U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Employer Views about the Short-Time Compensation Program: A Survey and Analysis in Four States Final Report Contract Number: DOLQ121A21885 Task Order: DOLU121A21916 September 30, 2015 Authors David Balducchi, Stephen Wandner, Annelies Goger, Zachary Miller, Sandeep Shetty, Cassandra Agbayani, Jasmine Eucogco Submitted to: Submitted by: Gloribel Nieves-Cartagena Sandeep Shetty Office of Policy Development and Research IMPAQ International, LLC Room N5641 10420 Little Patuxent Parkway #310 Employment and Training Administration Columbia, MD 21044 U.S. Department of Labor www.impaqint.com 200 Constitution Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20210 This project has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under Contract Number DOLQ121A21885-DOLU121A21916. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................ iii Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. iv Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..viii Chapter One. Survey Results: Characteristics of Employer Respondents ................................ 1 1.1 Survey Responses .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Type of Employer..................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Industry Sector ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Employer Size .......................................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Employer Length of Time in Business.................................................................................... 10 1.6 Employee Skill Levels of STC Respondents ............................................................................ 11 1.7 Fringe Benefits Offered to Employees by STC Respondents ................................................. 12 1.8 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 13 Chapter Two. Survey Results: Composition and Use of STC Employer Respondents’ Plans .... 14 2.1 Employer STC Application Submissions ................................................................................ 14 2.2 STC Plan Composition at the Time of Application ................................................................. 17 2.3 STC Plans Approved, Denied, and Withdrawn ...................................................................... 19 2.4 STC Plan Use .......................................................................................................................... 20 2.5 Eventual Layoffs .................................................................................................................... 21 2.6 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 22 Chapter Three. Survey Results: Employer Perceptions of the STC Program: Awareness, Opinions, and Perceived Outcomes...................................................................................... 24 3.1 Employer Awareness of the Short-Time Compensation Program ........................................ 24 3.2 Employers’ Opinions of the STC Program ............................................................................. 28 3.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 38 Chapter Four. Findings and Recommendations .................................................................... 39 4.1 Key Findings, Program Implications, and Recommendations ............................................... 39 4.2 How the STC Program Has Changed over Time .................................................................... 46 4.3 Recommended Further Research .......................................................................................... 47 4.4 Overall Study Findings ........................................................................................................... 49 IMPAQ International, LLC Page i Short-Time Compensation Final Report Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 52 Appendix A. State Selection and Survey Methods ................................................................ 53 Appendix B. Additional Survey Methodology ....................................................................... 61 Appendix C. Employer Questionnaire ................................................................................... 73 Appendix D. STC History and Literature Review ................................................................. 100 Appendix E. Study States During the Study Period, 2008 – 2013: Economic Conditions, Laws, Policies, Procedures and Program Outcomes ..................................................................... 117 Appendix F. State Administrative Data: Analysis of STC Participation and Usage in Each Study State…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 127 Appendix G. STC Policies, Laws and Administrative Practices ............................................. 142 Appendix H. Additional Tables and Charts of Survey Responses ......................................... 180 Appendix I. Case Study of The STC Program In Washington ................................................ 196 Appendix J. Qualitative Feedback from Employers ............................................................. 210 References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………219 IMPAQ International, LLC Page ii Short-Time Compensation Final Report ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IMPAQ International is pleased to contribute to the body of research on improvements to labor policy in times of economic recession and, specifically, to support the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) initiative to obtain feedback from employers on the Short-Time Compensation (STC) program. The IMPAQ team is grateful for the ongoing support, advice, and guidance from Gloribel Nieves-Cartagena and Wayne Gordon throughout this project. This project greatly benefited from the experience, expertise, and leadership of the subject matter experts, David Balducchi and Stephen Wandner. They made vital contributions throughout this project, were the lead authors for key sections of the final report, and provided invaluable insights for interpreting and contextualizing the survey results. Thanks to Russell Saltz for his leadership throughout the survey design and survey implementation process and to Sandeep Shetty for adeptly guiding the project to completion in the final stages. Annelies Goger, along with Zachary Miller, Cassandra Agbayani, and Jasmine Eucogco at IMPAQ, each played an instrumental role in leading and conducting the research, analysis, and report-writing activities. Thanks to Amy Djangali, who implemented the survey data collection, and to Luke Patterson, Timothy Griffith, Sharanjit Toor, Colleen McLelland, and Alex Tenaglio for their research assistance and support. We thank all the DOL staff members who drafted specifications for the project, and later provided valuable comments to the drafts of the study design and final report. We also appreciate the helpful information provided to the IMPAQ team by DOL staff members Humberto Costa, Lidia Fiore, Steve Massey, Robert Pavosevich, Nicole Roberson, Norris Tyler, Ron Wilus, and Lois Zuckerman. We are grateful to Wayne Vroman, who conducted a critical review of the draft final report and provided beneficial comments. Finally, without the support, knowledge, guidance, and facilitation of our state agency leads in Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Washington, we could not have accomplished this study. We are indebted to state agency leads: Jennifer Wise (Kansas), Jim Hegman (Minnesota), Kathy Catanzaro (Rhode Island), and Cheryl Brown (Washington). We thank the colleagues of these state agency leads that ably guided and supported them: Kansas: Brett Flachsbarth, Anita Stamps, Sharon Kinsley, Sheila Morelock, Glenn Griffith, Diane Page, and David Seutter; Minnesota: Linda Koopmans and Dan Wander; Rhode Island: Elizabeth McCaughey, Joan DiSanto, and Robert Langlais; Washington: Donna Glacken, Neil Gorrell, Bill Culliton, Judy Johnson, Allen Walker, and Greg- Jasperson. We thank the staff members from the four state agencies for reviewing and improving draft descriptions of their STC programs. Any remaining errors in the descriptions of their state programs are ours. IMPAQ International, LLC Page iii Short-Time Compensation Final Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) contracted with IMPAQ International, LLC (IMPAQ) to conduct a study of employer views about the Short-Time Compensation (STC) Program. The purpose of STC is to help preserve jobs, especially during disruptions to regular business activity. Employers use STC to avoid layoffs by spreading