References: The Wagner-Peyser Act, as amended (P.L. 97-300); 20 CFR 652; TEGL No. 5-92. Background: The Secretary of Labor is issuing final planning allotments for each State's share of PY 1993 funds for basic labor exchange activities. These allotments (Attachment I) are based on the FY 1993 Appropriation of $810,960,000 and are distributed by the statutory formula described in Section 6 of the Act. The allotments will be published in the Federal Register. The data used are Calendar Year 1992 averages of civilian labor force (CLF) and number of unemployed individuals. Section 6(b)(4) of the Act authorizes the Secretary of Labor to reserve up to 3 percent of the total fund availability to assure that each State will have sufficient resources to maintain statewide employment service (ES) activities. The setaside for distribution through an administrative formula for this program year is $23,754,639. The 3 percent distribution is included in the total final allotment. The setaside was distributed in two steps to States whose relative share of resources declined from the previous year. In Step 1, those States with a CLF below one million and that are also below the median CLF density were held harmless at 100 percent of their prior year relative share of resources. The remainder was distributed in Step 2 in pro rata shares to all other States that lost in relative share from the prior year but did not meet the size criteria for Step 1. Differences between preliminary and final planning estimates are caused by the use of Calendar Year data as opposed to the earlier data used for preliminary planning estimates. Ten percent of the total sums allotted to each State shall be reserved for use by the Governor to provide performance incentives for public ES offices; services for groups with special needs; and for the extra costs of exemplary models for delivering job services. Postage Costs: Postage costs incurred by States during the conduct of ES activities are billed directly to the Department of Labor by the U.S. Postal Service. The total planning allotment includes $19,138,700, or 2.36 percent of the total amount available, withheld from distribution to finance postage costs associated with the conduct of ES business. States will implement direct accountability (i.e., actual count and costs of postage pieces) using penalty mail systems through all of FY 1994. The Department of Labor will continue to pay the U.S. Postal Service directly for all State postage costs during that period. The Department proposes to issue revised regulations which will eliminate the use of penalty mail systems in FY 1995. The proposal would include the distribution of postage resources to States, who would pay costs directly to their local post offices. The proposed regulations will provide for comments by the public on the proposed changes. The State-by-State postage allocation shown in Attachment II is for information purposes only. It provides States with estimates of the amount annually withheld from their ES allotments to maintain central postage reserves for payment of postage costs. Action: State planning activities are to be guided by the process described in 20 CFR 652 and Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 5-92.

Click on the link below to view, save, or print out the document.

Click on the link below to view, save, or print out the document.

References: Federal Register Notice of May 18, 1994. Background: The Department is undertaking a Dialogue to examine the need and options for constructive new directions for programs for the disadvantaged. As indicated in the attached Federal Register Notice, the Dialogue consists of several approaches to obtain a wide spectrum of information related to questions which will be addressed in the Dialogue process. The Federal Register Notice contains a list of broad questions to be addressed. The approach to be used will provide an opportunity for anyone to respond to the questions contained in the Notice. In addition, ETA is conducting a review of currently available studies, surveys and reports, a survey of customer attitudes and a series of small group discussions and town hall meetings across the country. Action: States are requested to provide their input to the questions in the Federal Register Notice and to share the Notice with SDAs and to encourage their input. We hope that States and SDAs will share this announcement with other human resource agencies at the State and local level and will encourage their input. As indicated in the announcement, ETA will conduct small group discussions and town halls in 15 sites across the country. The effective support of State and SDA staff is essential in making these useful for the acquisition of the views of the youth and adult "customer" participants of our system, the employer "customers" and the staff "customers". In addition, we encourage the use of the Dialogue approach in conferences and meetings which are held with JTPA and/or other human resource agency staff. States or others may elect to undertake dialogues within the context of other scheduled activities or to undertake them as separate activities. Staff from ETA Regional Offices are available to assist in any of the activities discussed above.

Click on the link below to view, save, or print out the document.

Background: Program letters, or the five letter series, are considered temporary directives containing instructions or information of a short-term nature which complement one of the five parts of the ES Manual. Rather than rewrite and reissue expiring program letters which still contain relevant information or instructions, the expiration date is extended. Attached is a listing of program letters with extended expiration dates for the above period.

Background: On April 18 and 19, 1994, Secretary Reich held a Low Wage Worker Advocates' Conference in Washington D.C. to assure advocate groups that the Department of Labor (DOL) is interested in serving and protecting the most vulnerable populations. The goal of the Conference was to meet with advocates for workers who are traditionally underrepresented to: (1) hear their expectations of DOL programs, (2) exchange information, (3) stress that the Department wants to work with them, and (4) encourage them to establish contacts with DOL's Regional Offices for further exchanges. Department of Labor Agencies represented in the Conference included the Employment Standards Administration (Wage and Hour and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs), the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, the Veterans' Employment and Training Service, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). A number of individuals representing groups and organizations that serve as advocates for low wage workers were in attendance. Low Wage Worker Advocate Concerns: During an issue-oriented session on employment and training, representatives from low wage worker advocate organizations raised several important issues and concerns: Populations among the hardest to serve need improved access to the delivery system (through flexible literacy and English language requirements, provision of bilingual front line workers, distribution of multi-language printed information, and greater inclusion in funding decisions). One advocate reported that some Private Industry Councils (PICs) have a policy of not serving anyone who cannot prove mastery of sixth grade level math and English literacy skills. A director for a Chinese workers' center was informed that budget concerns mean that the hardest to serve cannot be helped. An issue was the availability of job training in other languages and of bilingual front line workers. Other advocates questioned why the Department is the only agency not to mandate language access through the translation and distribution of information and materials in other languages. Community groups are not being included in the job training plan process. Community-based organizations (CBOs) represented at the Conference stated that they feel systematically excluded from the job training plan process. They cited: (1) the lack of access to informational documents, (2) the lack of PIC responsiveness to inquiries, (3) the lack of public hearings and other opportunities for public participation, and (4) the lack of time allotted for comments. Necessary supportive services are not being provided. The program coordinator for the Vietnamese Fishermen's Association and for training projects for low income women pointed to the lack of supportive services. She cited the immediate need for funding such items as required physicals, tools, work uniforms, and life skills training when they are prerequisites to jobs. Others suggested that increased supportive services should be mandated rather than limited. Community group proposals for funding to provide services to the neediest need to be given greater consideration. Advocates cited experiences leading to their conviction that the selection process is a closed one in which certain providers are regularly selected and most community organizations are routinely denied funding. Advocates asked for new and creative ways to ensure that funding reaches CBOs which can provide appropriate services to targeted groups. Greater coordination needs to be mandated. Opportunities for connecting job creation projects with job training are missed despite models at the State level, according to low wage worker advocates. They also observed that providers tend to operate in a vacuum and to advertise programs individually, in a fragmented fashion, rather than working to coordinate and centralize their programs and outreach strategies. State monitoring needs to be emphasized. Participants spoke of a lack of accountability between States and Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) and asked for an increased State presence and "ownership" of the use of Federal dollars and of the appropriateness of funding decisions. They requested that States monitor PIC's more closely and work to ensure the openness of the PIC planning process. Discussion: Despite the fact that the JTPA Amendments of 1992 were enacted in large part to ensure that the hard to serve are included among those served by JTPA, this iteration of concerns indicates that some of those groups are not being reached. In addition, although the provision of supportive services has been recognized as a predictor of participant success in JTPA programs, and participants' supportive service needs are required to be considered as a part of their JTPA program participation, it appears that those needs may require greater attention. Finally, community groups need to be regularly included in the development and operation of the JTPA program. Recently a State Job Training Coordinating Council rejected a local job training plan for failure to consult with labor and community-based organizations and failure to provide access to requested documents. Action: The Department believes that actively addressing the advocate's concerns will raise the awareness level of State and local program operators and improve JTPA programs consistent with the goals of the 1992 Amendments. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) wants to work with States and SDAs to encourage sensitivity to these issues. To follow up on the Secretary Reich's Low Wage Workers Advocates' Conference, ETA will invite advocate groups and organizations to a follow-up meeting at the Department of Labor in Washington D.C. on June 3, 1994. State Liaisons should continue the discussion started at the Secretary's Low Wage Workers Advocates' Conference and work to achieve equitable, collaborative solutions to the concerns of the representatives of low wage workers. Regional Offices will be available to assist State and local efforts to follow up on the Low Wage Worker Advocates' Conference. Advocate concerns should also be addressed in sessions convened relative to the systemwide Dialogue process announced in a Federal Register Notice issued on May 18, 1994.

Background: The UIRR Data Entry System has been operational since 1990. The system is dynamic and is constantly growing and changing as new programs arise or improvements are created. Suggestions have been received from users and many have been implemented. Some suggestions could not be implemented because of requirements of the data base management system that was used to create the UIRR Data Entry System. The National Office is moving in the direction of utilizing personal computers (PCs) to access the SUN equipment. Moving to PCs will have many advantages, one of which is "windowing". Windowing allows the user to pull up different functions without going through traditional menus and to have several applications active on the screen in different "windows" at the same time. Windowing will allow for fewer steps to access any given part of the system and will provide the ability to move easily and quickly from one function to another. The UIRR system will begin to be rewritten in this type of window environment during the fall of 1994. The entire system will be rewritten and tested before any screens are released to the States. Release will not occur before January of 1996. In preparation for this large rewrite, we will be studying the existing system as well as the suggestions that have been received to date but not implemented. Suggestions Requested: We are soliciting suggestions or comments from users that they think would improve the UIRR Data Entry System. We want to hear what is wrong, what is right, and specific suggestions for improvement. Many users have been exposed to multiple pieces of PC software and could comment on what they think works well. There are multiple users in each State and comments from all are welcome. Action Required: Please share this directive with appropriate staff. Any suggestions or comments should be sent to Cindy Ambler, Room S-4519, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, DC, 20210 by June 30, 1994. Suggestions will be welcome after this date but will more likely be used in planning the new system if received by that time.

Click on the link below to view, save, or print out the document.

Reference: Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 16-94 Background: RQC is a comprehensive performance measurement system, initiated by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), to assist State UI managers in evaluating the effectiveness of their Unemployment Compensation (UC) tax operations. The Unemployment Insurance Service (UIS) was assigned the task of RQC design and development. A UIS taskforce was formed comprised of ETA's Office of Regional Management, State UC tax program professionals on Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignments, and State administration experts on tax policy and procedures, who provided guidance on RQC design and development in advisory capacities (expert panel). To date, UC tax experts from 18 States have served as advisors and participated in IPA assignments, providing valuable linkages between theory and practice without which RQC could not have reached this final stage of preparing for formal implementation. The IPA and expert panel experience has also provided the participant States a resident source of better understanding the interrelationship of State UC tax programs. With the expiration of current IPA assignments, new opportunities will be available. Current Status of RQC: In addition to the 18 States participating in the design and development of RQC, 52 States have participated in voluntary implementation of RQC. The experience gained in actual applications of RQC measures under varying State rules and procedures gave the RQC Task Force immeasurable guidance and generated a number of modifications in the measurement of tax operations accuracy, timeliness, and completeness. The RQC's next steps involve assisting States and Regions with program implementation, e.g., going on technical assistance trips; developing and delivering any needed training; and ensuring that RQC revisions to reported tax data are understood and that States are able to begin reporting new and revised data elements. State Nomination of Staff to Provide Technical Support in the Development of RQC: The contractual assignments for our present IPAs will end in late summer. Replacements will be needed to assure a smooth phase-in of RQC. The RQC Work Group is seeking individuals with a broad range of expertise in State UC tax operations, some understanding of automation in tax operations and with good writing and analytical skills. The IPA candidates who are selected will participate in developing resolutions to problems and issues uncovered in the voluntary implementation phase of RQC. They will be instrumental in coordinating ETA 581 requirements with RQC Operations Handbook measurement criteria for the phase-in of mandatory RQC. Selected candidates will join RQC in Washington, D.C., on 12 to l8 month assignments, beginning in late fiscal year 1994. An individual serving an IPA assignment with RQC remains a State employee, continuing to draw his/her State salary and benefits. Direction and control, while on IPA assignment, are provided by Federal staff. Salary and relocation/per diem expenses may be paid by the State, the Department of Labor, or shared, depending on the type of arrangements negotiated between the State and the Department. The IPAs are entitled to either (1) the reasonable cost of relocation to and from Washington, DC; or (2) the reasonable cost of living expenses (per diem) while working in Washington, DC. Action Required: State Administrators are requested to: a. Notify appropriate staff of opportunities for IPA assignments, and b. Forward resumes of interested applicants to the ETA Regional Office (RO) within 30 days of this UIPL. Applicant resumes should show work history, describe duties, name and phone number of the applicant's supervisor, and the applicant's phone number.