In FY 2019, DOL continued its conference review process involving the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, and the Office of the Solicitor. In total, DOL incurred over $5.7 million in costs to the Department for conferences in the fiscal year.

Throughout the year, DOL hosted a variety of conferences and trainings ranging from grantee trainings to agency leadership meetings which were designed to set the stage for the agency's significant initiatives for the next fiscal year, including organizational and management goals that are critical for the agency's successful implementation of its operating plan.

If there are any questions concerning this reporting, or if additional information is required, please contact Dylan Sacchetti, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, sacchetti.dylan.m.@dol.gov.

Department of Labor Conferences over $100,000 in costs to the Department

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Conference Title: NCS & ORS National Refresher Training
Conference Expenses: $305,265.10 – NOTE: An interagency agreement (IAA) between BLS and the Social Security Administration (SSA) supports the ORS program fund participation of BLS National Office and Field employees
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Date: August 20-23, 2019
Explanation: The purpose of the NCS and ORS National Refresher Training is to provide training on the procedures and concepts underlying NCS and ORS.  This training allowed the program to produce a single training for all staff rather than conducting annually as many as 11 separate trainings across the United States, as was done in previous years.  By integrating our regional offices into a single training, NCS can facilitate the sharing of ideas and best practices across the country, present training in a consistent manner with the same trainers, and decrease the amount of travel needed for national office staff that generally present the training in multiple regions each year.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 237

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Conference Title: Industrial Prices Refresher Training
Conference Expenses: $126,900.00
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Date: September 11-12, 2019
Explanation: The primary purpose of the Industrial Prices Refresher Training is to provide technical training to regional Field Economists and management staff.  The IP Field Economists are responsible for securing cooperation and collecting data from high-level corporate officials for the Producer Price Index (PPI) and the International Price Program (IPP), both of which are designated as Principal Federal Economic Indicators (PFEI) by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The IP Field Economists also secure a commitment from corporate officials to provide price information for the PPI and IPP on an ongoing basis.  They play key roles in ensuring the quality and breadth of published indexes for both programs. The IP field staff are highly dispersed and duty stationed in over twenty locations.  They collect data in all fifty states as well as Puerto Rico.  This training provided the regional Field Economists and their managers with the opportunity to collaborate and share best practices.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 96

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
Conference Title: EBSA Managers' Training
Conference Expenses: $261,824.68
Location: San Antonio, TX
Dates: May 6-10, 2019
Explanation: The purpose of this training is to ensure EBSA's management and senior technical cadre are qualified to perform their jobs by being (1) knowledgeable about current issues and trends relating to regulating the very complicated financial and health care universe of private sector employee benefit plans and (2) well-versed in techniques/approaches for managing a large organization.  The training is an integrated program of executive level program planning and implementation, managerial training for first line supervisors, technical training for all participants, individualized technical training for Senior Advisors, for both health and criminal investigations, and an individualized agenda for the outreach, education and assistance program.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 187

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Conference Title: CMS Training
Conference Expenses: $107,067.24
Location: Chicago, IL
Dates: July 8-12, 2019
Explanation: With the prevalence of telework, increasing cross-office and cross-regional collaboration and federal electronic records management requirements, OFCCP recognized the critical need for IT modernization of its case management system to effectively carry out its compliance evaluation activities with a dispersed and mobile workforce.  The agency's new compliance management system (CMS) addresses challenges of its legacy system, making OFCCP's operations more efficient and effective, and allowing the agency to meet the 2019 electronic records mandate. CMS completely transforms OFCCP from a paper-based to fully electronic and cloud-based compliance evaluation system.
All regional and field staff working on OFCCP's mission critical work – compliance evaluations, were required to attend this in-person training. The training enabled the CMS Deployment Team to provide classroom-based, hands-on, and desk side assistance to staff.  The in-person training included practical application of how to use the system and how to handle OFCCP business rules.  There was also a manager-only session to address accountability and administrative matters.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 93

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Conference Title: CMS Training
Conference Expenses: $140,763.33
Location: New York, NY
Dates: August 5-9, 2019
Explanation: With the prevalence of telework, increasing cross-office and cross-regional collaboration and federal electronic records management requirements, OFCCP recognized the critical need for IT modernization of its case management system to effectively carry out its compliance evaluation activities with a dispersed and mobile workforce.  The agency's new compliance management system (CMS) addresses challenges of its legacy system, making OFCCP's operations more efficient and effective, and allowing the agency to meet the 2019 electronic records mandate. CMS completely transforms OFCCP from a paper-based to fully electronic and cloud-based compliance evaluation system.
All regional and field staff working on OFCCP's mission critical work – compliance evaluations, were required to attend this in-person training. The training enabled the CMS Deployment Team to provide classroom-based, hands-on, and desk side assistance to staff.  The in-person training included practical application of how to use the system and how to handle OFCCP business rules.  There was also a manager-only session to address accountability and administrative matters.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 120

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Conference Title: CMS Training
Conference Expenses: $132,764.12
Location: Dallas, TX
Dates: August 26 -30,2019
Explanation: With the prevalence of telework, increasing cross-office and cross-regional collaboration and federal electronic records management requirements, OFCCP recognized the critical need for IT modernization of its case management system to effectively carry out its compliance evaluation activities with a dispersed and mobile workforce.  The agency's new compliance management system (CMS) addresses challenges of its legacy system, making OFCCP's operations more efficient and effective, and allowing the agency to meet the 2019 electronic records mandate. CMS completely transforms OFCCP from a paper-based to fully electronic and cloud-based compliance evaluation system.
All regional and field staff working on OFCCP's mission critical work – compliance evaluations, were required to attend this in-person training. The training enabled the CMS Deployment Team to provide classroom-based, hands-on, and desk side assistance to staff.  The in-person training included practical application of how to use the system and how to handle OFCCP business rules.  There was also a manager-only session to address accountability and administrative matters.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 104

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Conference Title: OWCP Leadership Training
Conference Expenses: $122,616.39
Location: Kansas City, MO
Dates: April 8-11, 2019
Explanation: The purpose of the conferences was to present and define short- and long-term priorities for the Agency's work and to launch a cohesive, coordinated effort with the extended leadership team to implement those priorities
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 73

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Conference Title: OWCP/DFEC Supervisory Conference
Conference Expenses: $127,665.80
Location: Atlanta, GA
Dates: September 9-12, 2019
Explanation: The purpose of the conference was to provide an opportunity for DFEC and OWCP Leadership to meet with all of the supervisors in the FECA program to discuss program quality control and individual performance management as well as FTE allocations and distribution by posting description
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 91

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
Conference Title: Advanced Investigator Training
Conference Expenses: $259,483.98
Location: Houston, TX
Date: February 5-14, 2019
Explanation: To enhance WHD investigators' understanding of these more technical aspects of federal labor laws, WHD's Training and Education Branch has developed advanced training for its investigators.  This advanced training, among other things, allows investigators and supervisors to learn from agency experts and regional solicitors who regularly deal with these more complex laws.  To improve efficiency, WHD has combined the trainings into two three-day training sessions at one location.  This training supports the Secretary's directive for WHD to "rigorously administer and enforce the laws relating to admission of workers into the United States under the visa programs in order to fulfill the Department's strong commitment to enhancing program integrity and protecting U.S. workers."
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 146

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
Conference Title: H-2A Immigration Training
Conference Expenses: $107,424.58
Location: San Antonio, TX
Date: March 19-21, 2019
Explanation: The Wage and Hour Division has been delegated enforcement responsibility by the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that H-2A workers are employed in compliance with H-2A labor certification requirements.  This training consists of a three day classroom training that focuses on advanced regulatory knowledge and investigative techniques.  The training reinforces enforcement proficiency to investigators and supervisors by exposing them to agency experts and regional solicitors who regularly deal with the H-2A program. These experts reconcile independent learning with nationally standardized training and provide trainees an arena to receive immediate feedback on complex enforcement and regulatory questions.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 74

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
Conference Title: H-1B Immigration Training
Conference Expenses: $148,169.30
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Date: June 25-27, 2019
Explanation: The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has been delegated enforcement responsibility by the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that H-1B workers are employed in compliance with H-1B labor certification requirements. In accordance with the procedures for clearance of meetings and conferences, the WHD is requesting approval to hold a training of investigators and managers to improve their enforcement skills and knowledge related to enforcement of laws and regulations related to the H-B program.
This training consists of a three day classroom training that focuses on advanced regulatory knowledge and investigative techniques.  The training reinforces enforcement proficiency to investigators and supervisors by exposing them to agency experts and regional solicitors who regularly deal with the H-1B program. These experts reconcile independent learning with nationally standardized training and provide trainees an arena to receive immediate feedback on complex enforcement and regulatory questions.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 72

Agency: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
Conference Title: H-1B Immigration Training
Conference Expenses: $107,912.93
Location: New Orleans, LA
Date: July 22-26, 2019
Explanation: The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has been delegated enforcement responsibility by the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that H-1B workers are employed in compliance with H-1B labor certification requirements. In accordance with the procedures for clearance of meetings and conferences, the WHD is requesting approval to hold a training of investigators and managers to improve their enforcement skills and knowledge related to enforcement of laws and regulations related to the H-B program.
This training consists of a three day classroom training that focuses on advanced regulatory knowledge and investigative techniques.  The training reinforces enforcement proficiency to investigators and supervisors by exposing them to agency experts and regional solicitors who regularly deal with the H-1B program. These experts reconcile independent learning with nationally standardized training and provide trainees an arena to receive immediate feedback on complex enforcement and regulatory questions.
Total Number of Federal Employee Participants: 74