In collaboration with Appleseed Centers in Alabama, Nebraska and South Carolina, and with funding from the Ford Foundation, Senior Fellow Diana Stone has been working on a project to help small businesses connect their employees with federal benefits. She writes, "Many small businesses often lack the profit margins to pay higher wages or important benefits to their workers.  When employees can’t afford the basic necessities and struggle with health care and child care costs, the result is absenteeism, lack of productivity, and employee turnover.  But, employers have more to offer their employees than they realize: a variety of government-funded work support programs are designed to step in to provide needed assistance with food, health care, child care, and tax credits. These programs help working families make ends meet, while providing businesses with stable, trained employees at no extra cost.

An Appleseed survey of 100 small businesses in Washington showed that 84% of Washington employers supported their low-wage workers enrolling in programs they qualify for.  Most importantly, about 80% of them would be willing to distribute information to their employees about the programs and help them with the paperwork.  Washington Appleseed has created informational "toolkits" for these small business employers.  The toolkits describe four benefit programs and include suggestions for how they can help their employees learn about and access the benefits.  Washington Appleseed is also providing packets for employers to distribute to their employees containing fact sheets about each program and how to apply.

These toolkits will be distributed through collaborations with small business owners and business groups across Washington.  They are also available on our website at http://www.waappleseed.org/article_27.shtml .

If you know of a small business owner who would like to participate in a pilot project to distribute these packets to their workforce, please contact Senior Fellow Diana Stone at dstone@waappleseed.org