Get Paid to Train Your Employees

Business is finally beginning to pick up. Of course, all that staff reduction during the recession has left you shorthanded. Or you changed your product line or processes to bring in new business or save money, but your staff needs training to make it all work. Until that new business really starts rolling in, how do you afford new staff or training?

The state and federal government has programs to help. One of those programs is the Return to Work Program. This state program, which began in April 2010, allows a company to bring in a person who is currently receiving unemployment benefits to perform a job on a trial basis without going through the formal hiring process. The business must provide up to 24 hours of training a week for up to six weeks. During that time, the person continues to collect unemployment. It allows an employer to try before they buy, says Keith Badger, clearance technician with NH Employment Security. It also provides the unemployed with new skills. So far, 112 employers have initiated 266 training agreements, with 150 resulting in a new job, Badger says.  To learn more about the program, visit www.nh.gov/nhes/nhworking/ReturntoWork.htm.

A federal program, On the Job Training, provides funding through the Recovery Act to reimburse employers up to 90 percent of the cost to train a new employee. Companies with up to 50 employees are eligible for up to 90 percent reimbursement; companies with up to 250 employees can be reimbursed up to 75 percent. The funds are not available for seasonal positions and are only available for private sector jobs. Money is available through June 2012, though the last slots for employers to take advantage of the funds will likely be filled by the end of this summer in NH, says Maggie Hinkle, job placement coordinator with Southern NH Services. Southern NH Services partners with the NH Department of Health and Human Services and NH Works to run the program in NH.

Michael Power of the Workforce Opportunity Council, a program partner, says the program is designed to be easy for employers to use with minimal paperwork. It is also designed to encourage employers to hire full-time employees instead of temporary ones. Hinkle says it has also made employers more comfortable with hiring mature workers who have transferable skills as they now have resources to invest in training. 

Elliot Health System is among the businesses that have accessed the program, having hired seven employees so far and been reimbursed up to 50 percent of the cost of training them. Through the program, the state also helped Elliot Hospital set up a job fair to screen potential candidates.

The state also offers the NH Job Training Fund that provides matching funds to employers to upgrade worker skills. During its three year history the fund has distributed $3.5 million to 180 companies. Leveraging those funds, NH employers have invested $5.5 million in training 9,500 workers. For more information, visit www.nhjobtrainingfund.org.