I.Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to communicate guidance and parameters when determining eligibility requirements of individuals for WIA-funded dislocated worker employment and training programs.

II.Effective Date

Immediately

III.Background

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 requires states to assist local workforce investment areas with the implementation of employment and training activities to dislocated workers. This policy will combine existing dislocated worker eligibility-related policies and guidance letters into one comprehensive policy. In addition, this policy establishes statewide definitions for terms in the determination of dislocated worker eligibility.

The WIA program is designed to provide employment and training opportunities to those who can benefit from, and who are in need of such opportunities. Meeting the eligibility criteria for a WIA-funded program does not entitle a dislocated worker to receive services beyond the core level. Local decisions on whether to provide specific services must be based upon additional state and local policy considerations, including, but not necessarily limited to, the following:

• Suitability for intensive and training services (refer to Workforce Investment Act Policy Letter (WIAPL) No. 08-12.3); and
• Self-sufficiency.

IV.Definitions

Attachment to workforce: An individual who, at the time of application for WIA services, worked at the same company or in the same occupation for 15 out of the last 26 weeks.

Disability: Any person who has a physical, sensory, or mental impairment, which substantially limits one or more major life activities and has record of such impairment or is regarded as having such impairment.

Displaced homemaker: An individual who has been providing unpaid services to family members in the home and who:

• Has been dependent on the income of another family member, but is no longer supported by that income; and
• Is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment.

Eligible for or has exhausted unemployment insurance: An individual who has been determined to be eligible for benefit payments under one or more State or Federal unemployment compensation programs whether or not he or she has exhausted his/her benefit rights. An individual need not actually receive benefits to be eligible.

Farmer, ranch worker or fisherman: An individual who is self-employed or employed by another, on a farm, ranch, or boat, which produces agricultural or food products with annual sales of $1,000 or more, or who receives at least 50 percent of their family or individual income from agricultural or food production.

General announcement: A communication by an employer stating intent to close a business within 180 days.

Interim employment (also known as stop-gap employment): Employment that has been accepted for the purpose of income maintenance prior to, and/or during, participation in intensive or training services with the intention of ending such employment at the completion of the intensive or training services and entry into permanent, unsubsidized employment as a result of the services. Interim employment is accepted because the affected workers have lost the customary work for which their training, experience, or work history qualifies them. Interim employment can be part-time or full-time and must not be with the same employer from which the affected workers were dislocated.

Laid-off or layoff: A separation due to the lack of work or other factor(s) not related to the behavior of the employee.

Long-term connection to occupation: The investment of at least 12 months of prior full-time or 24 months of part-time employment in an individual's occupation to obtain education or skill training. Months need not be consecutive.

Military Spouse: an individual who is married to an active duty service member including National Guard or Reserve personnel on active duty. The surviving spouse of an active duty service member who lost his/her life while on active duty service in Afghanistan, Iraq, or other combat-related areas is considered to be a military spouse.

Natural disaster: Events that may include a hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mud-slide, snowstorm, ice storm, drought, fire, explosion, or other catastrophe.

Notice of termination from employment: A written notice from an employer concerning the layoff or termination of an employee. Such written notice of layoff or termination may consist of:

• A final letter from an employer laying off or terminating the employee; or
• A public announcement by an employer about an upcoming lay-off or termination affecting groups of employees, provided that the announcement makes clear that the applicant is a member of that group.

Occupation: An individual's usual or principal work, business, profession, or trade used as a means of earning a living.

Permanent closure: The permanent shutdown of a plant, facility or enterprise.

Plant, facility or enterprise: A distinct unit of business or industry; for example the closure of a division of a corporation, the entire facility at a specific site or location, or the closure of a functional unit, such as a warehouse.

Seasonal workers: Individuals who work in cyclical, intermittent or seasonal industries. Workers are predictably laid off or terminated for periods of each year, and may or may not expect to be rehired by the same employer. Industries employing seasonal workers include agriculture, construction, and landscaping.

Self-employed: Persons who work for profit or fees in their own business, profession, trade, or farm.

Substantial layoff: Any reduction in force that is not the result of a total plant/branch/office closing, but still results in an employment loss at a single site of employment during any sixty (60) day period for:

1.At least 25 percent of employees, or

2.At least 50 employees.

Temporary worker: Individuals who are hired with the expectation that their job will end at a certain point.

Termination of employment: Separation from employment due to reasons other than discharge for cause, voluntary departure or retirement; OR individuals who accept early or forced retirement as part of a reduction in workforce; OR an individual who has been dismissed but is still eligible for unemployment compensation.

Underemployment: An individual who is working part time but desires full time employment, or who is working in employment not commensurate with the individual's demonstrated level of educational and/or skill achievement. Also includes individuals who fall below the dislocated worker self-sufficiency threshold, as defined by the local WIB.

Unemployed individual: An individual who is without a job, who wants work, and who is available for work. The determination of whether an individual is without a job is made in accordance with the criteria used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in defining individuals as unemployed.

Unemployed as a result of general economic conditions or natural disaster: Business lost due to one of the following reasons:

• The closure or substantial lay-off of a primary supplier or customer affecting the self-employed applicant's products or services;
• Less demand for the occupation or product within the community;
• A decline in profits significant enough to lead to closure, documented by most recent tax return or other company documents showing negative gains/losses statement; or
• Natural disaster, as defined by State or Federal declaration.

Unlikely to return to previous industry or occupation: An individual who is laid off without a recall date or if the recall date has passed falls into one of the following categories:

1.The number of jobs in the applicant's previous industry/occupation is declining based on Labor Market Information (LMI) data;

2.The projected annual increase in employment growth within the local area based on LMI or O*Net is fewer than 100 jobs in the previous industry (including replacements) or the projected annual increase in growth openings is fewer than 30 jobs in the previous occupation;

3.The applicant is dislocated from a job not found on the most recent local or state list of demand occupations (if applicable);

4.The applicant has conducted a dedicated but unsuccessful job search in the previous industry/occupation, as evidenced by employer rejection letters or employer contact logs;

5.Evidence, preferably from several sources including OhioMeansJobs.com, professional journals, etc., of few openings in the previous industry or occupation; or

6.The applicant is unable to perform the duties of the previous job due to age, ability, or disability.

Veteran: an individual who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable, which may include National Guard or Reserve personnel.

V.Statutory Eligibility Requirements for Dislocated Workers

Individuals wishing to receive employment and training services funded through the dislocated worker program must meet all of the following requirements:

1.Be legally authorized to work in the United States;

2.Be 18 years of age or older;

3.Be properly registered for selective service (refer to WIAPL No. 10-10 for details, including the list of exceptions to this requirement).

In addition to the requirements listed above, an individual must also fall into one or more of the following dislocated worker eligibility categories as outlined in section 101(9)(A-D) of WIA:

Category A: Terminated or Laid Off, or Received a Notice of Termination or Layoff From Employment

• Has been terminated or laid off or has received a notice of termination or layoff from employment; AND
• Is eligible for or has exhausted entitlement to unemployment compensation; OR
• Has been employed for a duration sufficient to demonstrate attachment to the workforce, but is not eligible for unemployment compensation due to insufficient earnings or having performed services for an employer that were not covered under a state unemployment compensation law; AND
• Is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation.

Category B: Plant Closure or Substantial Layoff

• Has been terminated or laid off, or has received a notice of termination or layoff, from employment as a result of any permanent closure of or any substantial layoff at a plant, facility, or enterprise; OR
• Is employed at a facility where the employer has made a general announcement that such facility will close within 180 days; OR
• For purposes of eligibility to receive services other than training services described in WIA section 134(d)(4)(A), intensive services described in WIA section 134(d)(3), or supportive services, is employed at a facility at which the employer has made a general announcement that such facility will close.

Category C: Self-Employed Individual

• Was self-employed (including employment as a farmer, a rancher, or a fisherman) but is unemployed as a result of natural disasters; or general economic conditions in the community where the individual resides.

Category D: Displaced Homemaker

• Is a displaced homemaker.

VI.Special Eligibility Conditions

Following are special circumstances that, when met, allow the worker to be determined eligible for the dislocated worker program provided that the applicant is authorized to work in the United States, is 18 years of age or older, and is properly registered for selective service.

A.Unemployment Compensation Reemployment Services (UCRS)

The UCRS system is an early intervention approach for providing dislocated workers with reemployment services to expedite their return to productive employment. The Ohio Job Insurance (OJI) system selects claimants who have no return to work date, are not job attached, have received a first UC payment, and were previously employed in a declining industry for participation in the UCRS program. These selected claimants are considered to be unlikely to return to their previous occupations or industries and are considered dislocated workers under Category A: Terminated or Laid Off, or Received a Notice of Termination or Layoff From Employment.

B.Trade Eligible

The Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) is a program that assists individuals, who became unemployed as a result of increased imports, with their return to suitable employment based upon an approved petition. The TAA program provides reemployment services and allowances for eligible individuals. Applicants are considered to be dislocated workers under Category A: Terminated or Laid Off, or Received a Notice of Termination or Layoff From Employment, when the affected worker provides a copy of the petition approval letter or a screen shot from the "Program Data" tab on "Basic Intake" from the Ohio Workforce Case Management System (OWCMS) indicating that the individual is trade eligible.

C.Locked-out Workers

Locked-out workers are considered to be dislocated workers under Category A: Terminated or Laid Off, or Received a Notice of Termination or Layoff From Employment, when the following conditions are met:

• An ODJFS Office of Unemployment Compensation hearing officer has issued a determination that a lockout exists; and
• The locked-out workers are prevented from working for a period of 120 days as a result of that lockout.

The 120-day duration starts on either the date of layoff or the date of lockout, whichever is earlier. This date is the point at which the locked-out workers are considered to be unemployed for WIA dislocated worker eligibility purposes.

The listing of ODJFS Unemployment Compensation lockouts can be found at: https://jfs.ohio.gov/owd/WorkforceProf/policy_info.stm.

D.Buyouts and Forced or Early Retirements

Workers who receive buyouts or who are forced to retire are considered dislocated workers under Category A: Terminated or Laid Off, or Received a Notice of Termination or Layoff From Employment, when the following conditions are met:

• The employer has offered a buyout or early retirement or forced an early retirement as a means to reduce its workforce by providing a financial incentive for long-term (and therefore better paid) workers to leave their employment; and
• The participating workers would not be voluntarily leaving their positions or retiring from employment at this time; and
• The worker is eligible for Unemployment Insurance (UI); and
• Is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation.

Workers in the situation listed above are considered to be preserving the jobs for employees with less seniority.

E.Veterans and Military Spouses

Veterans are considered dislocated workers under Category A: Terminated or Laid Off, or Received a Notice of Termination or Layoff From Employment, when the following conditions are met:

• The veteran has been discharged under honorable circumstances; and
• Is unlikely to return to his or her industry or occupation.

Military spouses are considered dislocated workers under Category A: Terminated or Laid Off, or Received a Notice of Termination or Layoff From Employment, when one of the following conditions are met:

• Is married to an active duty service member and:

• The spouse is unable to continue employment due to the service member's permanent change of military stations; or
• The spouse loses employment as a result of the service member's discharge from the military.

• Is the spouse of a deceased veteran.

Military spouses are considered to meet the definition of terminated or laid-off from employment through no fault of their own. The spouse must also satisfy the "unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation" dislocated worker criteria.

However, in many cases, the circumstances in which military spouses are required to leave a job/occupation as a result of the military member's transfer do not position the spouse to return immediately to his/her previous occupation or industry, particularly at the same level for the following reasons:

• Spouses are generally not resuming employment with the same employer;
• Even if the spouse resumes employment with the same employer, the employment is in a new location, and occupations/jobs will generally not be the same structurally or organizationally as in the prior location;
• When military spouses do get jobs in their new locations, it is likely, as new employees, they will start at lower levels of seniority than the levels of their positions in their previous locations;
• There is frequently a gap in employment as spouses make the move and search for new employment, which may lessen their likelihood of returning to the same level of occupation or type of job.

Based upon the totality of these circumstances, it would be reasonable for local areas to conclude that in many cases, military spouses impacted by a service member's duty reassignment or discharge will meet the "unlikely to return to previous industry or occupation" criterion and may be served as a dislocated worker.

Military spouses may also meet the definition of "displaced homemaker" under Category D: Displaced Homemaker.

VII.Determination of Self-Sufficiency

For employed dislocated workers to move from core services to intensive services, they must be in need of such services to obtain or retain employment that allows for self-sufficiency. The local areas must determine criteria for self-sufficiency. At a minimum, self-sufficiency may mean employment that pays at least the lower living standard income as defined in WIA section 101(24). Self-sufficiency for dislocated workers may also be defined by the local WIB in relation to a percentage of the layoff wage.

Workers who have received notice of layoff, but have not yet been laid off and who do not have any other sources of employment are not subject to review of self-sufficiency.

Determination of self-sufficiency status requires a two-step assessment of the worker's employment:

1.Determine if the employment is "interim employment."

2.If the employment is not "interim," determine if the wage is at least the lower living standard income or if the hourly wage is at least the area's defined percentage of the wage at dislocation.

Interim Employment

Typically, employment is considered to be interim if the salary is below the salary of the dislocated worker's primary occupation and/or if the dislocated worker is working under the skill level of his or her customary occupation. There may be circumstances where interim employment does provide a sufficient wage temporarily but is not considered permanent employment that leads to self-sufficiency (e.g., working through a temporary agency). The determination about whether or not a dislocated worker's employment since dislocation is interim employment must be made on a case by case basis and take into consideration a dislocated worker's personal, family, financial, and employment situation.

The local WIB's self-sufficiency criteria for dislocated workers do not apply when a worker is employed on an "interim" or "stop gap" basis following dislocation. Therefore, a dislocated worker who is in interim employment following dislocation is not considered to be self-sufficient even if the hourly wage exceeds the local area's criteria for self-sufficiency or the area defined percentage of the layoff wage.

If a dislocated worker has interim employment, this participant is considered to be unemployed at participation and information should be entered into the Ohio Workforce Case Management System (OWCMS) as such.

Wage Standard for Non-Interim Employment

Employed dislocated workers whose wages are over the locally determined self-sufficiency level, or the lower living standard income for a family size of one, or at least the area defined percentage of the layoff wage are considered to be "self-sufficient," unless the employment is considered to be "interim employment." Dislocated workers who are determined to be "self-sufficient" may receive core services only.

VIII.Reporting and Monitoring

As recipients of WIA dislocated worker funds, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), Office of Workforce Development and the local workforce investment areas are required to maintain and report accurate program and financial information. Pursuant to rule 5101:9-30-04 of the Ohio Administrative Code, information regarding WIA participants, their activities, and their performance must be entered into OWCMS accurately and timely. OWCMS may be used to assist in the determination of eligibility. However, OWCMS cannot be used as verification of dislocated worker eligibility. WIAPL No. 13-01, Source Documentation for WIA Eligibility, lists the type of acceptable documentation to verify eligibility for the WIA dislocated worker program.

At the local level, the area must conduct oversight of the implementation of the WIA dislocated worker program to ensure that participants enrolled in the dislocated worker program are eligible for the program and that eligibility has been properly documented.

Through the state's monitoring system, program monitors will review the area's implementation of the dislocated worker program, including conducting a participant file review, during the annual onsite monitoring review for compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. Any issues will be handled through the state's monitoring resolution process.

IX.Technical Assistance

For additional information, you may send your questions to the Office of Workforce Development: WIAQNA@JFS.OHIO.GOV.

X.Reference

Workforce Investment Act of 1998, 105 Pub. L.220, § 101 (9).

29 U.S.C. § 2801.

USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. TEGL 22-04, Change 1, Serving Military Spouses as Dislocated Workers under the Workforce Investment Act Dislocated Worker Formula Grant, (September 28, 2007).

USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. TEGL 22-04, Serving Military Service Members and Military Spouses under the WIA Dislocated Worker Formula Grant, (March 22, 2005).

Ohio Rev. Code 4141.29(D)(2)(ii).

Ohio Admin. Code 5101:9-30-04.

ODJFS, Workforce Investment Act Policy Letter No. 13-01, Source Documentation for WIA Eligibility, (June 20, 2013).

ODJFS, Workforce Investment Act Policy Letter No. 10-10, Selective Service Registration, (September 15, 2011).

ODJFS, Workforce Investment Act Policy Letter No. 08-12.3, Adult and Dislocated Worker Suitability Requirements for Intensive and Training Services in Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Programs, (May 27, 2011).

Rescissions

ODJFS, Workforce Investment Act Transmittal Letter No. 24, Worker Profiling and ReEmployment Services (WPRS), ReEmployment Eligibility and Assessment (REA), and Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Eligibility for Dislocated Workers, (November 27, 2006).

ODJFS, Workforce Investment Act Transmittal Letter No. 29, Dislocated Worker Eligibility Determination for Locked-Out Workers, (February 21, 2007).