Concord, NH – On June 7th, the state submitted two items before the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee ahead of their June 17, 2022 meeting. These two items are aimed at retaining and recruiting new and existing state workers in an effort to better compete in today’s competitive job market.

“Public service is amazingly rewarding, but it is not immune from the workforce shortages that exist in virtually every sector of our economy,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “These programs offer financial incentive to those providing critical care while at the same time, entice employees system wide to help recruit qualified, motivated individuals to join us in state service. A win-win.”

The first initiative, aimed at recruiting workers is a referral program that allows existing state employees to refer new hires to the state. If an individual is hired based on the referral of an existing state employee and starts work before June 30, 2023 and works for at least three months, a financial award will be split between the referring employee and new hire. $1,000 to each individual if the new hire is hired for a full-time position, and $500 to each individual if the new hire is hired for a part-time position.

The second initiative, aimed at retaining existing workers will provide cash bonuses to state employees who provide direct care or work in institutional settings that provide direct medical or mental health care and/or work in a state-run institutional setting, such as a hospital, prison, or retention/treatment facility. These positions are not eligible for telework. Individuals who currently work in these settings or are hired before July 1, 2022, and remain in their positions or another critical position through November 17, 2022, would receive $2,000 to full-time employees and $500 to part time employees.