, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and National Employment Law Project (NELP) have recently co-authored a detailed summary of the work-sharing section of the new law.5  This new and unprecedented level of federal support for work sharing will give states more incentive to promote the program as an alternative to layoffs. First and foremost, states will have to make employers aware of this alternative to layoffs. At the moment, even in the states with longstanding programs, few employers are aware of this work-sharing option.  With millions of workers still being laid off every month, the work-sharing provisions could make an important and positive difference in the lives of millions of workers, employers, their families and communities.  These provisions mean states can also improve their finances by promoting work-sharing. However, states will need to work to take full advantage of the new law in order to reap these benefits.                                                  1 See Woo, Nicole, “Drumbeat Continues from Left and Right for Work Sharing,” CEPR Blog, November 21, 2011. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/drumbeat-continues-from-left-and-right-for-work-sharing 2 See Woo, Nicole, “Job Creation that Both Parties Can Agree On,” CEPR Blog, January 7, 2011.    http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/job-creation-that-both-parties-can-agree-on 3 As of date of publication, the U.S. Department of Labor had not yet released the Short-Time Compensation Programs guidance. See http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/jobcreact.asp. 4 See Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012: Short-Time Compensation (STC) Fact Sheet.” http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/Factsheet_STC.pdf. 5 Ridley, Neil and George Wentworth. 2012. “A Breakthrough for Work Sharing: A Summary of the Layoff Prevention Act of 2012. Washington, DC: CLASP and NELP.  http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/A-Breakthrough-for-Work-Sharing.pdf. 

States Could Save $1.7 Billion Per Year with Federal Financing of Work Sharing

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States Could Save $1.7 Billion Per Year with Federal Financing of Work Sharing

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