Training Workers When
$10,000 training rebates launch for West Virginia employers
The program covers upskilling costs only when the worker gets an approved credential and the new pay is at least 25% higher than the old wage. Public bodies and foreign nonprofit corporations are left out.
West Virginia’s new training reimbursement program is built to reward companies that develop talent from within. Employers also have to keep payroll and training records, and the records they submit to the state are exempt from public disclosure.
- Employers could be reimbursed for part of worker training costs.
- Workers would need an upskill credential and a raise of at least 25 percent.
- The new wage would also have to top West Virginia’s average weekly wage.
- The Division of Economic Development would administer the program.
- Employers would face reimbursement caps and record-keeping rules.
In West Virginia, lawmakers are weighing a program that would pay employers back for some of the cost of training workers when that training leads to a new credential and a meaningful raise. The Recharge West Virginia Program would be run by the Division of Economic Development and is built around upskilling, or training that helps a worker stay employed or move up to a better job.
The idea is simple. If a company invests in training and the worker comes out with an upskill credential and a higher wage, the state could help cover part of the bill.
Who could qualify
The bill would not open the program to every employer. A qualifying employer would have to be based in West Virginia, registered with the Secretary of State and in good standing on unemployment compensation matters. Public bodies would not be eligible, and foreign nonprofit corporations would also be excluded.
Workers would need to meet their own tests too. An eligible employee would have to be a current employee, not an independent contractor, and would need to have lived in West Virginia for the previous six months and worked full time for the previous six months.
The training itself would have to be tied to an upskill credential. The bill says that could mean an industry-recognized credential or another credential the employer says is needed to improve the worker’s skill level.
The raise has to be real
The wage increase would have to be more than a small bump. Under the proposal, the worker’s new wage would need to be at least 25 percent above the base wage and also above West Virginia’s average weekly wage.
The state would not reimburse employers for training just because it happened. Companies would need to show the training plan, the job tied to it, proof that the worker qualified, the worker’s starting wage, the expected wage after training, the dates of the training and payroll records showing the raise.
A company could not be paid twice for the same training cost under another state-funded reimbursement program. If duplicate reimbursement is found, the employer would have to pay it back.
Paperwork, limits and privacy
The reimbursement would come with limits. An employer could receive up to $10,000 for training one employee, and no employer could receive more than $50,000 in a fiscal year.
The bill also sets record-keeping rules. Employers would have to keep training and payroll records for five years and provide them to the state if asked. Those records would be exempt from public disclosure.
The proposal also says employers would need to alert the division if they later cut the worker’s pay. If the division decides the cut was not justified, that could count against the employer in a future application.