Carteret UEZ Newsletter

Reimburse Employers - NJ Return-To-Work Initiative
Are you ready to grow your business? New Jersey is offering a new program to make it easier for employers to hire new workers. The RETURN-To-Work initiative will reimburse employers for part of a new employee’s wages, to offset the extraordinary costs of their on-the-job training.

RETURN-To-Work is designed to get long-term unemployed New Jerseyans back on the payroll. The workers eligible for this program have exhausted all available state and federal unemployment benefits. They’re experienced members of the workforce who are ready to work for you.

Under the RETURN-To-Work program, any private-sector employer can be reimbursed for a portion of an eligible new employee’s hourly wage rate for up to 12 weeks. You can receive a grant of up to $2,400 to offset the costs of training a new staff person in a job with your business. Employers must guarantee employment for new workers in this program for at least 12 more weeks after receiving reimbursement.

RETURN-To-Work is a win-win program. You gain an employee with work experience and a grant to help with the costs of on-the-job training; your new hire gains a job and on-the-job training for their new position. RETURN-To-Work also facilitates matches between employers and job seekers, by directing qualified applicants with the appropriate skill sets to employers’ job postings.

Employers are reimbursed for costs up to $5 an hour toward the pay of a newly-hired worker, to partially defray the extraordinary costs of on-the-job training.
Grants are capped at $2,400 per new hire for up to 12 weeks
Employers must pay new hires at least $15 an hour
Employers must retain new hires in employment for at least six months
The new hire(s) must increase the employer’s total employment head count (new hires cannot displace existing employees)
Only employers with no open tax liabilities or delinquencies may participate

Apply online at nj.gov/labor/employers
We will notify eligible job seekers of your job opening and arrange for them to contact you
You interview and hire a new employee, from any source, who has run out of unemployment benefits
You complete the remaining online application, identifying the new-hire candidate(s) and spelling out the job duties and on-the-job training plan for each new worker
After we approve the plan, you and your newly-hired worker complete the online application
Your new hire joins your workforce at no less than $15 per hour and receives up to 12 weeks of on-the-job training
You submit an electronic invoice and get reimbursed for up to $2,400
You retain the newly-hired employee in the job for at least 12 more weeks

You can find more information about this and other programs online at nj.gov/labor.