New program to help employers recruit employees
New program to help employers recruit employees
Newton employers scrambling to find workers have a new marketing tool.
They will now be able to offer new hires a $1,000 signing bonus, thanks to a program launching on Monday.
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller came up with the cash incentive idea modeled on a similar program I wrote about last month.
It will be funded using $220,000 of the city's federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars in partnership with MassHire Metro South/West and our chamber.
Here’s how our program, called “Newton Hires,” works:
- Unemployed and underemployed individuals who register with MassHire and take a job (20 or more hours weekly) with a registered Newton employer will qualify for a $500 cash hiring bonus after four weeks on the job.
- Once the new employee remains employed with the same business or nonprofit through the week of Dec. 20, 2021 they'll qualify for a second $500 cash bonus.
- Employees do not need to be Newton residents. Employers must have a physical brick and mortar location in Newton.
- Newton Hires is limited to the first 200 individuals who are hired in Newton and remain employed.
The only thing employers need to do to participate is register their business or nonprofit and list job openings with MassHire Metro South/West (a state funded agency focused on employment training and placement).
Details, requirements and links here. We’ve also created posters employers can share with job candidates:
Newton Hires is rolling out just weeks before 300,000 Massachusetts residents will be losing unemployment benefits on Sept. 3.
We’re grateful to Mayor Fuller for her leadership -- and funding -- and urge our other municipal leaders to consider similar incentive programs. (We'd be happy to help!)
Red tape tying up Green Cards
As if employers haven’t been having a hard enough time filling jobs, about 100,000 employment-based Green Cards may be wasted this year due to a historic backlog in processing, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Some 1.2 million immigrants —most of them Indians working in the tech sector—have been waiting for years to become permanent U.S. residents.
Unfilled Green Cards allotments don't carry over to the next year. And because of limits on how many green cards can be issued, immigrants who don’t get their green cards this year might have to wait up to half a decade before they can become permanent residents, lawyers said.
Here's a five star idea
Yelp has just added a new feature that allows customers to search for business that require proof of vaccination.
Consumers can filter businesses by two new attributes - "proof of vaccination required" and "all staff fully vaccinated" when searching for local businesses and restaurants, according to Reuters.
Businesses can also activate "masks required" and "staff wears masks" attributes on their pages.
Yelp says it has added safeguards to prevent trolls from downgrading businesses that embrace vaccines or masks, something that happened to some San Francisco restaurants which were recently hit with a wave of one star reviews.
Sales tax holiday next weekend
A reminder that Massachusetts’ 2021 sales tax holiday is set for next weekend Aug. 14 and 15.
Retail items of up to $2,500, purchased in Massachusetts for personal use on these two days, will be exempt from sales tax. FAQs here.
Tell the state about your bike habits
MassDOT is conducting a survey to learn more about why and when Massachusetts residents ride bikes. Results will inform future planning, policies and projects statewide. Take the survey through Aug. 19.
Wellesley considers dining-friendly changes
Wellesley’s Select Board is exploring loosening restrictions that have been holding back the town’s restaurant scene.
Two ideas that would really help, and were the focus of a discussion last week, are the town’s intent to dine rules and bar seating limits.
Under current rules, bar seats are capped at 10% of total capacity -- a restriction that has discouraged new operators from opening in Wellesley.
Wellesley also has an archaic “intent to dine” rule, which prohibit customers from having a drink without also ordering "a meal." (Some interpret the vague regulation to mean appetizers don't count.)
Dining habits have changed. Customers enjoy sitting at bars to socialize, watch sports and for more informal dining.
The Select Board agreed to continue exploring these issues, which would eventually need to go to Town Meeting. It’s encouraging to see that the town is open to rethinking these outdated regulations.
Needham group calls to loosen accessory apartment rules
Equal Justice Needham is calling for the town to expand accessory dwelling unit policies to make the town more welcoming and affordable.
“Lessening the ADU residency restriction to allow more people to benefit from these small units could provide much-needed housing opportunities for new people to come to Needham or allow a resident to stay in their home with the added income,” Oscar Mertz writes in a Needham Times oped.
Needham currently only allows family members or caregivers to live in accessory units.
How to pop 'the question'
“I need to ask you something that feels a little personal, so let me apologize in advance.”
That’s how one expert suggests you might begin a conversation leading into the big question of this moment: “Are you vaccinated?”
Turns out asking a coworker if they’re vaccinated doesn’t violate privacy regulations under HIPAA since you’re not their healthcare provider or insurer, and you’re asking about, not disclosing, health information, law professor Robert Gatter tells the Wall Street Journal.
Explaining why it matters to you and not being confrontational or judgmental is recommended.
?A different Journal article explores why employers remain split over workplace vax mandates.
And now, my favorite list of the month
Finally, time for my favorite list of each and every month. Join me in welcoming July’s new chamber members!
We’d be tickled to add your business or nonprofit to our August list. Go here to learn how.
That's today's Need to Knows, unless you need to know what makes squirrels the world's best acrobats. Have a great weekend.
President, Newton-Needham Regional Chamber
617-244-1688
Your chamber is here when you need us.
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