AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s Department of Labor is launching a new program this month aimed at keeping workers on the job while their employers experience temporary slowdowns in business.
A program called WorkShare allows workers to stay on the job with reduced hours and still collect limited unemployment benefits to partially offset their loss in wages.
Labor Commissioner Robert Winglass says WorkShare helps businesses and employees.
It allows companies to keep their work force during tough times, while workers can retain their benefits and job seniority while collecting benefits so they can stay on the job and not have go elsewhere for work.
The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Rep. Diane Russell of Portland, says the program has worked in other states and now Maine has an opportunity to make it work. Twenty states have similar programs.
Excellent!
Germany does this as factories that have downturns in orders get to hang onto skilled workers and skilled workers get to hold onto their jobs during economic downturns.
The downtime can also be used for training, or employees get to attend to family matters that need attention. Everybody wins!
This smacks of another Democrat utopian boondoggle. We’ll see. Color me skeptical.
Agreed. Success depends on how the implementation rules are written. If there’s too much potential for unchecked abuse either by employers or employees it’ll turn into something that benefits neither.
So you’d rather they have no job and just collect unemployment?
its an okay idea, Just keeps people doing the same ole job to which some people would want to get laid off and try something new maybe.