INDIANAPOLIS —
A legislative proposal that would let companies cut costs while sparing workers’ jobs is gaining support from labor and business — and both sides of the political aisle.
Under the proposal, known as work-sharing, employers would be able to avoid mass layoffs by reducing their workers’ weekly pay and hours by 20 to 40 percent. In turn, the state would make up some of the lost wages out of its unemployment funds.
According to a report to be released today, 22 states are using work-sharing programs to counter the impact of a sluggish economy marked by stubbornly high unemployment rates.
The report, issued by the Indiana Institute for Working Families, cites economists and executives alike who said the programs are effective in keeping workers employed and companies staffed during economic hard times.
“We found that it’s not a cure-all to high unemployment, but it helps,” said Derek Thomas, a policy analyst with the institute.
Similar legislation has failed to gain traction in past sessions of the Indiana General Assembly. But supporters, citing Indiana’s steadily increasing unemployment rate, say it stands better chance in the 2012 session, which begins Jan. 4.
Both the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana AFL-CIO — traditional opponents on labor bills — have come out in support the idea.
“This is a concept everybody should like,” said Rep. Mary Ann Sullivan, an Indianapolis Democrat expected to file the bill.
“We still need to work out the details but the concept is good,” said Rep. Greg Steuerwald, a Republican from Avon who’s working with Sullivan on the bill’s language.
Their goal is to craft legislation that allows companies to hang on to their skilled workforce while temporarily cutting labor costs. While it involves a pay cut for workers, it avoids the worse alternative of joblessness, supporters say.
The Institute’s report, “Work Sharing: A Win-Win-Win Strategy for Avoiding Job Loss,” found that of the 22 states with such programs, five have implemented them since 2009.
The report found that most states incurred little additional cost, since workers in the program receive small amounts of unemployment benefits, about half of their lost wages.
The report cites Rhode Island, which started a work-sharing program in 1992. The state processed more than 12,000 claims for work sharing in 2010. State officials credit the program for averting thousands of layoffs in the last two years.
But the report also notes that work-sharing has limited appeal. It would be used mostly by employers with a skilled workforce who stand to lose those valued skills if workers are laid off during a down time.
George Raymond, of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, said the cost of recruiting and training new employees for skilled jobs is significant.
“It’s a way to keep your workforce intact,” Raymond said.
Rep. Ed Delaney, an Indianapolis Democrat who supports the bill, said keeping skilled workers employed has impact beyond a paycheck. He notes that long spells of unemployment erode workers’ skills, which make its harder for them to find employment once the economy rebounds.
Delaney favors some of the recommendations made in the report, including linking job training to the work-sharing program, requiring employers to continue paying benefits to workers whose hours and pay have been cut back, and including safe-guards against employer abuse.
“This is a program we need for today’s economy,” Delaney said. “It’s legislation that forces us to look at today’s job reality and come up with some solutions.”
Maureen Hayden is the Statehouse bureau chief for the Tribune-Star. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
Indiana Legislature
Share-a-job idea could save jobs in Indiana, supporters say
- Indiana Legislature
-
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
INDIANAPOLIS — An overhaul of Indiana’s criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison has been approved by the Legislature.
-
Budget deal calls for 5 percent income tax cut
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana taxpayers will see their personal income tax rate reduced by 5 percent over the next four years under a budget plan agreed to by state lawmakers.
-
Revoked charters could be forgiven $12M in loans
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering forgiving $12 million in loans that “failing” charter schools accepted from the state.
-
Indiana House set to vote on school safety grant plan
INDIANAPOLIS — A stripped-down proposal that would start a state grant program toward helping school districts hire police officers and buy safety equipment is set to be voted on by Indiana legislators.
-
Indiana Senate approves minimal voucher expansion
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate is signing off on a limited expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
-
Group, bill promote natural gas fueling stations
INDIANAPOLIS — Natural gas advocates want to create incentives for building fueling stations across the state in hopes that more people will operate vehicles using alternative fuels.
-
Senate OKs smaller tax cut than Pence wants
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be holding firm to his demand for a 10-percent income tax cut, despite some movement from Senate Republicans who are willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Pence: Indiana Senate GOP income tax cut not enough
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence says an income tax cut in the Indiana Senate’s proposed budget is a start but he’ll still push for the $500 million cut he has proposed.
-
Indiana Senate leader against school guns mandate
INDIANAPOLIS — The leader of the Indiana Senate has come out against a proposal that would require all public schools in the state to have an employee armed with a loaded gun.
-
House panel approves HIP expansion, strips grants
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana House panel has altered a plan that would use the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in the state.
-
Bill seeks in-state tuition for some immigrants
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering rolling back the state’s two-year-old immigration law so that illegal immigrants who were attending public colleges then would again be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
-
Bill for tougher Indiana abortion pill law advances
INDIANAPOLIS — A legislative committee has endorsed a proposal that would make Indiana clinics that provide only abortion drugs face the same requirements as clinics that perform surgical abortions.
-
Bill to ban Indiana teacher union deductions advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana public schools would be prohibited from handling paycheck deductions for teachers union dues under a proposal endorsed by a Republican-led legislative committee.
-
Bill advances shifting Indiana voucher oversight
INDIANAPOLIS — A Republican-controlled legislative committee has approved a proposal to shift administration of Indiana’s private school voucher program away from the new Democratic state schools superintendent.
-
Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back
INDIANAPOLIS — Republican lawmakers have scaled back a large proposed expansion of Indiana’s private school voucher system.
-
Pence unhappy with GOP budget, Dems seek tax vote
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence is deriding House Republicans’ state budget plan that would replace his proposed tax cut with more spending on roads and education.
-
Grants proposed to add police at Indiana schools
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers say they hope to improve security at schools around the state by offering grants toward hiring police officers and buying safety equipment.
-
Indiana Sunday alcohol sales ban likely to remain
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s longtime ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales will likely continue for at least another year as a vote isn’t being scheduled on a bill to lift it.
-
Indiana bill targets undercover video ‘vigilantes’
INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate panel has approved a bill that would make it a crime to take photographs or shoot footage at Indiana’s farms and businesses without the owner’s permission.
-
Bill would give high-performing schools more flexibility
After focusing on failing schools in recent legislative sessions, some Indiana lawmakers say it’s time to reward high-performing schools with more money and more flexibility.
-
Indiana Senate approves right to hunt, farm proposal
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana voters would decide in next year’s election whether to add the right to hunt, fish and farm to the state constitution under a proposal approved by state senators.
-
Indiana lawmakers push for Sunday alcohol sales
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers hoping to allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday are facing opposition from liquor store owners, who worry the policy could put them out of business.
-
Bill advances to loosen Indiana superintendent rules
INDIANAPOLIS — School superintendents would no longer have to hold an Indiana superintendent’s or teacher’s license under a bill endorsed today by an Indiana House committee.
-
Bill aims to tighten Indiana laws over ‘bath salts’
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana legislators are again trying to toughen state laws that prohibit businesses from selling synthetic drugs known as “bath salts” and other nicknames.
-
Cold medicines could face tighter Indiana limits
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana Senate committee has backed tougher limits on quantities consumers may buy of cold medications that can be used to make methamphetamine.
-
Indiana senators seek new social networking ban
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Republican lawmakers are looking for a new way to keep registered sex offenders off social media one week after a federal appeals court found a previous ban unconstitutional.
-
Indiana House OKs looser rules on selling old schools
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House has approved a bill that would shorten the time that school districts must hold onto vacant buildings in case a charter school operator wanted to move into the building.
-
Indiana lawmakers don sneakers for anti-cancer effort
INDIANAPOLIS — Numerous Indiana lawmakers and staff members are wearing sneakers around the Statehouse as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer activity sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
-
UPDATE: Indiana lawmakers consider protecting right to hunt
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers have delayed action on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.
-
Top Indiana senator seeks gas plant contract review
A top Indiana senator is calling for a review of Indiana’s plans to subsidize a proposed coal-gasification plant.
- More Indiana Legislature Headlines
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
Fatal Hot Air Balloon Accident in Turkey
Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest
Raw: Tornadoes Spotted in Kansas
Raw: Heavy Tornado Damage in Shawnee, Okla
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
'Babyland': Camp Lejeune's Toxic Legacy?
Raw: Accused US Spy Reportedly Leaves Russia
Today in History for May 20th
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
AP CEO: Records Seizure 'Unconstitutional'
Obama Exhorts Good Deeds by Morehouse Graduates
Today in History for May 19th
Winning Powerball Ticket Sold in Florida
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Raw: Gun Scare Mars Cannes Film Festival
One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House
RAW: Russian dash cam catches car 20 feet in the air
Singer Miguel Accidentally Lands on Fan At Billboard Music Awards
Steak n' Shake waitress scores huge tip
Justin Bieber Gets Booed After Winning at the Billboard Awards
Singer forgets lyrics, makes up words to National Anthem
Who is $600M Powerball winner in Fla.?
Top 5 Plays of the Day
Sailor Surprises His Mom At Her CU Denver Graduation Ceremony
Twiggy, the Waterskiing Squirrel
Official: ‘Amazing’ No One Was Killed In CT Train Crash
Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder
Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner
Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Beyonce Is Pregnant!
SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT
