TEN_13-19_acc.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT NOTICE NO. 13-19DATE January 13 2020 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WASHINGTON D.C. 20210 TO STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES STATE WORKFORCE ADMINISTRATORS STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS STATE AND LOCAL WORKFORCE BOARDS LABOR COMMISSIONERS AMERICAN JOB CENTERS STATE MONITOR ADVOCATES ALL ETA GRANTEES FROM JOHN PALLASCH s Assistant Secretary SUBJECT Announcing the Release of the Wagner-Peyser Act Staffing Flexibility Final Rule and Amended Information Collections Associated with this Rulemaking 1.Purpose. The purpose of this Training and Employment Notice TEN is to announce changes to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act WIOA regulations as part of the implementation of the Wagner-Peyser Act Staffing Flexibility final rule. Additionally this TEN provides information to states seeking to adopt the flexibilities provided in this rulemaking as part of their WIOA Unified or Combined State Plan submissions for 2020. 2.Action Requested. Please share this information with interested stakeholders and review the regulations and information collections. 3.Summary and Background. a.Summary On January S 2020 the Employment and Training Administration ETA released the Wagner-Peyser Act Staffing Flexibility final rule to give states increased flexibility in their administration of Employment Service ES activities funded under the Wagner-Peyser Act. The final rule removes the requirement that states hire state merit staff for ES activities provided under the Wagner-Peyser Act. This flexibility applies to the grants allocated to the states for the traditional labor exchange and related services and for the employment services in support of the foreign labor certification program including the placement of employer job orders inspection of housing for agricultural workers and the administration of prevailing wage and practice surveys. The final rule amends Department of Labor-only WIOA final rule provisions governing the Wagner-Peyser Act at 20 CFR 651 652 653 and 658 and is available at 85 FR 592. The final rule is effective February 5 2020. 2 This TEN also announces the approved amendatory information collections associated with this final rule OMB Control Number 1205 -0522 Required Elements for Submission of the Unified or Combined State Plan and Plan Modifications under th e Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and OMB Control Number 1205 -0039 Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Monitoring Report and Complaint Apparent Violation Form . Last ly this TEN provides information to states on the changes to the state planning requirements for the Wagner -Peyser Act beginning with the Program Year PY 2020 - 2023 WIOA Unified or Combined State Plan planning cycle . b. Background The Wagner -Peyser Act established the ES program which is a nationwide system of public employment office s that provide labor exchange services. The ES program is designed to improve the functioning of the nation s labor markets by bringing together individuals seeking employment with employers seeking workers. On June 24 2019 ETA issued a Notice of Propo sed Rulemaking NPRM to amend regulations in 20 CFR parts 651 652 653 and 658 to allow states flexibility in how they engage in ES activities. 84 F ed. Reg. 29433 June 24 2019 . ETA took into consideration the public comments from the NPRM and made some changes based on those comments which are addressed in the final rule. 4. Final Rule and State Planning . The final rule includes several changes to the Information Collection Request ICR for OMB Control Number 1205 -0522 Required Elements for Subm ission of the Unified or Combined State Plan and Plan Modifications under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act . These changes were also announced in the NPRM . 84 F ed. Reg. at 29448 49 . Specifically the Department of Labor updated requirements for the Wagner -Peyser Act portion of the State Plan to reflect the flexibility provided by the final rule these ICR changes can be found in Attachment I Wagner -Peyser Act Program Employment Service Requirements for State Plans . The primary change to the ICR for ES activities asks a state how it plans to staff the provision of labor exchange services under the Wagner -Peyser Act. The ICR requires s tates seeking to use the flexibility provided by the final rule to describe how these services will be provide d such as through a subrecipient arrangement or a combination of state merit -staff and subrecipients . The Department also made c hanges to the Agricultural Outreach Plan AOP section of the State Plan ICR. Addressing t he AOP requirements discussed in Attachment I is a necessary part of State Plan submissions . Note that pursuant to the continued requirements at 20 CFR 653.107 d 3 no change has been made to the requirement that SWA s solicit information and suggestions for the AOP from WIOA sec. 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program NFJP grantees other appropriate MSFW groups public agencies agricultural employer organizations and other interested organizations. In addition at least 45 calendar days before 3 submitting its final AOP to the Departm ent as has been required in the past the SWA must provide the proposed AOP to NFJP grantees public agencies agricultural employer organizations and other organizations expressing an interest and allow at least 30 calendar days for review and comment. Lastly the Department made a change to the Assurances section of the Wagner -Peyser Act part of the State Plan ICR to remove the assurance that Wagner -Peyser Act -funded staff be state merit -staff employees. This was replaced with an assurance addressing s ervices to migrant and seasonal farmworkers discussed in Attachment I. a. Early Implementation States seeking to implement the final rule s flexibility for the beginning of PY 2020 need to describe their planned implementation activities in the PY 2020 -20 23 State Plan submission as is required by the changes to the State Plan ICR which are desc ribed in Attachment I. States interested in early implementation must ensure all aspect s of the State Plan have met public comment requirements. States seeking ea rly implementation can contact the appropriate ETA Regional Office for additional technical assistance. b. Implementation after July 1 2020 - Modification to 2020 State Plan States wishing to implement the flexibility later than the beginning of PY 202 0 or subsequent to the approval of their PY 2020 -2023 WIOA Unified or Combined State Plan may submit a State Plan modification any time after they receive such notification of approval as with any modification to a State Plan . Similarly to early implemen ter states states submitting a modification to their State Plan will need to describe their implementation strategy as is required by the changes made to the State Plan ICR which are described in Attachment I. c. States Opting Not to Use Flexibility in the Rule Under the final rule states may continue to use state merit staff as they have previously done. States not seeking to change their staffing will still need to address the changes made to the State Plan ICR described in Attachment 1 but can sim ply notify ETA that the state will continue to use state merit -staffing in question a 1 under the Wagner Peyser Act section in the state plan as is stated in the State Plan ICR . 5. Inquiries . Please direct inquiries to the appropriate Regional Office. 6. References . Wagner -Peyser Act as amended 29 U.S.C. 49 et seq. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act WIOA of 2014 Pub. L. 113 -128 Title I and III enacted July 22 2014 WIOA Regulations at 20 CFR parts 651 652 653 and 658 4 W agner -Pey ser Act Staffing Flexibility final rule 85 FR 592 available at https www.govinfo.gov content pkg FR -2020 -01 -06 pdf 2019 -27260.pdf 7. Attachments . Attachment I Wagner -Peyser Act Program Employment Service Requirements for State Plans