Employing a new strategy

Texas-based Indeed works up new $10 million program to help Americans find jobs

Indeed is keeping up the good work with its newest initiative.

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Texas-based job website Indeed has kicked off a $10 million program aimed at assisting Americans who are struggling to find work.

The Essentials to Work initiative will help job seekers in the U.S. gain access to technology and transportation, as well as access to services that clear criminal records.

Half of the money, or $5 million, is going toward a partnership with the nonprofit PCs for People to provide electronic devices, connect public housing properties to Wi-Fi, and set up mobile hot spots for 10,000 lower-income people. Organizations like Austin Free-Net and Refugee Services of Texas are distributing the electronic devices at no cost to recipients.

In addition, Indeed, which is based in Austin, has pledged $2.5 million to provide services for job seekers who have previous arrests or convictions that are eligible to be removed from their criminal records. The Texas Fair Defense Project is among the beneficiaries of this money.

Indeed also is chipping in $1.5 million for a Lyft program to provide free rides to people for job interviews, job training, and other work-related purposes.

The remaining $1 million is being earmarked for Goodwill’s ongoing efforts to help job seekers.

Indeed’s Essentials to Work program also will enable job seekers to create accounts, produce resumes, and complete interviews through the job website.

“Job seekers struggling economically need high-quality work options now, and Indeed can help — that’s what we do,” Parisa Fatehi-Weeks, senior director of global community impact at Indeed, says in a news release. “We know that there are a myriad of barriers that can make finding quality work difficult. While the barriers we are tackling here — access to the internet, transportation, and legal help for criminal record clearing — are only a few of them, they affect far too many people. We want to help.”

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Don't Toss That Dough

Department of Labor launches tool to get 15,000 Texans their unclaimed wages

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There's a new tool online for checking for owed wages.

On December 3, the U.S. Department of Labor announced via news release that about 15,000 Texans are owed more than $11 million in unclaimed wages. Luckily, the Department of Labor has a new user-friendly program called Workers Owed Wages online tool (WOW), so you can easily find out if you're one of the Texans owed money.

The tool works in both English and Spanish, and the release encourages users to submit their information before the end of the year. A step-by-step guide is available below.

When companies don't properly pay their workers’ wages, they may be investigated by the Department of Labor. If the Department of Labor finds that back wages are due, the company must generally resolve this by mailing out a check to employees' last known address. If they can't find a worker, though — maybe they moved — the money goes back to the Department of Labor to be held.

If the money isn't claimed within three years, it goes to the U.S. Treasury, and ultimately into the pockets of Congress to spend.

"We don't want this money," says deputy regional director of the U.S. Department of Labor Public Affairs Office Juan J. Rodríguez, who explained some details in a call with another regional representative and CultureMap. "Let's be honest. This is a drop in the bucket for the Treasury Department. We don't want them to have it; we would rather the workers get it, because it's their money."

Across the nation there's more than $150 million in back wages due to about 145,000 workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Austin community outreach and resource planning specialist, Rogelio A. Colón.

"It's a lot of money," says Colón. He adds that many of the workers missing these wages are the ones who need it most. Oftentimes these are people in the construction or food industries, without a permanent residence.

"We really want to ensure that they hear about this, and they claim their money," says Colón. "They've earned it."

Here's how it works:

Search for your employer: Enter your present or former employer's name in the WOW application to find your company. Note: Not all companies are going to populate here; just the ones who have paid back wages that weren't received.
Verify your name: Type your full name into the system. WOW will confirm if wages are owed to you.
Submit your contact information: Add your contact details and email address so the Department of Labor can send you the Back Wage Claim Form and instructions.
Upload signed claim form and documents: Check your email for the Back Wage Claim Form (WH-60). Complete and sign it, then create a login.gov account to upload your form. You'll need to include a photo of one of the following to verify your identity:
- Social Security card
- Individual Taxpayer Identification (ITIN) card
- Driver's license or State ID
- W-2, pay stub or other documentation
Processing and payment: After you submit your Back Wages Claim Form, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will process it and send you a check for your owed wages.

Even though the instructional video on the website indicates you may "find extra money just when your family needs it," it will likely take about six weeks to receive payment.

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