I.Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline the requirements for
requesting WIOA rapid response (RR) funding to implement layoff aversion (LA)
strategies in accordance with the policy letter on RR program requirements for
layoff aversion.
II.Effective
Date
Immediately
III.Rescission
ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter
No. 18-01, Funding
for Rapid Response - Layoff Aversion (April 1, 2019)
IV.Background
Per section 133(a)(2) of WIOA, the State may reserve 25 percent
of the federal allotment of dislocated worker funds for statewide RR activities
including the implementation of LA strategies. To identify, prevent, and defer
potential layoff events and to minimize the negative impacts of a layoff on
workers, the employer, and the community, a local workforce development area
(local area) may apply for LA funds according to the guidelines in this policy.
V.Definitions
Designee: The fiscal agent representative or other
individual who is designated by the local workforce development board (WDB)
director through local WDB by-laws, local area policies, or procedures to
request RR funding on behalf of the local WDB director for any applications or
requests. The designation may be
temporary or permanent.
Employer: An individual, business, company, firm,
agency, or organization that employs one or more people.
Fiscal agent: The entity designated by the chief elected
official(s) to perform accounting and funds management on their behalf,
including coordination with the WDB regarding funding for the planned array of
WIOA-funded services and ensuring fiscal integrity and accountability for
expenditure of the funds.
Incumbent worker: An employed individual who meets the Fair
Labor Standards Act requirements for an employer-employee relationship and has
an established employment history with the employer for six months or more or
is a member of a training cohort in which most of the workers have such an
employment history.
Incumbent worker training (IWT): Training designed to meet the special
requirements of an employer (including a group of employers) to retain a
skilled workforce or avert the need to lay off employees by assisting the
workers in obtaining the skills necessary to retain employment. IWT is conducted with the commitment of the
employer to retain or avert the layoffs of the incumbent workers trained. IWT may be funded with adult or dislocated
worker formula dollars or with statewide RR funds.
Layoff aversion (LA): A strategy that prevents and/or minimizes
unemployment for employees of companies that have either announced layoffs or
are struggling and at risk of downsizing.
Layoff aversion (LA) project: A single strategy, or mix of strategies,
intended to:
- Avert layoffs by an employer or group of
employers that are expected to occur within 36 months following the date of the
LA funding application and continue for 6 months or longer; or
- Implement sustainable, proactive LA activities
meant to predict and prevent job loss that are not necessarily focused on a
specific employer or group of employers.
Workforce development board (WDB)
director: The individual hired or
designated by the local WDB to assist in completion of duties for the local
WDB, including oversight of workforce development employment and training
programs and development of the budget for the local area.
VI.Limitations
on and Requirements for Local Workforce Development Area’s Receipt and Use of
LA Funds
WIOA-funded providers of employer services, in coordination with
economic development, education, and other partners that serve businesses,
shall identify employers in the local area or region at risk of laying off
workers, assess their needs, and identify the LA strategy or mix of strategies
likely to avert the layoffs in accordance with the policy letter on RR layoff
aversion program requirements.
If the costs of implementing the LA strategies exceed the WIOA
formula funds, and employer and partner resources available for LA, the local
WDB director or designee may request RR funding to implement one or more LA
projects by submitting the Layoff Aversion Service
Plan (JFS 01815 form). The
completed and signed plan should be emailed to RAPDRESP@jfs.ohio.gov.
To maximize the positive impacts of LA strategies and to
distribute limited RR funding across employers and local areas, each LA project
shall only be approved for RR funding once.
For example, if an LA project were approved to provide IWT to a group of
workers, no subsequent LA project will be awarded for the same employer to
continue training the same workers, but a project may be approved to provide
IWT to a different group of workers.
Similarly, if a local area implemented a proactive LA strategy using RR
funds, no subsequent request will be approved for the same local area to
continue or repeat the same strategy using RR funds.
RR funds awarded for implementation of LA projects are not
intended to cover the long-term maintenance of such projects, such as ongoing
staff costs or system enhancements.
Therefore, each approved LA project may incur RR costs for a maximum of
24 months following the approval date of the initial application. When applying for ongoing LA strategies that
will continue beyond the 24-month RR funding period, the local area shall list
in the application the funding sources that will be used to sustain the
project.
Applications for and approval of RR funds occur within a federal
fiscal year (FFY) which begins October 1 and continues for 12 months to
September 30. In the application, the
local area must submit a budget for the entire project up to 24 months, and for
the current FFY allocation period (i.e., costs to be incurred from October 1
through the subsequent September 30). At
the beginning of the second, and possibly third, FFY in the project lifespan, a
new application and budget must be submitted to request the portion of funding
necessary to continue the LA project in the new FFY.
In the application budget, the local area may include WIOA
administrative costs that will be incurred to implement the LA strategies
(e.g., negotiating service contracts, reimbursing invoices, entering data,
monitoring financial records, etc.)
Administrative costs cannot exceed ten percent of the LA project
budget. ODJFS expects that, for most LA
projects, actual administrative costs will be significantly lower than the
maximum ten percent allowance and should vary from project to project based on
actual costs. Therefore, ODJFS will
decrease or eliminate the administrative cost allowance for local areas that
routinely request and expend the full ten percent permitted for administrative
costs unless the local area can verify and explain how actual administrative
costs consistently equal ten percent.
For additional information on applying for LA funding or to
request technical assistance, email RAPDRESP@jfs.ohio.gov.
VII.State
Protocol for LA Funding
A.RR Funding
for LA
In each FFY, ODJFS shall reserve a portion of its RR allotment
for local area projects, of which a percentage may be earmarked for the
implementation of LA projects. During
the FFY, local area requests for LA funding will be evaluated in the order
received and compared to the unobligated balance of reserved RR funding or the
earmark for LA activities. If a local
area’s request to implement an LA project exceeds the reserved or earmarked RR
funds available, ODJFS shall:
- Re-evaluate budget priorities to reserve more RR
funds for local area projects;
- Increase the percentage of RR funds earmarked
for LA projects;
- Identify and make available other available
resources; or
- Deny the pending request and invite the local
area to apply again when more resources are available, such as in the
subsequent FFY.
B.Review and
Approval of LA Funding
The ODJFS Office of Workforce Development (OWD) RR Unit will
review local area requests for LA funds for compliance, feasibility, and the
merits of the planned goals and outcomes.
Within three business days of receiving the application, the RR Unit
will respond to the local area by email indicating approval, denial, or the
need for additional information on the application.
RR funding awarded to a local area is meant to supplement, not
replace, dislocated worker formula funds.
Therefore, the RR Unit will review the following, in addition to the
application, to reach a funding decision:
1.The local
area’s frequency of transferring dislocated worker and adult formula funds,
including how the local area has strategized to respond to unforeseen events
when they transferred funds;
2.For LA
requests to implement IWT services, the local area’s expenditure of the 20
percent of adult and dislocated worker funding that may be used for IWT; or the
local area’s willingness to co-fund the LA project by committing to spend the
local funds available for IWT prior to using RR funding; and
3.The local area’s
expenditure of adult and dislocated worker formula funds.
ODJFS expects each local area to spend its WIOA formula carry-in
funds and to be on track to spend at least 70 percent of first year funds by
the end of each fiscal year. To evaluate
a local area’s financial need for RR funding over the course of the year, a
quarterly target spending total shall be computed using the following formulas:
Quarter 1 target spending total for
August through October applications using expenditure data as of June 30:
70% Cumulative (Spent 70% of 2nd year PY & FY
grants)
Quarter 2 target spending total for
November through January applications using expenditure data as of September
30:
80% Cumulative (Spent 100% of 2nd year PY & FY
and 0% of 1st year PY; areas have not received new FY funding)
Quarter 3 target spending total for
February through April applications using expenditure data as of December 31:
62.5% Cumulative (Spent 100% of 2nd year PY & FY,
100% of 1st year PY, and 0% of 1st year FY)
Quarter 4 target spending total for
May through July applications using expenditure data as of March 31:
75% Cumulative (Spent 100% of 2nd year PY & FY,
100% of 1st year PY, and 35% of 1st year FY)
If the cumulative expenditure of local area combined adult and
dislocated worker funds are below its target spending total for the quarter in
which it requests RR funding, information on the local area’s adult and
dislocated worker commitments will be reviewed to determine the likelihood of
expending at least 70 percent of funds within the first year. The local area’s commitments shall be
reported in the State’s designated financial reporting system using commitment
reporting functionality available in the client tracking module.
If the local area does not meet the target spending total, the
spending rate of the county requesting RR funding will be evaluated by applying
the above target spending formulas to the adult and dislocated worker funds
sub-awarded to the county. ODJFS may opt
to approve RR funding for a county that has exceeded its spending target even
if the local area has not met the requirement.
If the planned LA strategies involve a planning region or
multiple local areas, the actual spending relative to the target will be
evaluated separately for each local area involved in the LA project.
C.Distribution of RR Funding
Most LA projects will be funded incrementally. Up to four increments per FFY may be issued
depending on when the initial application was submitted. In most cases, the dollar amount of the
increments will be equal unless the local area justifies a need for unequal
increments, for example, due to the timing of specific high-cost strategies in
the LA project plan.
Local areas may request increments by emailing RAPDRESP@jfs.ohio.gov. Requests will be reviewed against the
application for services, progress toward completion of the project’s goals and
outcomes, participant service data into Ohio’s designated case management
system as defined in Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 5101:9-30-04 if applicable, and spending and obligation of
the prior increment(s) (which must exceed at least 70 percent of the sum of
previous increments.)
When a local area request for RR funding or an increment of
funding is approved, ODJFS will issue an allocation to the local area fiscal
agent by the Friday following the first Wednesday after the approval date.
If the LA plan changes during implementation, including budget
line item increases or decreases that exceed ten percent of the planned cost,
the local area must submit a modified application to request approval of the
changes.
If the local area expends at least 70 percent of the total RR
funds approved for an LA project, a new application may be submitted to request
additional LA funds to continue implementing the strategies within the same
project.
VIII. Monitoring
During the implementation of RR-funded LA projects, the RR Unit
will review the services being provided and the expenditure of RR funds
allocated to the local area. Periodic discussions
will be conducted with local areas in receipt of RR funds to share the outcome
of these reviews. The purposes of these reviews are to ensure that funds are
being utilized in accordance with the application and to monitor expenditure of
the RR allocation. If it becomes
apparent that a local area will not spend the allocated funding, the RR Unit
reserves the right to rescind a portion of these funds from the local area.
Through the state's monitoring system, program and fiscal
monitors will review the area's implementation of RR activities during the
annual onsite monitoring review for compliance with local procedures, the
funding application, as well as federal laws and regulations. Any findings will be resolved through the
state's monitoring resolution process.
For local areas that request RR funding for LA strategies, the
local WDB must develop policies that outline the procedures, frequency, and
manner in which monitoring of LA project implementation will be accomplished
and how any findings of non-compliance will be resolved.
IX.References
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act §§ 133 and 134, Pub. L.
113-128
20 C.F.R. §§ 682.300-682.370
O.A.C. §§ 5101:9-30-04
USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter WIOA No. 19-16
Guidance on Services Provided through the Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs
under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Wagner-Peyser
Act Employment Service (ES), as Amended by title III of WIOA, and for
implementation of the WIOA Final Rules, (March 1, 2017)
JFS 01815 Layoff Aversion Service Plan