I.Purpose
To provide guidance to local workforce development areas (local
areas) regarding the provision of Transitional Jobs (TJ), when they are
appropriate, and considerations for development of a local area policy.
II.Effective
Date
Immediately
III.Background
Transitional jobs (TJ) are a type of work-experience that local
areas may provide under WIOA and are considered an individualized career
service. TJs are time-limited and wage-paid work experiences that are
subsidized up to 100 percent. These jobs are in the public, private, or
nonprofit sectors and are only available for individuals with barriers to
employment who are chronically unemployed or have an inconsistent work history,
as determined by the local area.
Because TJs are a type of work experience, the requirements
delineated in the policy letter on work experience for adults and dislocated
workers, including the requirement for the local WDB to establish a worksite agreement
between the participant, the host employer, and the provider of career
services, also apply to TJs.
However, TJs are differentiated from other types of work
experiences by the following characteristics:
- TJs are a paid, subsidized work experience,
unlike other types of work experience that may be unpaid;
- TJs are meant to establish work history while
demonstrating success in an employer-employee relationship and developing
skills, whereas the purpose of other types of work experience may be to explore
various career options or to assess the participant’s employability; and
- TJs must be combined with the provision of
comprehensive career services and supportive services, which is not mandated
for other types of work experiences.
Similar to other types of work experience, neither the
employer-of-record nor the host employer where the TJ participant performs his
or her work duties is required to employ the participant after the conclusion
of the TJ (however, retention, where appropriate, is preferred for the benefit
of the worker and employer).
Local areas may only use up to 10 percent of adult and
dislocated worker formula funds for TJs.
Also, national dislocated worker grant (NDWG) funding may be spent on
TJs in accordance with any requirements, limitations, or maximum expenditure
amounts related to TJs that apply to each such grant.
IV.Definitions
Individuals with barriers – For
purposes of this policy, individuals who meet one or more of the criteria
listed in Attachment A to this policy letter or anyone who certifies that they
have been directly impacted by the opioid crisis.
Individual with a disability: An
individual who:
1.Has a
physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life
activities of the individual;
2.Has a record
of such an impairment; or
3.Is regarded
as having such an impairment.
Unemployment compensation (UC): Short-term insurance benefits paid by ODJFS
to individuals who are involuntarily out of work through no fault of their own,
and who meet all statutory eligibility criteria to qualify to receive benefits.
V.Local
Workforce Development Area Requirements
A.Local
Policy
Local areas are not mandated to provide TJs. If the local workforce development board
(WDB) opts to use TJs as part of its service delivery strategy, it must
implement a local policy or policies to define the following aspects of TJ
services:
1.Participant
Eligibility
To receive TJs, participants must be either chronically
unemployed or have an inconsistent work history, in addition to qualifying as
“individuals with barriers.” The local
WDB may identify additional populations beyond those in Attachment A that are
considered to have barriers to employment and may therefore qualify for TJs. The definitions of chronic unemployment and
inconsistent work history will be determined by the local area, which may
include individuals who are long-term unemployed, ex-offenders, and individuals
who are currently receiving or have exhausted Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families (TANF) benefits.
In defining these factors, the local area should consider:
- Criteria that reasonably justify and relate
conceptually to the status of “chronic unemployment” such as being low income
(as defined in WIOA Section (3)(36)), having a work history showing primarily
minimum wage employment, employment with wages below the local living wage
definition, currently claiming and/or having exhausted unemployment insurance
(UI) benefits, and other unemployment-related qualifying criteria; and
- Quantifiable definitions of what it means to
have an “inconsistent work history” (i.e. specific lengths of time without
employment, a specific number of jobs within a specified duration, etc.).
2.Appropriate
Host Employers
The local TJ policy should identify appropriate or targeted
employers (public, private, or nonprofit) that may serve as hosts for TJ
placements. The local area should seek
employers who are:
- Committed to helping participants;
- Able to provide work-skills development in
coordination with the comprehensive career services and supportive services
provided by the local area;
- Willing to retain participants when feasible;
and
- Compliant on their state and federal business
taxes.
In addition, local areas should focus on employers that offer
occupations that are determined to be “in-demand” at the State or local level,
as described in WIOA §3(23). For
employers to maintain future consideration for subsidized TJ participant
placement, the local policy may establish a minimum level of hiring, such as at
least 10 percent of prior TJ employees who complete the full length of their
agreement and are hired by the host employer.
3.Wages
and Benefits
The local policy must affirm that TJ participants will be
compensated at the same pay rates as similarly situated trainees or employees. In the local policy, the local area may opt
to establish a minimum wage that an employer must pay in order to qualify as a
TJ host employer. Participants must also
be covered either by state workers' compensation or by relevant on-site insurance. The local TJ policy must define the amount or
percentage of reimbursement for the jobs (up to 100 percent of the
participant’s wage) and any co-funding requirements that apply to the host
employers.
4.Length
of Agreement
The length of a TJ agreement will vary based upon the number of
hours worked per week. If a position is full-time (meaning 30 or more hours per
week), the maximum length of the agreement is 26 calendar weeks. Any part-time
position (less than 30 hours) has a maximum of 52 weeks. A 26-week extension
may be granted if the participant is an individual with a disability who
requires more time to establish a sufficient work history and to develop
employable skills. The local TJ policy
must also define a required minimum duration that ensures participants are able
to establish sufficient work history through the TJ.
B.Complementary
Services
TJs must be combined with comprehensive career services and
supportive services if needed by the participant; participants must not be
enrolled in TJ without receiving other services. The comprehensive career services provided to
TJ participants may include job readiness instruction if determined appropriate
by the local WDB.
C.UC
Requirements
For participants receiving UC benefits, TJs fulfill the definition
of work relief or work training under OAC 4141-5-05, and thus are not covered
employment that are required to be reported to the UC program. The local area
should ensure that employers and participants follow necessary protocol to
ensure cooperation with the UC program, as listed below:
- Employers-of-record must be notified that they
should not report earnings/wages to the UC program for TJ participants,
including for-profit employers;
- Employers must be notified that TJs are not
covered employment for the purposes of UC, which can be done through the
worksite agreement, an informational flyer, or other means deemed sufficient by
the local area;
- For TJ participants receiving UC benefits, wages
earned from TJs are considered income that must be reported to ODJFS and may
therefore impact the claimant’s ongoing eligibility for UC benefits; and
- Enrollment in a TJ does not waive a
participant’s mandatory work search requirements under the UC program.
VI.Reporting
All participants must be eligible and enrolled in WIOA (either
the local adult or dislocated worker program or a discretionary grant), and any
data about them that is required to be reported must be entered into the
State’s designated case management reporting system. TJ participants may also be
co-enrolled in other state-funded WIOA programs.
In the State’s designated financial reporting system, the local
area’s fiscal agent must report all TJ expenditures using the appropriate
sub-project code, so that the expenses may be isolated, properly reported, and
tracked against the limits on TJ spending by grant.
VII.Monitoring
Through the State’s monitoring system and during the onsite
monitoring review of the local area, ODJFS’s program and fiscal monitors will
review the local area’s TJ implementation, including participant file review
and testing of actual expenditures, for compliance with all applicable federal
and state laws, regulations, and guidance letters (including this guidance
letter). Any findings will be addressed
through the State’s monitoring resolution process.
VIII. Technical
Assistance
For additional information, contact the Office of Workforce
Development at WIOAQNA@JFS.OHIO.GOV.
IX.References
20 C.F.R. §§ 680.190, 680.195, and 683.275
USDOL, Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 19-16,
Operating Guidance for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, 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).
O.A.C. 4141-5-05.
ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter
No. 15-08.1, Career Services for Adults and Dislocated Workers (June 6, 2017).
ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter
No. 18-02, Implementation of Workforce Development Services Under the Trade and
Economic Transition National Dislocated Worker Grant (Opioid Transition Grant)
(April 1, 2019).
ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter
No. 15-12, Work Experience for Adults and Dislocated Workers (July 15, 2015).
ODJFS, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Policy Letter
No. 18-04, Employment Recovery National Dislocated Worker Grants (TBD).
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, § 170, Pub. L.
113-128.