Nearly 180 current and former employees of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. qualify for federal help finding new jobs and other benefits because their old ones were outsourced abroad, state labor officials say.
About 144 processing and clerical workers in The Hartford’s Farmington claims branch who lost or will lose their jobs or have their hours cut between Nov. 6, 2008 and March 16, 2012 are eligible, the Connecticut Labor Department said.
In addition, 35 people in The Hartford’s Simsbury information technology/claims division qualify for federal aid, the agency said. Workers affected between Dec.17, 2008 and on or before April 1, 2012 are eligible.
The workers were qualified under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program that aids Americans whose jobs are shipped overseas.
The Hartford’s clerical and white-collar workers stand out because typically manufacturing and other blue-collar jobs lost overseas have gotten support from the federal assistance program.
The state labor department said eligibility notices are being mailed to The Hartford’s affected workers.
Assistance will be in the form of tax credits to cover extended health coverage; job search and relocation allowance and job training, the agency said. Displaced workers age 50 and older may also be eligible for wage subsidies if their new jobs pay less than their old ones.
The Hartford had no immediate comment.
