CEO Library

The report documents findings from an implementation study, describing how the Ready to Work (RTW) Partnership grantees’ programs were implemented over the full term of the grants, the institutional benefits the grantees anticipated would be sustained after the grants ended, and lessons for current workforce programs. Future reports, to be released in 2021 and 2022, will examine the impact of the four RTW programs on participants’ education and employment outcomes. Findings from this implementation study will be important in interpreting those impact results.

The report describes recent and long-term economic and policy developments with relevance for the public workforce system. This research evidence scan is one of a pair of reports developed as part of DOL’s WIOA Research Portfolio project. The companion report is A Research Evidence Scan of Key Strategies Related to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Report  (Deutsch et al. 2021).

In 2016, the Chief Evaluation Office partnered with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) to fund researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to understand the prevalence, nature, and possible consequences of working conditions on employment and health status of the Central American workforce, with a particular focus on work-related violence.

The report discusses and presents the outputs of a Cooperative Agreement between The University of Texas School Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health and the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) and the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

The issue brief provides a benchmarking study of the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation (Worker PLUS) Model’s Benefit Financing module. Researchers compare payroll tax revenue estimates from Worker PLUS to actual program administrative data for three state paid leave programs (California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island). The study shows that the Benefit Financing module produces conservative revenue estimates in these cases, by underestimating the payroll tax revenue by about 10% to 15%.

This is a companion document to the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation model, or Worker PLUS model, and is part of two supplementary resources on administrative costs. The second supplementary resource is an Excel template, titled “Administrative Cost Excel Template,” which presents a starting template of standard administrative cost categories observed in paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs as a platform to plan, estimate, and test the administrative costs of running a new program. The Excel template is available to users when they download the model.

This is a companion template to the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation model, or Worker PLUS model, and is part of two supplementary resources on administrative costs. It is a starting template of standard administrative cost categories observed in paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs as a platform to plan, estimate, and test the administrative costs of running a new program. The Excel template is available to users when they download the model.

To help researchers, policy analysts, and interested members of the public gain better understanding of the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation (Worker PLUS) Model and its applications in policy analysis, researchers present an issue brief series to supplement the model documentation files.

The brief provides a step-by-step guide to performing example simulations using the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation (Worker PLUS) model. With this guide, users should be able to replicate the provided example of model running using either the Python or the R simulation engine, and to check how the simulation results compare against actual program data for existing state programs in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

In the issue brief, researchers use simulation results from the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation (Worker PLUS) Model to analyze the impacts of moving from the unpaid leave system under the current Family and Medical Leave Act to a system that includes a paid leave program that adopts the program rules of the existing program in California. The population considered consists of individuals who work in the state of Maryland who meet the eligibility rules of the California program, and among them, the low-wage workers who earn no more than $30,000 annually.

The issue brief provides a step-by-step guide to using the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation (Worker PLUS) Model to perform an example policy simulation of the recently proposed parental leave program for federal workers. The model uses as its intakes the 2018 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Family and Medical Leave Act Employee Survey and the sample of civilian employees at the federal government from the 2014–2018 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample and applies program parameters that best reflect the proposed leave program.

In the issue brief, researchers provide a benchmarking study of the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation (Worker PLUS) Model simulation results. The results from the Worker PLUS model are compared to those from an existing paid leave simulation model developed by Albelda and Clayton-Matthews (2017, the ACM model) and actual program administrative data. Simulation results compared include program benefit outlays and program participation for three state paid leave programs in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

In the issue brief, researchers report findings from testing and validating the Worker Paid Leave Usage Simulation (Worker PLUS) using data from the 2018 U.S. Department of Labor Family and Medical Leave Act Employee Survey; the 2014–2018 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample; and benefit outlay data published by state paid leave programs in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The brief also discusses the implication of the model testing results on choice of simulation methods, assessment of program take-up rates, and estimation of program benefit outlays.

In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) funded contractors IMPAQ International and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) to conduct the Microsimulation Model on Worker Leave. The goal of the study was to produce an updated, open-source, publicly available simulation tool based on the Albelda Clayton-Matthews/IWPR Paid Family and Medical Leave Simulation Model (ACM model).

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor The Urban Institute to design and conduct an evaluation that examines critical policy issues, lessons learned, and challenges states faced administering Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs during the Great Recession that began in 2007 and the economic recovery that followed. Additionally, the opportunity to study these topics as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic was incorporated into the study.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor The Urban Institute to design and conduct an evaluation that examines critical policy issues, lessons learned, and challenges states faced administering Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs during the Great Recession that began in 2007 and the economic recovery that followed.

In 2018, the Chief Evaluation Office partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractor The Urban Institute to design and conduct an evaluation that examines critical policy issues, lessons learned, and challenges states faced administering Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs during the Great Recession that began in 2007 and the economic recovery that followed. 

In 2016, the Chief Evaluation Office partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to fund contractors Mathematica and Social Policy Research Associates to conduct the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Implementation Study.

In 2021, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment Training Administration (ETA) and funded the Urban Institute and its partner Capital Research Corporation to conduct the Older Workers Study.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 included multiple provisions to strengthen service quality, access, accountability, and coordination across many programs. The report focuses on implementation of WIOA’s changes to various aspects of the WIOA Title I Youth program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. The report covers changes regarding funding, service delivery approaches, performance accountability, and program elements.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 included multiple provisions to strengthen service quality, access, accountability, and coordination across many programs. The report focuses on implementation of key changes to the Title I Adult and Dislocated Worker programs under WIOA. Discussed are the successes and challenges, promising practices, and possible areas for further technical assistance related to WIOA for these two programs.

In 2021, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and commissioned contractor Summit Consulting, LLC (Summit) to explore issues related to future research on application or user fees in programs administered by ETA based on a review of regulations, guidance, and selected research concerning such fees under the Administrative Data Research and Analysis portfolio of studies.

In 2014, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office on Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to fund contractor Westat to conduct an evaluation of the Pathways to Careers project.

The report presents the results of an empirical study of ten years of employee misclassification summary judgment decisions by U.S. district courts, in which judges were asked to determine whether a worker was an employee or an independent contractor. Using text mining, machine learning classifiers, and regression analysis, the research reveals among 747 opinions that the judge ruled that the plaintiff was an independent contractor in thirty-eight percent of cases, and that the plaintiffs’ occupation was a strong predictor of outcomes.

Healthcare workers are well known to be at high risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) from patient handling. In 2011, California passed the Hospital Patient and Health Care Worker Injury Protection Act (AB 1136) that requires acute care hospitals to implement safe patient handling policies and programs to prevent patient handling injuries (PHIs). In 2014, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) established regulations to implement the safe patient handling law.