Volume 6, No.4
Winter 2000

ILMR Homepage

Feature Articles:
Portal Page Web site:
Access the Information You Need, All in One Place

Rapid Respone Unit:
What Employers and Dislocated Workers Need to Know

Help for Illinois Employers
The Industrial Training Program (ITP) and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Illinois (MEPI)

Union Membership in 2000:
Numbers Decline During Record Economic Expansion

Archives

Rapid Response To the Rescue
Instant help for dislocated Workers
By: Bruce Bernardi

With the help of Illinois’ Rapid Response team, workers who lose their jobs due to plant closings, mass layoffs or cutbacks, are provided with a full range of re-employment services. To minimize stress for dislocated workers and to get them back to work as soon as possible, the process of re-employment begins 60 days prior to leaving their current employment—thanks to a provision of the WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act, which requires employers to notify the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) 60 days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs involving 50 or more employees. This gives the Rapid Response Unit a head start in assisting workers to return to the workforce.

Rapid Response in Illinois is officially entering its thirteenth year, although the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) began providing some of the same services to dislocated workers before the enactment of Federal legislation which defined and mandated the process. In order for the reader to achieve a fuller understanding of Rapid Response, here is some information about its legislative history.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) is Federal legislation that was enacted in August 1988 and became effective in February 1989. This Federal law, for the first time, required that employers provide 60 days advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs. The purpose of notification is to provide time for state and local government to organize and begin the provision of services to help these workers obtain new employment. The notification period also provides time to explore economic development alternatives to plant closings or mass layoffs.

1989: EDWAA Establishes a Dislocated Worker Unit for Quick Response to Layoffs/Closings; 2000: Workforce Investment Act Replaces JTPA

The Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance Act (EDWAA) was a companion piece of Federal legislation that amended the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and became effective July 1, 1989. The EDWAA established a state and local system for the delivery of services to workers affected by plant closings and mass layoffs. Services assisted workers in finding new jobs either by aiding them in job search activities or providing retraining for new occupations. Provisions of the EDWAA required the establishment of a State Dislocated Worker Unit to receive WARN notices and to respond rapidly to plant closings and mass layoffs at the work location. On July 1, 2000 the JTPA was repealed and replaced by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). At the same time, the Job Training Division was relocated from DCCA to IDES.

Services Provided by Rapid Response

The WIA also requires the provision of Rapid Response by the state or an entity designated by the state, in the case of a permanent closure or mass layoff at a plant, facility or enterprise. Also included are natural or other disasters, which result in mass job dislocation. To assist dislocated workers in obtaining re-employment as soon as possible, services which may be provided as a part of Rapid Response under the WIA include:

1. The establishment of on-site contact with employer and employee representatives,
2. The provision of information and access to available employment and training activities,
3. Assistance in establishing a labor management committee, a worker transition committee or peer advisor network,
4. The provision of emergency assistance adapted to the particular closing, layoff or disaster,
5. The provision of assistance to the local community in developing a coordinated response and in obtaining State economic development assistance.

The WIA also provides for a statewide network of local WIA Title I grantees responsible for ensuring the provision of these services through an established system of Illinois Employment and Training Centers (IETCs). The state Rapid Response Unit (RRU) coordinates with local WIA Title I grantees as well as other programs and agencies offering services to dislocated workers. Special efforts are made to coordinate WIA services with the unemployment insurance system, the Employment Service and the Trade Act and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) programs.

RRU Members Represent a Variety of Agencies

The following is a very brief summary of the established procedures for Rapid Response under WIA. The Rapid Response procedures manual has been revised in response to the requirements of the WIA through the efforts of a statewide task force of state and local practitioners. The Rapid Response Task Force included representatives from the state Rapid Response Unit, JTPA substate grantees (now WIA Title I grantees), the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the AFL-CIO Member Assistance Program, the Department on Aging and the Illinois Community College Board. The procedures establish a Rapid Response Team for each of the twenty-six Local Workforce Investment Areas (formerly SDAs) in Illinois. Members of the team include:

• Staff of the Rapid Response Unit
• Staff from the local WIA Title I Grantee
• A representative from a local office of the Illinois Department of Employment Security • A representative from the Member Assistance Program of the AFL-CIO
• A special team of representatives from United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) for notices involving the coal industry.

Six Phases of Rapid Response

The procedures provide for a sequence of activities which divide the Rapid Response into six phases: notification, investigation, initial on-site meeting, pre-layoff workshops, planning for services and project implementa-tion. A summary of activities included in each phase is provided below.

Notification
• WARN notices are logged in sequence and retained by the RRU.
• Each WARN notice is analyzed for completeness.
• A confirming letter is sent to the employer.
• A copy of the WARN notice is provided to the RRU Specialist assigned to the Local Workforce Investment Area where the event is located.

Investigation
• The RRU Specialist contacts the Rapid Response Team to inform them of the particulars of the WARN notice and to gather any additional information regarding the impending layoffs.
• The RRU Specialist contacts the employer and affect-ed union(s) and provides a brief explanation of Rapid Response and WIA services potentially available and obtains pertinent information from the company. • The RRU Specialist sets up an initial on-site meeting with the company and the RRU team.

Initial On-Site Meeting
• The Initial On-Site Meeting is designed to provide the employer and employee representatives with an overview of services and products available to the workers through WIA and to clarify and define the role of each member of the Rapid Response Team.
• Specific information is elicited from company management and the union, which aids the Rapid Response Team in planning for services.
• The Team attempts to obtain the commitment of management and the union to actively participate in the planning and implementation of key project activities such as the Worker Survey, Pre-Layoff Workshops, outreach and placement activities.

Pre-Layoff Workshops
• Rapid Response Team members provide information to the affected workers about the services that will be made available to them to ease the transition to re-employment.
• A survey of the workers is conducted to obtain their direct input concerning the types of services they would like to see made available.
• Counselors may present information which will aid the worker in recognizing and overcoming various causes and manifestations of stress which are common during dislocation events. Financial counselors also provide information designed to assist the affected worker in averting the potential need for debt restructuring.
• Additional state agencies or community-based organizations may participate as appropriate, as determined by the Rapid Response Unit.

Planning for Services
• The Rapid Response Team develops an effective plan for WIA services utilizing a coordinated service strategy based upon information assimilated during prior Rapid Response activities.
• The plan is documented on the Dislocation Event Tracking System (DETS), which is only accessible to members of the Local Rapid Response Team.
• The RRU and the Title I grantee determine the need for additional funding based upon the final plan for services developed for the affected workers.

Project Implementation
• The RRU maintains periodic contact with WIA Title I grantee concerning implementation of the Plan for Services.
• The RRU may recommend or provide remedies for underperformance through technical assistance and training and/or modifications to the Plan for Services.

The procedures manual is intended to provide an operational guide to all agencies participating in Rapid Response. To the extent feasible, all agencies should conduct rapid response activities as described in the manual. However, it is recognized that the circumstances of each closing, layoff or disaster may vary and present unique problems not anticipated or provided for in the procedures. As a result, the procedures may be somewhat altered to fit individual circumstances. If it is necessary to depart from standard operating procedures to fit individual circumstances, such a departure should ONLY be undertaken with the full knowledge and consent of the Rapid Response Unit.