Dislocated Worker

Dislocated Worker

Dislocated worker Flyer

Dislocated Worker - An individual who is Terminated or laid-off within the last 6 months OR have received notice of termination or layoff, AND is eligible for, receiving or have exhausted entitlement to unemployment compensation AND is unlikely to return to previous industry for occupation, OR Terminated or laid-off OR have received notice of termination or lay-off as a result of a permanent closure or a substantial lay-off at a plant, facility or enterprise?

OR Have you been,

Providing unpaid services to family members in the home and have been dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income; and is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment?

For more information see the eligibility guidelines.

Eligibility requirements:

WIA DISLOCATED ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Eligibility is determined for all participants seeking Workforce Investment Act (W.I.A.) funded services pursuant to 20 C.F.R. Part 625 establish basic and specific program eligibility criteria.

WIA dislocated worker services are designed to meet employer needs by helping job seekers upgrade skills, obtain employment, improve job retention, and increase earnings.

Participants first must meet basic WIA eligibility requirements for WIA-funded services. To be eligible to participate in WIA title I services, dislocated workers must:

  • Be a citizen or non citizen authorized to work in the U.S.;
  • Meet Military Selective Service registration requirements (males only); and
  • Be a Fulton County Resident; or laid off from a company within Fulton County

Note: When funding is an issue, funding county residents have priority of service.

Additionally, job seekers must also fit in one of the following dislocated work categories:

Category 1
The job seeker must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Terminated or laid off
  • Unlikely to return to the previous occupation or industry; and
  • Proof of either eligibility for UI compensation or have exhausted entitlement to UI compensation

Unlikely to Return-Individuals laid off on a temporary basis, with a specific recall date, are not eligible under Category 1, based on the unlikely to return eligibility criterion.

Temporary or Seasonal Workers-Individuals laid off or terminated because of the cyclical intermittent or seasonal nature of their employment may be provided training and employment services under dislocated worker services.  However, such training should be available only to those individuals interested in developing skills in non-seasonal occupations rather than in continuing as temporary or seasonal workers.

Workers employed on a temporary or seasonal basis, including those employed by a temporary agency, and workers who can provide the beginning and ending dates of their terms of employment, may be eligible for dislocated worker services when they complete their temporary assignments if the meet the definition of Dislocated Worker at WIA § 101(9).

For example, a worker employed by a temporary agency who loses work because of a layoff by the work-site employer may be eligible for dislocated worker services.  The work-site employer or the employer of record must provide a notice of layoff.

If job seekers are determined eligible for Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) benefits, then they automatically meet Category 1 eligibility requirements.

Category 2
The job seeker must have been terminated, laid off, or received a notice of termination or layoff from employment as a result of:

  • Any permanent closure of a plant, facility, or enterprise; or
  • A substantial layoff at a plant, facility, or enterprise.

Category 3
The job seeker must have been self-employed (including employment as a farmer, rancher, or fisherman), and currently be unemployed as a result of:

  • General economic conditions in the community in which the job seeker lives; or
  • A natural disaster.

Economic conditions that result in the dislocation of a self-employed individual may include but are not limited to:

  • Failure of one or more businesses for which the self-employed individual supplied a substantial portion of products or services;
  • Failure of one or more businesses from which the self-employed individual obtained a substantial portion of products or services;
  • Substantial layoffs from, or permanent closure of one or more plants or facilities that support a significant portion of the state or workforce area economy;
  • Depressed prices or markets for the article(s) or service(s) produced or provided by the self-employed individual; or
  • Generally high levels (above 4.5 percent) of unemployment in the workforce area.

Natural disasters include, but are not limited to, any hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, drought, fire, explosion or other catastrophe.

Individuals working as independent contractors or consultants, but not technically employees of a firm, are subject to the provisions of Category 3.

Category 4
The job seeker must be employed at a facility where the employer made a public announcement that the facility will close within 180 days.  The announcement must be made with both a:

  • Declaration of closure, which states a planned date of closure, to the media; and
  • Documented verification to the State.

Category 5
The job seeker must be classified as a displaced homemaker (male or female) who:

  • Provided unpaid services to family members in the home;
  • Has been dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income; and
  • Is unemployed or underemployed and experiencing difficulty finding or upgrading employment.

A displaced homemaker may lose supportive income due to divorce or the death of a spouse.  However, the loss of supportive income may also be the result of a former wage earner’s job loss and that former wage earner may still be living in the home.

Note:  When job seekers do not meet eligibility requirements for any WIA –funded services, refer them to alternate sources of funding.

Serving Military Service members and Spouses
Current WIA law and regulations provide limited guidance on serving the following populations, both of which may meet WIA dislocated worker eligibility criteria:

  • Military service members who are non-retirees and who are being discharged under honorable conditions; and
  • Military spouses.

An individual must first meet WIA eligibility criteria to qualify as a dislocated worker.  Then, if the individual is either a military service member who is not retiring, but is being honorably discharged due to special circumstances, or a qualifying military spouse, the individual must be given priority over non-veteran dislocated workers.

  • Separating military personnel must:
  1. Be discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, whether voluntarily or involuntarily;
  2. Be non-retirees; and
  3. Satisfy other WIA criteria for dislocated worker eligibility, including the requirement that the individual is unlikely to return to his or her previous industry or occupation.
  • A military spouse must:
  1. Leave a job to follow his or her spouse who is a military service member, or
  2. Be unable to continue employment because of his or her spouse’s change of military station, or lose employment as a result of his or her spouse’s discharge from the military; and
  3. Satisfy other WIA criteria for dislocated worker eligibility, including the requirement that the spouse is unlikely to return* to his or her previous industry or occupations.
  • Spouses Unlikely to Return to a Previous Industry or Occupation-In the majority of cases, the circumstances in which spouses of active military service members are required to leave a job or occupation because of the military member’s transfer do not position the spouse to return immediately to his or her previous occupation or industry-particularly at the same pay level-for the following reasons:
  1. Spouses are generally not resuming employment with the same employer;
  2. Even if a spouse resumes employment with the same employer, the employment is in a new location, and occupations will generally not be structurally or organizationally the same as in the prior location;
  3. When military spouses do obtain jobs in their new locations, as new employees they will often start at lower levels of seniority than that attained in prior locations; and
  4. There is frequently a gap in employment as spouses make the move and search for new employment, which can lessen their likelihood of returning to the same level of occupations or type of job.

Separating military personnel and military spouses who do not meet dislocated worker eligibility requirements may instead be eligible for WIA adult services.