Are you reluctant to hire difficult-to-bond individuals? The Federal Bonding Program can help you hire and bond high-risk applicants. For more information please visit www.bonds4jobs.com. If you are interested in applying for bonding, please contact your local SC Works center bonding coordinator and request Fidelity Bonding. Bond coverage of up to $5,000 self-terminates in six months and takes effect right after the applicant's first day of work. For longer bonding, purchase bonds through the contracted insurance company.

 

When a business takes advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program they can receive a tax credit every time they hire a new employee.

This federally-funded program will reduce your federal income tax liability when you hire unemployed veterans or individuals with documented barriers to employment.

Administered by DEW, the WOTC will provide your business with a 40 percent tax credit on eligible employees’ first year of wages after they have worked 400 hours. Qualifying wage caps apply.

With absolutely no limit on the number of qualified hires your business can claim, you can receive anywhere from $2,400 to $9,600 for each one of your eligible employees.

The program is simple. You get to make the hiring decision, and all you have to do is complete minimal paperwork to claim the tax credit.

You can electronically file your requests. Requests must be postmarked or e-filed within 28 days of the employee’s start date.

Take advantage of the WOTC program, and increase your return on investment while helping targeted employees become self-sufficient and earn a steady income.

You can benefit from hiring within the following groups:

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipient
• Disabled veterans who within in the last year were discharged or unemployed for more than six months
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients
• Columbia/Sumter Empowerment Zone / Marlboro County Rural Renewal Community residents
• Vocational Rehabilitation clients
• Recently released ex-felons
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients

For more information, contact SC WOTC Coordinator Laura Rushton at 803-737-2592 or lrushton@dew.sc.gov.

 

Get 24-hour, on-site assistance to help laid-off workers get jobs, get training, and income support if eligible. We are prepared to provide Rapid Response services regardless of the layoff or closure’s cause.

Rapid Response, an information-sharing service for employees and employers, expedites access to SC’s public workforce system and services. Its goal is to help workers get new jobs as quickly as possible. When plant closings and layoffs affect 50 or more workers, the Dislocated Worker Unit (DWU) goes into action for these reasons:

• Trade Impact
• Company Downsizing/Restructuring
• Natural Disaster
• Plant Relocation
• Bankruptcy
• Other Factors

DWU quickly contacts an employer to offer and coordinate Rapid Response services:

• When it receives a layoff notice or plant closure as the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act mandates
• When an employer voluntarily notifies a local SC Works center or DWU
• When the DWU otherwise learns of such an event.

A meeting with the company’s management staff comes first. (For unionized companies, it’s vital an employee representative attend the meeting.)

This meeting covers crucial information:

• Anticipated Layoff Schedule
• Employee Demographic Data
• Re-employment Services
• Unemployment Benefits
• Retraining Programs

Next, based on an agreed-upon schedule, the Rapid Response team informs affected workers in an Employee Group Orientation Session on-site prior to the first layoff.

Benefits of Rapid Response

Early intervention helps affected workers make informed decisions concerning their future. Providing workers information and adjustment/re-employment services before layoffs also generates a more positive attitude toward employers. It better maintains production levels as well. Pre-layoff meetings benefit employers, employees, the workforce system, and community at large, ensuring a smoother transition and better re-employment success for layoff-affected employees and families.

Need more information?

Address:
South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce
Dislocated Worker Unit
P.O. Box 1406
Columbia, SC 29202

Phone: 866.721.7867

Fax: 803.737.2119

For more information on DWU or Rapid Response, contact Michelle Paczynski. For more information on Rapid Response services, contact Gregory Fluke.

 

Who It Covers

Employers
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act generally covers employers with 100 or more employees, not counting those who worked less than six months in the last 12 months and those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week.

Private, for-profit employers and private, non-profit employers are covered, as are public and quasi-public entities which operate in a commercial context and are separately organized from the regular government.

Regular federal, state, and local government entities providing public services are not covered.

Employees
Employees entitled to notice include managers and supervisors, as well as hourly and salaried workers. Business partners aren’t entitled to notice.

Employment Loss
Employment loss is defined as:

• Employment termination, other than a discharge for cause, voluntary departure, or retirement
• A layoff exceeding 6 months, or
• A reduction in an employee's work hours of more than 50% in each month of any 6-month period

Covered Plant Closings
A covered plant closing occurs when an employment site (or one or more facilities or operating units within an employment site) will be shut down, and the shutdown will create employment loss for 50 or more covered employees during any 30-day period.

Covered Mass Layoffs
A covered plant closing occurs when an employment site (or one or more facilities or operating units within an employment site) will be shut down, and the shutdown will create employment loss for 50 or more covered employees during any 30-day period.

Note: The number of affected workers is the total number laid off during a 30-day (or in some cases 90-day) period.

Exceptions
WARN does not apply to closure of temporary facilities or the completion of an activity when workers were hired only for that activity’s duration. WARN also provides for less than 60 days’ notice when layoffs result from a faltering company’s closure, unforeseeable business circumstances, or a natural disaster.

Penalties|Sanctions
An employer who violates the WARN provisions is liable to each employee for an amount equal to back pay and benefits for the period of the violation, up to 60 days. This may be reduced by the period of any notice given, and any voluntary payments the employer made to the employee.

An employer who fails to provide the required notice to the unit of local government is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each day of violation. The employer may avoid this penalty by satisfying the liability to each employee within three weeks after the closing or layoff.

Enforcement
DEW has no administrative or enforcement responsibility under WARN and cannot provide specific advice or guidance with respect to individual situations.

The United States district courts enforce WARN requirements. Workers, representatives of employees, and units of local government may bring individual or class action suits. In any suit, the court may allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs.

Additional Information
Find specific WARN Act requirements in the act itself, Public Law 100-379 (29U.S.C.2101, et seq.).

The U.S. Department of Labor published final regulations April 20, 1989 in the Federal Register (Vol. 54, No. 75). The regulations appear at 20 CFR Part 639.

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued guides to provide workers and employers an overview of their rights and responsibilities under the WARN Act.

Visit the U.S. Department of Labor Web site or contact Ceola Coles at 202.693.3519 for more information.

Sample WARN Letter

 

We provide training funds for employees needing new skills due to new technology, restructuring, new product lines, and other factors. (Employer match required.) Funding that significantly upgrades employee skills/wages, helps avert layoffs, and improves retention opportunities receives priority.

 

Funding exists for 50 to 75 percent of wages (depending on business size) of referred new hires trained on-site as compensation for supervision and training’s high costs. Reimbursement duration depends on occupation, training content, and the new hire’s prior work experience.

 

Funding exists for 50 to 75 percent (depending on business size) of training’s costs needed to meet an employer or group of employers’ special requirements.