City of Philadelphia

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Quality Jobs Program

Investing in businesses that create new jobs with living wages and health insurance benefits for Philadelphia residents.

About

The Quality Jobs Program (QJP) invests in eligible businesses that hire Philadelphia residents for new, full-time jobs that pay family-sustaining wages.

A quality job:

  • Is located in Philadelphia and offered to its residents.
  • Is full-time W-2 employee.
  • Pays a base wage of the Philadelphia Minimum Wage Standard.
  • Provides health insurance and paid time off.

Grant funding

Total grant disbursements may not exceed $700,000 per calendar quarter across all applicants. Approved applications will be placed on a wait list and funded in the order they were approved, at the start of the next quarter. The grant amount is based on the total number of new quality jobs created for Philadelphia residents:

  • First-time applicants can be awarded $7,000 per new job for up to 25 jobs, after meeting certain performance requirements.
  • Businesses may reapply up to two times, once per quarter. Re-applicants are eligible for $5,000 per new quality job, up to a maximum of $125,000 per application.

The Quality Jobs Program is a program of the Department of Commerce.

Connect

Address
Quality Jobs Program
1515 Arch St., 12th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Email qualityjobs@phila.gov

Eligibility

To qualify for grant funding, new jobs created as part of the Quality Jobs Program must:

  • Be located in Philadelphia and offered to Philadelphia residents.
  • Pay the minimum hourly wage defined by the Philadelphia Minimum Wage Standard.
  • Be classified as a W-2 employee of the applicant business and reporting to the commercial business address 30 hours per week or 1,500 hours per year.
  • Funded positions must report to a Philadelphia commercial business address operated by the applicant. Fully remote positions, home-office-based roles, or positions where the primary work location is a client or third-party site are not eligible.

Additionally, the employer must:

  • Have been operating for at least one year.
  • Have a business tax account and pay the ⁠Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT).
  • Provide paid time off for all Philadelphia-based employees (at least one hour paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked).
  • Provide health insurance for all Philadelphia-based employees, either by:
    • sponsoring their employees' health insurance by covering at least 50% of the cost; or
    • facilitating their employees' access to health insurance coverage (e.g. by providing a stipend to purchase insurance).

Home-based businesses and nonprofit organizations are not eligible to participate in the Quality Jobs Program.

The Philadelphia Minimum Wage is adjusted annually and set at $17.63 per hour through June 30, 2027.

Process

Apply to the program

To start the application process, submit the online inquiry form. If you meet the eligibility requirements, the program manager will send you the full program application.

Do not begin hiring before your full application is approved. New positions filled before your application is approved will not qualify for grant funding.

Reapply for more funding

Businesses that successfully complete the program and receive a grant can apply for more funding to create new quality jobs.

You may only begin hiring once your new program application is approved. Positions filled before your new application is approved will not qualify for grant funding.

Accepted applicants

To participate in the program and receive funding, you must commit to growing your workforce based on your current number of full-time employees:

  • More than 25 full-time employees: hire at least five new full-time employees.
  • Fewer than 25 full-time employees: grow full-time workforce by 20% (e.g. a company with five full-time employees must create one new full-time job.)

You must also submit a performance report 30 days after the final proposed position is filled. You will have up to one year after being accepted to the program to do this. Participants will receive their grant payment once the report is submitted, reviewed, and approved.

Start the application process

If you're eligible and interested in applying for the Quality Jobs Program, complete the online inquiry form.

External link Go to the form

Resources

Fair Chance Hiring Initiative (FCHI)
Learn more about the FCHI, which offers incentives to local businesses and refers Philadelphia job seekers returning from incarceration for open positions.

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