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  2. Employment & Training
  3. Partners
  4. WIOA Title I-A & I-B
  5. Policy & Procedure Manual
  6. 8.2 Eligibility

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8.2 Eligibility

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8.2.1 Adult Program

Effective date: February 1, 2024

Anyone interested in being considered for the WIOA Title I Adult Program must be allowed to apply.1 All applicants must receive an eligibility determination.2 While WIOA is not an entitlement program,3 this only means that funding for WIOA programs is not unlimited. Local WDBs must offer services to all eligible applicants when funding is available.

Individuals are eligible for the WIOA Title I Adult Program if they are:

  1. 18 years of age or older;4
  2. eligible to work in the United States;5
    AND
  3. registered with Selective Service (if applicable).6

    Note: If someone is required to register with the Selective Service, but has not, follow the "Failure to Register for Selective Service" procedure.

States and local WDBs may not add eligibility criteria, including, but not limited to, criteria related to county or state of residence.7

Any costs associated with providing WIOA Title I services to ineligible individuals may be disallowed.8

8.2.2 Dislocated Worker Program

Effective date: February 1, 2024

Anyone interested in being considered for the WIOA Title I Dislocated Worker Program must be allowed to apply.1 All applicants must receive an eligibility determination.2 While WIOA is not an entitlement program,3 this only means that funding for WIOA programs is not unlimited. Local WDBs must offer services to all eligible applicants when funding is available.

Individuals are eligible for the WIOA Title I Dislocated Worker Program if they:

  1. are eligible to work in the United States; 4
  2. are registered with Selective Service (if applicable);5
    AND
  3. meet the requirements for at least one of the Dislocated Worker Categories outlined below.

    Note: If someone is required to register with the Selective Service, but has not, follow the "Failure to Register for Selective Service" procedure.

States and local WDBs may not add eligibility criteria, including, but not limited to, criteria related to income or county or state of residence.6

Any costs associated with providing WIOA Title I services to ineligible individuals may be disallowed.7

Dislocated Worker Categories

Dislocated worker status is fixed at the time of eligibility determination; therefore, individuals remain eligible for the WIOA Title I Dislocated Worker Program even if there are changes in the circumstances that were used as the basis to originally establish the status (e.g., the anticipated layoff or termination does not take place).

Category 1 – Individual or Small Group Layoff 8

The individual meets the following:

  1. has been terminated or laid off or has received a notice of termination or layoff, because of a layoff of 24 or fewer workers from a physical employment site or from a virtual business;9
  2. is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation;
    AND
  3. is eligible for or has exhausted unemployment payments stemming from the termination or layoff used for program eligibility (see Note, below);
    or
    has been employed long enough to demonstrate attachment to the workforce, but is not eligible for unemployment payments because earnings were not sufficient to qualify or the job the individual was laid off from was not covered under state unemployment compensation law.
  4. Note: An individual who has received notice of termination or layoff meets the requirement in (c) to be eligible for unemployment payments if s/he has filed an initial claim application and been approved.10 In Wisconsin, workers cannot lose their right to collect unemployment payments,11 via a severance agreement or any other method.
Category 2 – Permanent Closure or Mass Layoff 12

The individual meets one of the following:

  1. has been terminated or laid off, or has received a notice of termination or layoff, because of a permanent closure of any size or a mass layoff from a physical employment site or from a virtual business; 13
    OR
  2. works at a physical employment site or for a virtual business where the employer has made a general announcement that the employment site will permanently close or the virtual business will end all operations within 180 days;
    OR
  3. works at a physical employment site or for a virtual business where the employer has made a general announcement that the employment site will permanently close or the virtual business will end all operations, either in more than 180 days or with no date given. In this case, the individual may receive only basic career services until s/he receives a specific date of termination from the employer or until the closure is scheduled to occur within 180 days.

    Note: If an individual has received written notice from the employer of an anticipated layoff date, even if that date is more than 180 days in the future or is subject to change, s/he is eligible for the full range of WIOA services (i.e., basic and individualized career services, training services, and supportive services). A layoff notice filed with DWD-DET is an acceptable notice of termination as required in (a), if an anticipated layoff date (or dates) is provided.
Category 3 – Separating or Separated Members of the U.S. Armed Forces 14

The individual is separating or has separated from the U.S. Armed Forces with a discharge that is anything other than dishonorable AND has received a DD-214 or other documentation (e.g., separation orders) showing separation or imminent separation.

Note: It is appropriate to provide services to imminently separating service members, if their discharge is expected to be anything other than dishonorable. Separating service members are required to participate in the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) to ensure they are prepared for civilian employment. During the TAP program, separating service members and their spouses are encouraged to contact job centers. 15

Category 4 – Self-employed 16

The individual was self-employed (includes employment as a farmer, rancher, fisher, or independent contractor or consultant), but has become unemployed because of general economic conditions or because of a natural disaster.

Category 5 – Displaced Homemaker 17

The individual has been doing unpaid work in the home and meets one of the following:

  1. has been dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income (e.g., because the other family member was laid off, or because of death or divorce)
    and
    is unemployed or underemployed and is having trouble either obtaining or upgrading employment;
    OR
  2. is the dependent spouse of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty whose family income has been significantly reduced because of the service member's deployment, call or order to active duty, permanent change of station, or service-connected death or disability
    and
    is unemployed or underemployed and is having trouble either obtaining or upgrading employment.
Category 6 – Military Spouse 18

The spouse of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty who meets one of the following:

  1. has lost employment as the direct result of relocation to accommodate a permanent change in the service member's duty station;
    OR
  2. is unemployed or underemployed and having trouble either obtaining or upgrading employment.


Active Duty

Effective date: October 1, 2017

Active duty means full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. This term includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned. This term does not include full-time National Guard duty. (10 USC 101(d)(1))



Attachment to the Workforce (20 CFR § 680.660)

Effective date: October 1, 2017

DWD-DET considers one day of employment with the employer of dislocation sufficient to demonstrate attachment to the workforce. This is consistent with the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program (TAA). 20 CFR §§ 617.3(c) and 617.3(t)(1)

Service in the U.S. Armed Forces is employment and demonstrates attachment to the workforce. 20 CFR § 680.660



Eligible to Work in the United States

Effective date: October 1, 2017

Individuals eligible to work in the U.S. include (WIOA Sec. 188(a)(5); 20 CR §683.285(5)):

  • citizens and nationals of the United States;
  • lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens, refugees and asylees (who are authorized to work in the U.S. because of their refugee or asylee status); and
  • other immigrants authorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Secretary's designee to work in the U.S. This includes immigrants covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) who have applied for and received work authorization (TEGL 02-14, p. 2).


Family (20 CFR § 675.300)

Effective date: October 1, 2017

"Family" means two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or decree of court, who are living in a single residence, and are included in one or more of the following categories:

A "married couple" can either be a man and a woman or same-sex individuals. United States v. Windsor, 133 S.Ct.2675 (2013); 81 FR 56088



General Announcement of Closure

Effective date: October 1, 2017

DWD-DET defines a "general announcement" as any official announcement made by a representative of an employer that specifies intent to close either an employment site or a virtual enterprise as a whole. Examples of official announcements include press releases, memorandums from the employer, notices posted in the affected facility, notifications to associated labor unions/collective bargaining units, and news articles. The notice must include the name and title of the employer's representative, the site or operations affected, and the month and year of the planned closure date.



General Economic Conditions

Effective date: July 01, 2022

DWD-DET defines "unemployed as a result of general economic conditions" (20 CFR § 680.130(b)(3)) as covering the following:

  • the decline or failure of one or more businesses integral to the individual's business (e.g., customers or suppliers);
  • large-scale layoff(s) or closure(s) at businesses that support a significant portion of the state or local economy;
  • lack of demand for the individual's products or services as demonstrated by labor market information;
  • a substantial change in the marketplace that eliminates the need for the individual's product or service (e.g., internalization of a process previously done by an external contractor; automation of a process that eliminates the need for contract labor; change in legislation or policy which eliminates a required service or product);
  • depressed price(s) or market(s) for the individual's products or services;
  • generally high levels of unemployment in the local area;
  • substantial reduction in inventory caused by supply chain issues and/or discontinuation of product;
  • layoffs or closures due to the business being unable to find or retain adequate staffing, due to factors such as:
    • rising wage costs
    • rising benefits costs
    • inflation
    • wage increases due to increased demand for labor.


Requesting Military Personnel Records

Effective date: October 1, 2017

Former service members and deceased service members' next of kin may request military personnel records (e.g., DD-214s/Separation Documents) through the National Archives.

Significantly Reduced Income

Effective date: October 1, 2017

DWD-DET defines "significantly reduced income" as:

  1. a household income that was above 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Line, but experiences a decrease in income to 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Line or less
    OR
  2. a household income currently at or below 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Line, that experiences any decrease in household income.


Underemployed

Effective date: October 1, 2017

An individual is considered "underemployed" if s/he is:

  • employed in a position that is inadequate with respect to his/her skills and training;
  • employed less than full time but would prefer to work full time;
  • considered a low-income individual;
    OR
  • employed, but receiving earnings that are less than 80 percent of earnings from previous employment (TEGL 19-16, p. 12).


U.S. Armed Forces

Effective date: October 1, 2017

The U.S. Armed Forces include the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard and their reserves.



Entitlement

Effective date: September 23, 2019

The right of a person, group of people, business, unit of government, or similar entity to receive payments from the federal government if they meet the eligibility criteria set in law. Spending levels for entitlement programs are determined by those programs' eligibility criteria and benefit or payment rules rather than through the annual appropriations process. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the federal government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled.

https://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/entitlement.htm

http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/glossary.pdf#page=8



Mass Layoff

Effective date: April 26, 2022

Consistent with 20 CFR § 682.305(a) and Wis, State. § 109.07 (1)(f) DWD-DET defines a "mass layoff" (aka "substantial layoff") as a layoff event that affects 25 percent of workers or 25 or more workers whichever is greater, when

  • the employer has specified that the layoff is permanent;
  • the employer has not given a recall date;
    OR
  • the employer has given a recall date that is more than 12 weeks after the date of the dislocation. DWD-DET has chosen this time frame to be consistent with UI's job search waiver limit of 12 weeks for employees expecting to be recalled by an employer per Wis. Stat. § 108.04(2)(b)1 (2017).

Wis. Admin. Code § DWD 279.04(2) states that two or more groups of employees affected during a 90-day period may be considered in the aggregate to determine whether the business closing, or mass layoff thresholds have been met, unless the loss of employment in different groups are the result of separate and distinct actions and causes.



Permanent Closure

Effective date: September 23, 2019

DWD-DET considers a closure to be "permanent" when

  • the employer has specified that the closure is permanent;
  • the employer has not indicated when the employment site or virtual business will reopen;
    OR
  • the employer has given a date for reopening that is more than 12 weeks after the date of the dislocation. DWD-DET has chosen this time frame to be consistent with UI's job search waiver limit of 12 weeks for employees expecting to be recalled by an employer. Wis. Stat. § 108.04(2)(b)1 (2017).


Eligibility Determination

Effective date: July 26, 2019

DWD-DET defines eligibility determination as applying the information collected during program registration to the eligibility criteria to see if the individual is eligible for the program.

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