Qualifying Event
Employment Recovery DWGs provide resources for eligible applicants to respond to major economic dislocations and their associated economic impacts. Major economic dislocations include plant closures and mass layoffs, closures and realignments of military installations, and other economic events that cause significant job losses.
The following are qualifying events which permit an eligible entity to submit an application for Employment Recovery DWG funding. After receiving the application, DOL will review the application and determine whether to award DWG funding. 20 CFR 687.110(a)(5) states that the Secretary of Labor may determine additional qualifying events.
Mass Layoff or Plant Closure. Layoffs or plant closures affecting 50 or more workers from at least one employer within the applicant’s service area are a qualifying event for Employment Recovery DWGs. As long as at least one layoff or plant closure affecting 50 or more workers is documented, applicants are not required to demonstrate more than one layoff of 50 or more workers as part of the qualifying event. However, additional information may be required in an application to substantiate the size and scope of a DWG funding request.
Community Impact. Multiple small dislocations occurring over a period of up to 12 months that have significantly increased the number of unemployed individuals in a state, regional, or local workforce area or areas, often in rural areas, may qualify for an Employment Recovery DWG. These community impact events might not reach 50 affected workers but create a substantial economic impact.
Higher-than-Average Demand for Services from Dislocated Members of the Armed Services. A higher-than-average demand for employment and training activities for dislocated members of the Armed Services and dislocated military spouses that exceeds state and local resources for providing such activities may qualify for Employment Recovery DWG funding.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants for Employment Recovery DWGs are:
1. States or outlying areas, or a consortium of states;
2. Local WDBs or a consortium of WDBs;
3. Entities eligible for funding through the Indian and Native American Program in WIOA Section 166(c);
4. Entities determined to be appropriate by the governor of the state or outlying area involved; or
5. Entities that demonstrate to the Secretary of Labor their capability to effectively respond to circumstances related to particular dislocations.
Eligible Participants
For Employment Recovery DWGs, the following individuals are eligible to receive employment and training assistance:
1. Dislocated workers as defined in WIOA Section 3(15), including displaced homemakers as defined in WIOA Section 3(16), dislocated members of the Armed Forces (service I - 12 members who are transitioning to the civilian workforce) and recently separated veterans who are dislocated. This includes all members of the Armed Forces who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. See TEGL 19-16 for more specific information on the flexibilities that WIOA provides to Governors with regard to establishing procedures for interpreting and applying the definition of dislocated worker to individuals.
2. Other members of the Armed Forces.
3. An individual who is employed in a non-managerial position with a Department of Defense contractor, who is determined by the Secretary of Defense to be at risk of termination from employment as a result of reductions in defense expenditures, and whose employer is converting operations from defense to nondefense applications in order to prevent worker layoffs;
4. In the case of the passage of a formal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) law, additional Employment Recovery DWG participant eligibility may exist. ETA will issue special program guidance in such cases.