New Job Training Bill May Not Be Approved [AUDIO]

The Assembly Labor Committee has given the green light to legislation dubbed the "Back to Work NJ program."

The measure is designed to create jobs and economic growth by allowing unemployed New Jerseyans to get on-the-job training from potential employers.

The bill permits an eligible laid off worker to continue receiving unemployment insurance benefits while placed in on-the-job training with an eligible employer for a maximum of 24 hours per week, for up to six weeks.

It also provides each trainee up to a hundred dollars per week to help defray training-related costs, including transportation, clothing and child care.

Additionally, the bill requires the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development to monitor eligible participants and eligible employers who participate, to ascertain whether the training provided by the program complies with the requirements. If the Department determines that an employer has a repeated pattern of using eligible participants as unpaid labor without hiring them as employees, or otherwise fails to comply with the requirements, it may impose penalties, and shall disqualify the employer from further participation.

Assemblyman Craig Coughlin, a member of the Labor panel, says the measure is similar to legislation that was approved by lawmakers but then rejected by Governor Christie earlier this year, however "the bill that the Governor vetoed was part of a package of vetoes and he didn't specifically in his veto address this bill…and it did have a more significant price tag the last time - it was a 10 million dollar bill (while the new version calls for 3 million dollars in funding).

Coughlin says "what is critical is that we continue to do things to find jobs for New Jerseyans…the unemployment rate at the time the Governor vetoed the bill was 9-point-1 percent - the unemployment rate today is 9-point-1 percent , so clearly what we've been doing hasn't provided the kind of relief we need…we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in employer opportunities - to stimulate business - which is something that I think is appropriate - but we also need to invest in workers."

The measure now heads to the full Assembly for consideration.