Programs offered by the Office of Workforce Grant and Program Management benefit employers.

Customized Training: New Jersey’s Workforce Development partnership program was established in 1992. One provision of the law provides grant funding for customized skills training for workers and businesses located in New Jersey. The Workforce Development Partnership is funded through a dedicated assessment on workers and their employers and is a key component in the governor’s economic growth strategy.

Applications for funding are customized to meet specific business needs, with an emphasis on training front-line workers. In accordance with the Workforce Development Partnership law, most of the individuals receiving customized training will be trained primarily for work in the direct production of good and services.

The Customized Training program benefits both employees and business by enhancing the skills of workers, thereby increasing their productivity and the competitiveness of the employer. This investment by the state is expected to result in the creation of new jobs, the retention of jobs and an increase in wages for the trained workers.

Literacy Training: The New Jersey Supplemental Workforce Fund for Basic Skills (SWFBS) program provides funding for basic skills programs to promote adult literacy in the workplace by providing basic skills training for unemployed and employed workers. The SWFBS is funded through employer and employee assessments from payroll contributions. The SWFBS law allocates a portion of the funding for basic skills in training for incumbent workers employed by businesses located in New Jersey. The incumbent worker training grants awarded from these funds are known as Literacy Skills Grants. The SWFBS was established in 2001.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development sets a priority on awarding grants that demonstrate clear and meaningful outcomes. The key outcomes established for literacy skills grants are wage gain, opportunities for career advancement for workers in low-wage, lower-skill occupations, and job creation. The Department continues to consider and award grant applications that focus on job retention. The applicant must provide a justification that clearly demonstrates that the proposed training in basic literacy skills will materially impact on the business decision to maintain jobs in New Jersey or avert a layoff.

If you’re interested: Call the Office of Customized Training at (609) 633-6799 or visit us online here.

• Youth Transitions To Work Program (YTTWP): This program establishes new apprenticeship programs for high-wage, high-skill labor demand occupations, and links these programs with existing apprenticeship programs in secondary schools and institutions of higher education. Local consortia of businesses, business organizations, labor organizations and educational institutions can apply for funding to implement such an initiative. YTTWP seeks to provide effective transitions for high school graduates into new and existing apprenticeship programs, thereby creating opportunities for life-long occupationally relevant learning and career advancement.

If interested: Call (609) 633-6799

• Registered Apprenticeship Incentive Program offers employers financial resources to upgrade the skills of employees through the federal Registered Apprenticeship Program. The incentive program offsets for the employer apprenticeship training-related costs such as on-the-job training, related classroom instruction, supervision by a journey person, or remediation of basic skills. Upon approval of a mini-grant application, employers sponsoring apprentices can be eligible for up to $5,000 of financial assistance.

If interested: Call (609) 633-6799

• New Jersey Builders Utilization Initiative for Labor Diversity (NJBUILD): In an effort to correct the under-representation of women and minorities in the heavy equipment and construction trades, NJBUILD provides funding to consortia of employers, labor organizations, community organizations and training providers to provide workforce readiness and vocational training to women and minorities. Graduates of the program will be given the opportunity to pursue entry-level apprenticeship programs in the construction trades. In addition, the WomenBuild program will provide women and female ex-offenders residing in Camden and Essex counties training and case management services with the goal of placement into a registered apprenticeship occupation. The program is funded by a transfer of 1/2 of 1% of all state construction projects to the NJBUILD program.

If interested: Call (609) 633-6799

The Office of Business Services offers several programs for employers.

• Business Outreach Initiative promotes economic prosperity and job growth in New Jersey primarily through recruitment and training initiatives. A team of locally out-stationed representatives provides the business community an increased awareness of, and direct access to, the menu of available government business services. This service can positively impact operating costs, workforce development and production.

If interested: Call (609) 292-2074

• Business Resource Centers: Qualified and knowledgeable Business Representatives assist employer recruitment efforts, offer information about programs and services designed to ensure business success in New Jersey, and provide employers with a professional environment in which to conduct business. Co-located at One-Stop Career Centers, each Business Resource Center is equipped with meeting space, PCs, photocopiers, telephones, fax machines, projectors, informational brochures, and access to labor market and demographic research—all at no cost to employers. See Directory at the end of this handbook for locations.

• Response Team: For employers who are restructuring and are contemplating layoffs, the Response Team can: plan and deliver on-site services to assist the affected workers with reemployment services, unemployment insurance filing and retraining services; provide staff support to establish and operate a workplace layoff transition committee; and provide on-site job-search skills development and resume-writing workshops.

If interested: Call 1-800-343-3919

• Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program is a federal program that offers employers tax incentives to hire individuals from certain targeted groups. Some of these groups are low-income and/or welfare individuals, ex-felons, individuals with disabilities, veterans who have received food stamps, and summer youth. Hiring workers from any of the targeted groups can earn an employer a tax credit of up to $2,400 for the first year of employment. The number of new hires that can qualify employers for these tax credits is unlimited.

For more information, call (609) 292-2600 or (609) 292-8112 or visit the United States Department of Labor online here.

• Alien Labor Certification Program permits U.S. employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary or permanent basis to fill jobs essential to the U.S. economy. Certification may be obtained when an employer can show that there are insufficient qualified U.S. workers available and willing to perform the work. The wages must meet or exceed the average wage paid for that occupation in the area of intended employment. Alien labor certification programs are designed to assure that allowing foreign workers into the United States on a permanent or temporary basis will not adversely affect the job opportunities, wages, and working conditions of U.S. workers.

For the H-2B program for temporary nonagricultural work, which may be one-time, seasonal, peak load or intermittent, call (609) 292-2900. For the H-2A program for temporary agriculture employment, call (609) 777-1838.

For information on the permanent alien employment programs, visit the Web site of United States Department of Labor online here.