U.S. Department of Labor Announces $1.8M in Grants To Promote Short-Time Compensation in Missouri

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced two grants, totaling $1,834,214, awarded to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to improve and promote its Short-Time Compensation program. Using Short-Time Compensation, employers can keep workers on the payroll at reduced work hours and those workers can supplement their reduced wages with a partial unemployment benefit payment.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020, provides up to $100 million for grants to states to implement or improve a Short-Time Compensation program and for the promotion to and enrollment of employers. The maximum amount available to each state is set in statute. Missouri was the first state to apply and receive the maximum amount available. 

“Short-Time Compensation programs are an important tool that can help Americans get back to work,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia. “The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act provided funding for States to implement and expand their Short-Time Compensation programs, and I’m pleased Missouri is stepping forward to take advantage of these funds. I encourage other States to consider implementing or improving their STC programs.

Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch added, “Short-Time Compensation is a win for employers, a win for workers and a win for local economies.” 

A Short-Time Compensation program enables an employer, under a state-approved plan, to reduce the hours for a group of workers who, in turn, receive a reduced unemployment benefit payment. In the context of re-opening businesses closed temporarily by the pandemic, STC can serve as a means of bringing large portions of a temporarily laid-off workforce back to the job. States may make this benefit available to individuals returning to work with reduced hours who worked for the employer prior to the temporary layoff due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Missouri proposes to use these grant funds to make sure its businesses are aware of STC and its advantages, to enroll more businesses in the program, and to streamline reporting to the unemployment agency by participating employers and workers.

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.