Employers offered financial allowances to hire recent grads, young laid-off workers

Central government departments released a notice recently about offering financial allowances to businesses who are willing to hire recent college graduates or young workers who have been laid off to help stabilize the nation's employment situation.

The notice, jointly released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, is a special policy formed for employers who are willing to sign labor contracts with either unemployed college students who have graduated within the past two years or young, registered workers age 16 to 24 who have been let go from their previous jobs.

These employers should pay certain benefits, such as pension and workmen's compensation insurance, to the young workers for at least a month before applying for the allowance.

According to the notice, the employers can receive a one-time 1,500-yuan ($207) allowance for each young registered jobless worker or college graduate they hire until the end of December.

Furthermore, local human resource bureaus are required to streamline administrative procedures while reviewing employers' applications for these allowances, and they should give the employers their allowances within 30 days after verifying their qualifications.

Supervision over the issuance and use of the employment allowance will be enhanced, with the provincial human resources bureaus being required to report allowance sums to the human resources ministry each month to prevent fraud.