Work share legislation was the focus of Senate Bill 347, authored by Sen. Eric Bassler (R-Washington), which passed the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee for the first time this year.

Work share is a voluntary and cost-effective alternative to traditional unemployment benefits. In lieu of laying off a number of employees entirely during an economic downturn, an employer elects to retain those employees and reduce the hours of all employees or of a particular group or department. Those employees are then permitted to draw partial unemployment compensation benefit based upon the reduced hours.

The Chamber was cautiously optimistic about work share legislation this session, but unfortunately procedural hurdles near the end of the first half of session stymied SB 347’s progress.

The Indiana Chamber has made work share a priority for several years. Receiving a positive vote from the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee is a notable step forward, and the Chamber continues to advocate for this legislation to get passed into law in 2024. We would like to thank Sen. Bassler and other members of the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee for their ardent support of SB 347.

Ashton Eller is the Indiana Chamber’s vice president of health care and employment law. For the prior 14 years, Eller worked at the organization in other roles – the last five as manager of political affairs. Previously, he spent two years at the Indiana Department of Labor. Eller also is a former president and member of the Indiana State Fair Board of Directors, elected from District 7.