Military spouses as WIA dislocated workers, Change 1

Accessible letter PDF: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/TEGL/2007/TEGL22-04c1acc.pdf

CLASSIFICATION

  EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION             WIA
             ADVISORY SYSTEM                         CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
               U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR              OWI
                   Washington, D.C. 20210            DATE
                                                     September 28, 2007

TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 22-04, CHANGE 1

TO:                 ALL STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
                    ALL STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS

FROM:               EMILY STOVER DeROCCO /s/
                    Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:            Serving Military Spouses as Dislocated Workers under the
                    Workforce Investment Act Dislocated Worker Formula Grant

1. Purpose. The purpose of this guidance is to clarify Department of Labor policy
   regarding existing flexibility under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to serve
   military spouses as dislocated workers under the WIA Dislocated Worker
   formula grant.

2. References. Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as amended; WIA Regulations at
   20 CFR Part 663.115; TEGL No. 2-05, “Workforce Investment System Support of
   Actions of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC),” dated
   August 11, 2005; TEGL No. 22-04, “Serving Military Service Members and
   Military Spouses under the Workforce Investment Act Dislocated Worker
   Formula Grant,” dated March 22, 2005; TEGL No. 16-03, Change 1, “NEG Policy
   Guidance – Assistance for Returning Members of the National Guard and
   Military Reserves,” dated August 18, 2004; TEGL No. 16-03, “NEG Policy
   Guidance,” dated January 26, 2004; and TEGL No. 5-03, “Implementing the
   Veterans’ Priority Provisions of the Jobs for Veterans Act,” dated September 16,
   2004.

3. Background. Military spouses make an important contribution to the careers of
   military service members, including helping with retention of military members.
   However, the careers of military spouses often take a subordinate role to the
   government’s mission, with lifelong consequences for spouses’ career
   advancement and educational attainment. Military spouses experience frequent,
   and often very significant education and career interruptions due to service

 RESCISSIONS                                  EXPIRATION DATE:

 None                                         Continuing


   members’ assignments to new duty stations. The workforce investment system
   is uniquely positioned to leverage the full array of its resources, particularly WIA
   Dislocated Worker formula funding, to implement innovative education,
   retraining, and reemployment strategies to ensure that military spouses have full
   access to the resources necessary for their career stability and advancement.

   This guidance is intended to amplify the guidance provided in TEGL No. 22-04,
   and to encourage the workforce system to take full advantage of the flexibility
   provided by WIA to serve military spouses as dislocated workers under WIA.

4. Policy Clarification. WIA regulations provide that state and local boards have
   authority to establish policies and procedures for use in determining an
   individual’s eligibility as a dislocated worker, as long as they are consistent with
   the statutory definition of Dislocated Worker (20 CFR 663.115(b)). The
   Department has previously issued guidance on permissible ways to apply this
   authority with regard to military spouses. As outlined in TEGL No. 22-04, a
   military spouse who leaves his/her job to follow his/her spouse to a new duty
   assignment can be served with WIA Dislocated Worker formula grant funds in
   certain circumstances. When the spouse is unable to continue an employment
   relationship due to the service member’s permanent change of military station,
   or the military spouse loses employment as a result of the spouse’s discharge
   from the military, then the cessation of employment can be considered to meet
   the termination component of the WIA definition of dislocated worker (WIA
   Section 101(9)(A)(i). As provided in TEGL No. 22-04, military spouses in such
   circumstances must still be determined to be “unlikely to return to a previous
   industry or occupation” in order to qualify as a dislocated worker.

   This policy guidance further clarifies that the spouse’s cessation of employment,
   due to the service member’s permanent change of military station or his/her
   discharge from the military, can also be considered to meet the “unlikely to
   return to a previous industry or occupation” criterion of the WIA definition of
   dislocated worker outlined in Section 101(9)(A)(iii). This portion of the definition
   of a dislocated worker recognizes the breadth of job types and considers whether
   the individual is likely to return to either his/her prior industry or (not “and”)
   occupation. Furthermore, the phrase specifically uses the term “unlikely” to
   return; thus, the standard for determining the likelihood of return is not absolute,
   but rather a matter of judgment based on relevant circumstances. In the majority
   of cases, the circumstances in which military spouses are required to leave a
   job/occupation as a result of the military member’s transfer do not position the
   spouse to return immediately to his/her previous occupation or industry,
   particularly at the same level for the following reasons:


   •   Spouses are generally not resuming employment with the same employer.
   •   Even if a spouse resumes employment with the same employer, the
       employment is in a new location, and occupations/jobs will generally not be
       the same structurally or organizationally as in the prior location.
   •   When military spouses do get jobs in their new locations, it is likely, as new
       employees, that they will start at lower levels of seniority than the levels of
       their positions in their prior locations.
   •   There is frequently a gap in employment as spouses make the move and
       search for new employment, which may lessen their likelihood of returning to
       the same level of occupation or type of job.

   Based upon the totality of these circumstances, it would be reasonable for states
   and local areas to conclude that in the vast majority of cases, military spouses
   impacted by a service member’s duty reassignment or discharge will meet the
   “unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation” criterion of WIA
   Section 101(9)(A)(iii) and could thus be served as dislocated workers under WIA
   Section 101(9). State and local workforce system leaders are strongly encouraged
   to reexamine their WIA Dislocated Worker program eligibility policies in light of
   this clarification and to take full advantage of the flexibility provided under the
   dislocated worker definition to engage and serve military spouses in need of
   education, training, and career assistance. Workforce system leaders are also
   reminded of the broad flexibility provided by WIA for Governors and Local
   Boards to establish policies and procedures for One-Stop Career Center operators
   to use in determining an individual’s eligibility as a dislocated worker (20 CFR
   Part 663.115(b)). These policies and procedures could take into account a broad
   variety of additional factors, including:

   •   The skills of the spouse, e.g., obsolete or inadequate skills to meet the
       advancing competency needs of the 21st century workforce and economy;
   •   The decline of the industry in which the spouse has prior work experience, in
       the region to which the spouse has relocated; and
   •   An excess number of workers with similar skill sets and experience seeking
       limited employment opportunities in the region.

5. Action. States shall distribute this guidance to all appropriate staff.

6. Inquiries. Questions concerning this guidance may be directed to the
   appropriate Regional Office.