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The US Department of Labor recently awarded $250,000 to develop strategic economic growth plans for Kentucky and Tennessee. Most of the area affected is in the extreme western tip of Kentucky.

“This $250,000 grant to the West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board will boost efforts to expand the region’s economy and increase job opportunities for Kentucky workers,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

The primary focus of the grant is the (more…)

Three Kentucky employee training programs were recently awarded a total of almost $4.4 million by the U.S. Department of Labor.

A grant of $2,388,552 to train workers in advanced manufacturing was awarded to the Kentucky Community & Technical College in Hopkinsville.

Another advanced manufacturing grant for $1,996,442went to the Owensboro Community and Technical College.

The final Kentucky grant of $866,095 went to the Gateway Community and Technical College in Covington.

According to a recent announcement made by the U. S. Department of Labor, the President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants Initiative awarded $125 million to 69 community colleges across the United States.

The competition was announced in August of 2007, and received 341 applications. The funds go to training facilities and community colleges to aid workers in competing for high-growth industry jobs.

“Preparing local residents for careers in growing hometown industries is critical to improving the quality of life of thousands of Americans,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Brent R. Orrell. “These programs will provide participants not only with the skills needed to gain employment, but the change to enter into careers that offer opportunities for advancement.”

The Community-Based Job Training Grants are aimed at areas where industries need skilled workers. The funds go to community colleges in these areas to help workers of all ages train for these skilled positions. Consider a cluster of nuclear plants in New Mexico. They need workers skilled in the energy field. A grant could be given to a local community college to train workers for those jobs.

“Community colleges are in a unique position to prepare local workers for careers in high-growth industries,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “The $125 million awarded today will expand enrollment in education and training programs and provide more workers with the skills they need to succeed.”

Several factors have changed the workforce in the United States over the past few years. An aging workforce, globalization and technical innovations have put nationwide industries such as healthcare, energy and biotechnology in dire need of skilled employees.

Awarding these Community-Based Job Training Grants helps community colleges come to the forefront in training America’s workforce to its full potential. Initiated in 2005, 72 grants were awarded and 70 grants were awarded in the second round of awards in 2006.

The 69 grants awarded for 2008 provide assistance in 36 states.

A national model for the development of a demand-driven workforce, the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, implements programs through partnerships with business, industry and educators. Officials at the U. S. Department of Labor strongly believe these partnerships help boost local economies, and help the country’s ability to compete in the world marketplace by providing Americans with work.

Community colleges utilize the money to hire qualified faculty, set up training experiences like internships, and to upgrade equipment needed to aid in the training process. The colleges work closely with local industries to develop a training curriculum to meet that industry’s needs. The goal of the Grants is not only to provide skilled workers for these industries, but also to meet the needs of the employees with increased wages and increased options for advancement.

High growth is occurring and will occur in nearly 15 areas of the world market, including Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace, Automotive, Biotechnology, Construction, Energy, Financial Services, Geospatial Technology, Health Care, Homeland Security, Hospitality, Information Technology, Retail and Transportation. New technology has brought new jobs and new industries to the market, all of which require workers with new skills.

Employers receive benefits from these programs beyond skilled workers. Companies that add the Workforce Investment System to their Human Resources department are eligible for incentives such as government training assistance and tax credits.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will undergo several changes on or about April 11, 2008. These changes were proposed on February 11, 2008, by the U. S. Department of Labor. During the interim, employers can review the changes and make comments on them.

The U. S. Department of Labor is accepting comment online until April. All comments posted on the website are viewable to the public, so employers need to be aware of the content of their post.

To add a comment, click this link and type in “Family and Medical Leave Act”. Be sure to put quotes around the keywords.

The new regulations will amend how paid leave is used while on FMLA leave. The term “substitution of paid leave” refers to an employee using paid time off as past of FMLA leave. Currently, employees can use their paid sick leave. Under the new regulations, workers will also be able to use accrued personal leave and accrued vacation time.

For example, Betty has developed a long term illness and needs to take time off. Currently she has 2 weeks of sick leave, 3 weeks of personal leave and 5 weeks of vacation time for a total of 10 weeks of PTO. When the new FMLA goes into effect, she can use all ten weeks of PTO and only two weeks of FMLA will be unpaid leave.

Until the new regulations go into effect, however, Betty could only use her two weeks of sick time toward FMLA. The rest – 10 weeks of FMLA — would be unpaid.

The new regulations will also require FMLA leave to be counted toward an employee’s absences. Prior to the changes, employees on FMLA weren’t considered “absent”. This policy meant that even when an employee took off 12 weeks for FMLA, he or she was still eligible for “perfect attendance” bonuses and awards. Coworkers and supervisors complained that the policy was unfair to other workers.

One change to the regulations corrects what many saw as an injustice under the old plan. Although workers on FMLA leave continue to accrue seniority, they will no longer be eligible for “perfect attendance” rewards.

More Kentucky FMLA Changes

The FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) provides Kentucky workers with up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave to care for themselves or a family member (child, spouse or parent) with a “serious medical condition.”

Recently the U. S. Department of Labor proposed changes to the FMLA, several of which focused on the definition of “serious medical condition” and the process of obtaining its certification.

The FMLA regulations include several ways to classify a “serious medical condition”. The new regulations will keep six of the definitions and clarify a couple of terms. One definition requires the employee to be incapacitated for three consecutive days and visit the healthcare provider two times. “Two times,” however was not defined as any specific time period. Under the new regulations, the U. S. Department of Labor will define “two visits to a healthcare provider” as two times within 30 days of the incapacitation.

Certification of the “serious medical condition” by a healthcare provider is usually required. The U. S. Department of Labor permits employers to do this to deter abuse of the leave. The employer can also require a second or even third opinion, but is responsible for paying for those visits.

In addition to “serious medical condition” the new regulations include changes regarding the employee’s right to settle FMLA suits out of court, the certification process of “fitness-for-duty” and the substitution of paid leave for qualified employees.

Victoria Lipnic of the U. S. Department of Labor made the following statement. “This proposal is the result of a thoughtful, careful process that included a Request for Information with 15,000 public comments in 2006, many conversations with stakeholders, and the department’s experience in administering and enforcing the law.”

Though the regulations were proposed on February 11, 2008, they do not go into effect until April 11, 2008. Until that time, employers have the opportunity to review the changes and post comments on them.

Once the new regulations are published, they become law, and all employers are required to comply.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently presented awards to outstanding worker training programs throughout the country in five key areas.  These categories include:

• Helping young people who are out of school
• Collaborating with industry to create a workforce investment program
• Leveraging partnerships between employers, educators and economic development agencies
• Creating a highly-trained 21^st century workforce
• Training workers with special needs

This year’s big winners include groups from Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin. Runners-up for the awards include agencies and companies from Michigan, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, New York, Louisiana and Minnesota.

The Recognition of Excellence awards go to the top talent development programs nationwide. This week, Assistant Secretary of Labor Emily Stover DeRocco presented the awards during the Workforce Innovations Conference. Stover DeRocco heads the department’s division of Employment and Training. This is the fourth consecutive year the awards have been used to recognize outstanding training programs in state and local government, private business, education and economic development programs. Each award represents a collaboration between two or more of those key players.

“Our honorees have shown that they are innovative leaders in providing workers with the opportunities and tools to help them compete in today’s global economy,” said DeRocco. “Their outstanding work serves as a model for others to learn from and apply to their own regional economic and talent development strategies.”

The first category is “Educating America’s 21st Century Workforce”, recognizing the top program for providing innovative and effective strategies to prepare workers for jobs requiring better skills. The winner is the Alpena Community College of Alpena, Michigan. Honorable Mentions in this category include the Junior College District of Kansas City, Missouri and the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Beaverton, Oregon.

The award for “Building an Industry/Business-Driven Workforce Investment System” goes to the program that best responds to an industry need while preparing workers for continued job growth.  This award goes to Capital Workforce Partners, of Hartford Connecticut. Honorable mentions in this category include the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth’s Bureau of Workforce Programs statewide. An Honorable Mention also went to the Gulf Coast Workforce Board: the WorkSource in the Gulf Coast Region of Texas.

The third category recognizes the value of collaborations between employers, educators and economic development leaders. The e3 Partnership award goes to Eastern Kentucky C.E. P. Inc. of Hazard, Kentucky. The runner up in this category is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Gulfport, Mississippi.

The fourth category is “Recognizing the Demographics of the Workforce”. This award highlights agencies or organizations that target workers with special needs. Winners in this category provide services to workers with limited English skills, to migrant farm workers, and those who are homeless as well as others. The top award in this category goes to Experience Works, Inc. of Arlington Virginia. Honorable mentions go to the Shoreline Community College in Shoreline Washington and the Center for Employment Opportunities in New York, N.Y. 

The final category is “Serving Out-of-School Youth”. Winners in this category demonstrate innovative techniques in collaborating with educators, businesses, industry and other essential partners to train, educate and hire young people who are out of school. The award goes to Workforce Connections, Inc. of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Other notable programs in this category include the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the River Paris WIA Program in Convent, Louisiana.

All of the awards were presented at a gala ceremony during the Workforce Innovations Conference, an annual event that provides an opportunity for networking on workforce issues between stakeholders in the public and private sectors. 

Changes and final rules to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)were, recently released by the Veterans’ Employment Training Service (VETS). The changes simply reinforce the policy that veterans of the Army, Navy or Air Force Reserve will have their civilian jobs protected for a cumulative period of up to five years while they serve their country. This means an employee serving two years and then an additional three years will have reached his or her limit.

The purpose of the act is to ensure that Americans who serve the military during times of national emergency don’t lose their civilian jobs in the process. The act focuses especially on members of the National Guard and the Reserve, although all veterans can benefit from it.

Special protection is also provided for disabled veterans. Reasonable accommodations must be made to a disabled service member recovering from injures caused during service or during training. Service members suffering from such injures may have up to two additional years after their term of service is complete to return to their jobs.

The new regulations also affect health care coverage for Kentucky veterans and their families. Veterans who have served 30 days or less remain under their employer’s health care coverage. Those serving more than 30 days of military duty are entitled to military health care for themselves and their families.

Soldiers also have the option to continue health care coverage through their employers for up to two years. If a soldier makes this choice, he or she must pay the entire health insurance premium, including any portion formerly provided by the employer. He or she may also be required to pay a surcharge for processing and up to 102% of the total premium.

Due to these changes to the USERRA, employers should update their Kentucky USERRA posters to keep their employees abreast of the changes. Employees should also be aware that the most recent change to the act allows employees of the federal government to file claims with VETS, which is a division of the US Dept. of Labor.