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.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.
IV.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.
V.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.
VI.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 in
OWCMS 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.
VII.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.
VIII. References
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act §§ 133 and 134, Pub. L.
113-128.
20 C.F.R. §§ 682.300-682.370.
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