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Covid-19: CT Unveils $1,000 Signing Bonus As Incentive To Get Back To Work

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is offering extra incentives to get residents back to work after suffering through long-term unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Connecticut is offering a cash incentive to get people back to work.

Connecticut is offering a cash incentive to get people back to work.

Photo Credit: Pixabay/NikolayFrolochkin

Lamont announced a new “Back To Work CT Program,” which will provide a one-time $1,000 bonus payment to 10,000 long-term unemployed people living in Connecticut to encourage them to get new jobs.

According to Lamont, “the program is designed to encourage long-term unemployed individuals to find work.”


“Although Connecticut’s economy added 17,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2021 and the pace of the recovery is accelerating as the pandemic subsides, many residents who lost their jobs during COVID-19 are still struggling to find good-paying work appropriate to their skills and their families’ needs,” he noted.

To be eligible for the “Back To Work CT Program,” workers must:

  • Have filed an unemployment claim with the State of Connecticut for the week immediately prior to (Sunday) May 30, 2021;
  • Obtain and maintain a full-time job for a period of eight consecutive weeks prior to Dec. 31, 2021; and
  • Not receive unemployment compensation during the required eight-week period of employment.

“This is the latest tool in our toolbox to maximize our state’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic,” Lamont said.

“We have already proposed millions of new investment in programs aimed at supporting our residents when it comes to workforce development, one of the largest expansions in affordable childcare in our state’s history, and investment in our urban centers aimed at providing more opportunity that will lead to stronger communities.”

The program is being administered by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, which is creating a form on its websites for individuals to apply within the coming days.

Initial applications will be accepted eight weeks from the start date of the program, and workers will be eligible to receive only one incentive payment.

“The Department of Revenue Services is proud to work with Governor Lamont and colleagues in the administration on this timely investment in our state and our people,” Revenue Services Commissioner Mark Boughton stated.

“The Back to Work CT initiative offers a tangible incentive to those taking affirmative steps to transition from unemployment back to the workforce. These and other innovative efforts will continue to fuel economic growth and with it, Connecticut’s comeback.”

Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby noted that “this pandemic disproportionately struck women, people of color, and low-income workers, and it happened almost overnight.


“The successful vaccine rollout and the focus on getting childcare back in place will allow many workers to go back to their jobs and start to rebuild.” 

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