2005 California Unemployment Insurance Code Sections 15075-15079 CHAPTER 7.5. DISLOCATED WORKERS ASSISTANCE

15075.  The Legislature recognizes that fundamental shifts occur
within the economy which result in the closure of existing production
facilities, retail establishments, and business institutions, or in
severe reduction in employment opportunities, which bring about mass
layoffs and consequent economic hardship to many California families.
  In order to assist these families in regaining economic security,
and in conformance with the provisions of Title III of the federal
Job Training Partnership Act, as amended, and Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 15050), the Dislocated Workers Assistance Program is
hereby established.
15075.1.  Each service delivery area shall be a substate area and
the administrative entity of each service delivery area shall be the
substate grantee for purposes of Title III of the Job Training
Partnership Act, except when groups of service delivery areas elect
to become consortium substate areas with the approval of the State
Job Training Coordinating Council.
15076.  The private industry councils in each service delivery area
shall recommend and approve an employment and training plan for
displaced workers, which shall meet the requirements of the federal
Job Training Partnership Act, and in addition provide for each of the
following:
   (a) Identification, in conjunction with the Employment Development
Department, of individuals eligible for assistance due to any of the
following facts:
   (1) The individuals have been terminated or laid off or have
received a notice of termination or layoff from employment, are
eligible for or have exhausted their entitlement to unemployment
compensation, and are unlikely to return to their previous industry
or occupation.
   (2) The individuals have been terminated from employment, or have
received a notice of termination of employment, as a result of any
permanent closure of, or substantial layoff at, a plant, facility, or
enterprise.
   (3) The individuals are long-term unemployed and have limited
opportunities for employment or reemployment in the same or a similar
occupation in the area in which they reside, including older
individuals who have had substantial barriers to employment by reason
of age.
   (4) The individuals were self-employed (including farmers and
ranchers) and are unemployed as a result of general economic
conditions in the community in which they reside or because of
natural disasters.
   (5) The individuals are displaced homemakers who may be provided
services as additional dislocated workers without adversely affecting
the delivery of services to eligible dislocated workers.
   (b) Determination of job opportunities that exist within the local
labor market area or outside the labor market area for which
displaced workers could be retrained, and determination of what
training for identified employment opportunities exists or could be
provided within the local area.  This determination shall be
undertaken by use of both of the following:
   (1) The State-Local Cooperative Labor Market Information Program
established in Section 15074.
   (2) As appropriate, representatives of the Employment Training
Panel in accordance with its functions pursuant to Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 10200) of Part 1 of Division 3.
   (c) Informing eligible displaced workers of training
opportunities.  This process shall be undertaken in conjunction with
the Employment Development Department.
   (d) A program for dislocated workers assistance drawing, as
appropriate, upon existing facilities and resources, which may
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Dislocated worker employment services and related assistance,
provided that employment-related services are coordinated with, and
do not duplicate, those available and accessible services of the
Employment Development Department, including all of the following:
   (A) Job search assistance.
   (B) Job development.
   (C) Support services, such as financial and personal counseling,
child care and related children's services, and assistance in
obtaining equipment and supplies necessary for retraining or new
employment.
   (D) Relocation assistance, if it is determined that an eligible
individual cannot obtain employment in the commuting area and has
secured suitable long duration employment or a bona fide job offer.
   (E) Prelayoff assistance.
   (F) Programs conducted in cooperation with employers or labor
organizations to provide early intervention in the event of closures
of plants or facilities.
   (2) Training in job skills for which demand exceeds supply,
including, where feasible, job training administered by the
Employment Training Panel pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 10200) of Part 1 of Division 3.
   (3) Commuting assistance, consistent with the Displaced Worker
Transportation Program established pursuant to Section 14002.5 of the
Government Code.
   (e) Consultation with affected labor organizations, in the case of
any assistance program that will provide services to a substantial
number of members of these labor organizations.
   (f) Involvement of displaced workers in program delivery,
including, as appropriate, paid employment for these individuals in
providing services under the program.
   (g) Utilization of services and resources from other sources,
public and private, and specific procedures for coordination with
other programs, in order to maximize services for displaced workers
and their families and increase employment and training
opportunities.  Examples of programs to be included are the
following:
   (1) Other employment and training and education programs.
   (2) Social services, including child care and related children's
services.
   (3) Housing programs, including low-income weatherization and home
energy conservation programs.
   (4) Transportation related programs, including highway, bridge,
and mass transit construction and repair.
   (5) Other programs related to infrastructure development and
repair.
   (6) Economic development programs deemed applicable.
   (h) Contracting with the Employment Development Department in
order to provide funding for special services the department is to
provide under the local displaced worker assistance program.
   (i) Coordination with neighboring jurisdictions, in cases of plant
closings or mass layoffs that cross service delivery areas.
   (j) A system of program and fiscal accountability to ensure
maximum benefit from the expenditure of federal and state funds and
that is consistent with procedures established in the state's job
training plan pursuant to Section 121 of the federal Job Training
Partnership Act (Public Law 93-700), as amended, including all of the
following:
   (1) Performance goals and standards, established by the State Job
Training Coordinating Council, including standards for both of the
following:
   (A) Placement and retention in unsubsidized employment.
   (B) Earnings and wages.
   (2) Procedures for reporting on the outcome of the program, which
include all of the following:
   (A) A description of activities conducted.
   (B) Characteristics of participants.
   (C) The extent to which the activities conducted achieved relevant
performance goals.
   (3) Fiscal control, accounting, audit, and related provisions.
   (k) Identification of the administrative entity of the local
service delivery area or consortium that shall also receive the
60-day notification required to be given to units of local government
pursuant to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act (Public Law 100-379).
   (l) Integration of services and benefits available under Chapter 2
of Title II of the federal Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. Sec. 2101
and following) and Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 1266) of
Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 1.
   The plan shall be reviewed and approved pursuant to Sections 15045
and 15046.
15076.5.  The California Workforce Investment Board shall do all of
the following:
   (a) Be the lead state agency to establish policies for:
   (1) Alleviating adverse conditions that might cause plant closures
and, where closures are unavoidable, assisting local efforts to
secure alternative employment and retraining opportunities for
displaced workers.
   (2) Marshaling available state and federal resources to aid
workers and communities affected by major plant closures and to
foster long-term economic vitality, industrial growth, and job
opportunities.
   (3) Integrating appropriate activities of the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency, the Employment Development
Department, the Employment Training Panel, the Department of
Industrial Relations, the State Department of Education, the
Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges, and the
Governor's Office of Planning and Research with the State Dislocated
Worker Unit.
   (4) Collection of data and preparation of economic analyses and
reporting, intended to provide better and more detailed assessments
of future trends within the industrial, commercial, and agricultural
sectors of the economy.
   (b) Review and comment on the plans for displaced worker
assistance programs submitted pursuant to Section 15076.
   (c) Recommend to the Governor necessary components of state plans
under the jurisdiction of other state offices, departments, or
agencies that administer programs appropriate for coordination with
dislocated worker assistance programs authorized by this chapter.
   (d) Review and make recommendations to the Governor and the
Legislature regarding changes needed in current federal and state
statutes and programs in order to minimize adverse consequences of
plant closures and promote rapid reemployment of workers and
revitalization of communities.
15077.  The Employment Development Department shall do all of the
following:
   (a) Review and approve the plans for displaced workers' assistance
submitted pursuant to Section 15076.
   (b) According to policies established by the State Job Training
Coordinating Council and state law, coordinate displaced workers
assistance efforts in situations where plant closures or layoffs
within an industry have a significant statewide impact.
   (c) Encourage and coordinate early identification of situations of
potential plant closures, and provide any assistance that may be
necessary to alleviate economic dislocation.
   (d) Cooperate with the Employment Training Panel in the
coordination of training and services for displaced workers eligible
under Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 10200) of Part 1 of
Division 3.
   (e) Serve as the state agency providing any information and
procedural activities that may be required by the federal government
to ensure federal funding for dislocated workers assistance.
   (f) Provide for the submission of applications to the United
States Secretary of Labor for additional federal funding to the state
in accordance with Title III of the federal Job Training Partnership
Act (Public Law 93-700), as amended.
   (g) Operate a monitoring, reporting, and management system that
provides an adequate information base for effective program planning,
management, review, and evaluation.
   (h) Administer federal and state funds appropriated for the
support of demonstration and special assistance programs for
dislocated workers.
   (i) Provide specific periodic notification to employers of 100 or
more employees of their potential responsibilities under the federal
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (P.L. 100-379), the
availability of services to employees and employers under this and
other state laws, and instructions on how to comply with those laws
and obtain appropriate services.
15077.5.  To assure rapid response assistance to dislocated workers
and their communities, there shall be in the Employment Development
Department a State Dislocated Worker Unit, which shall do all of the
following:
   (a) Provide a special statewide program of assistance for
displaced workers, consistent with the requirements for local
programs under this chapter.  This program shall be available to
address sudden or severe economic dislocation under any of the
following circumstances:
   (1) A community, through its private industry council, board of
supervisors, or other applicable local elected officials, requests or
accepts state services.
   (2) The private industry council or substate grantee does not
respond within 30 days after notification by the Employment
Development Department of a plant closure or mass layoff, or if the
Employment Development Department determines that the plan does not
sufficiently meet the needs of displaced workers.
   (3) Where a plant closure or substantial reduction in employment
at a worksite affects workers residing in more than one service
delivery area, and there is no coordinated plan among affected areas.
   (b) Work with employers and labor organizations in promoting
labor-management cooperation to achieve the goals of this chapter, in
accordance with policies established by the state council.
   (c) Be the designated state agency for purposes of receiving the
60-day notification required by the federal Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification Act, Public Law 100-379.
   (d) Provide for rapid onsite response, pursuant to local plans
described in Section 15076, to permanent closures and substantial
layoffs throughout the state to assess the need for, and initially
provide, appropriate services to dislocated workers.
   (e) Provide immediate information to local entities about state
and federal programs, including economic development assistance,
which can serve displaced workers, their families, and communities.
   (f) Assist in the coordination of programs provided under Title
III of the Job Training Partnership Act, as amended, with programs
and services provided by state and local education and training
agencies, public assistance agencies, the Employment Development
Department, rehabilitation agencies, economic development agencies,
and other entities which carry out activities pertinent to successful
positive adjustment on the part of displaced workers and their
families and communities.
   (g) Prepare a plan, to be included in the coordination and special
services plan required by Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section
10510) of Part 1 of Division 3, to assure rapid and effective state
response to local entities requesting assistance in developing
programs for displaced workers, which shall be submitted for approval
to the State Job Training Coordinating Council for inclusion in the
plan required by Section 10525.  The plan shall include specific
procedures for enabling private industry councils, entities
administering job training plans for displaced workers under the
federal Job Training Partnership Act, as amended, workers, firms, and
communities to access each of the federal and state resources
appropriate for serving displaced workers.  The plan shall facilitate
development and implementation of local dislocated workers
assistance programs pursuant to this chapter.
   (h) Report to the State Job Training Coordinating Council on the
type and number of requests it receives and the results of its
assistance.
   (i) Seek the participation and advice of individuals
representative of local government, business, and labor in fulfilling
its responsibilities.  The advice of those persons shall be drawn
upon to assure effective assistance by the state, responsive to
particular community needs and circumstances.
15078.  Funds allocated to the state under Section 302(d) of the
federal Job Training Partnership Act, as amended, shall be allocated
to service delivery areas based on an allocation formula which shall
utilize the most appropriate information needed to distribute funds
to address the state's dislocated worker readjustment needs, and
shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following, in
accordance with federal law:
   (a) Insured unemployment data.
   (b) Unemployment concentrations.
   (c) Plant closing and mass layoff data.
   (d) Declining industries data.
   (e) Farmer-rancher economic hardship data.
   (f) Long-term unemployment data.
   Upon approval of the State Job Training Coordinating Council,  the
director shall promptly publish the allocation formula.
   Nothing in this section shall prohibit the council from
establishing a minimum level of funding for service delivery areas.
15079.  (a) In order to maximize employment and training services to
displaced workers, it is the intent of the Legislature that
unemployment insurance benefits be payable to unemployed workers
enrolled in retraining, in accordance with Article 1.5 (commencing
with Section 1266) of Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 1.  As part of
its education and job training report card program, the State Job
Training Coordinating Council, or its successor, shall annually
report on program outcomes.  Beginning in 2001, the report shall
include, at a minimum, the number of individuals who complete
training, a demographic profile of these individuals, the percentage
of these individuals who are found in California unemployment
insurance covered employment after the training, the rate of change
in the unemployment status of these individuals, the amount of the
Unemployment Insurance Fund benefits paid to program participants,
and any other data deemed relevant.
   (b) Service delivery areas may provide, to the extent permitted by
federal law, needs-related payments to eligible dislocated workers
who do not qualify for, or have exhausted, unemployment insurance
benefits, in order to enable these workers to participate in job
training and education programs authorized by this chapter.