Archives for Workforce & Government

Since his appointment as the Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez has hit the ground running, weighing in on some of the more contentious issues currently being addressed by the Department of Labor. In one of his first posts on the DOL’s official blog, Work in Progress, the newly-appointed secretary wrote about the triumphs and challenges of the Americans with Disability Act over the last 23 years. With regards to what he dubs the “opportunity business”, in his post he states: “it’s all about protecting, promoting and expanding opportunity.” Affording anyone looking to enter the workforce every opportunity to do so
Read More

Reuters, quoting the Department of Labor’s (DOL) June figures in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Report, is pointing to June’s ratio of unemployed Americans to job openings as being a positive indicator for both the U.S. economy and wage structures.  The indicator—job openings (which is a measure of labor demand)—enjoyed a modest climb from 3.907 million in May to 3.936 million a month later. This ratio of roughly three jobseekers applying for each position, though it may seem a small number, is over half of the seven applicants per opening in 2009, and is the lowest reading since October
Read More

Individuals with disabilities in the workforce has garnered some attention in the media in recent weeks with the Federal government, and more specifically, the Department of Justice has paid closer attention to the issue, investigating instances of Americans with Disabilities Act violations on both coasts. KRA Corporation posted a blog recently about the use of sub-minimum wages (set up in under provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act), the practice of sheltered workshops and the abuses thereof that have led to Rhode Island scrapping the practice of sheltered workshops. When talking on the issue of individuals with disabilities in his
Read More

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that it is awarding grants equaling over $5 million to provide U.S. Veterans job training that will set them up with the opportunity for successfully finding civilian careers. The funds are earmarked to provide for homeless female Veterans and Veterans with families. The DOL Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) who “serves America’s Veterans and separating service members by preparing them for meaningful careers, providing employment resources and expertise, and protecting their employment rights” estimates that some 1,900 Veterans will benefit from this award. The 22 grants, awarded under the department’s Homeless Female
Read More

The proposed newest version of the Workforce Investment Act of 2013 (S. 1356), representing a bipartisan effort to breathe new life into the 15-year-old bill, recently underwent a legislative markup for reauthorization by members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. It was the second such attempt at a markup in as many years to get bipartisan approval, but whereas the 2011 attempt failed to reach an accord among members, the July 31 meeting outcome was an 18-3 vote to advance the bill with only Senators Burr, Scott, and Roberts voting “no”. The proposed changes to the
Read More

KRA Corporation extends a hearty congratulations and welcome to Thomas E. Perez, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 26th Secretary.  The Presidential nominee was sworn into office on July 23, 2013. Secretary Perez’s list of accomplishments prior to joining the DOL is impressive. Most recently, he served at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. In his nearly 4 years at the DOJ, the division reached some significant milestones. Among other achievements, it successfully implemented the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act; settled the largest fair-lending cases in history; worked to protect the rights of
Read More

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has continued its offensive on unemployment in the U.S. by announcing that it is awarding over $65 million dollars ($65,259,656) to help in facilitating beneficiaries of Unemployment Insurance (UI) to become re-employed more quickly.  The grants are aimed at accelerating the process of getting UI recipients back into the workforce through Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) programs. Based on previous research and findings of cost-effective and efficient administrative methods, the REA initiative has existed since 2005. It combines a multifaceted approach aimed at ensuring claimants meet the state eligibility provisions and that they
Read More

In June 2012, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the recipients of the 26 Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) grants. Ranging from $1million to $12 million allotments, the funds were allocated to State workforce agencies, local Workforce Investment Boards and one WIA section 166 organization. As part of the announcement, the DOL also highlighted the availability of $20 million WIF funding to pilot the “Pay for Success” (PFS) model.  PFS, which has recently gained traction in the U.K., Australia, and New York, essentially creates a social investment market through the use of Social Impact Bonds (SIB). A blog from the White House’s Office
Read More

In one of our recent articles, KRA saluted the Obama administration’s plea to Congress to revisit the Federal minimum wage, as well as the push to permanently index the minimum wage to inflation. Since we posted, there have been some significant news stories regarding the hotly contested issue of minimum wage. In one story (via Real Change), a recent initiative by the city of SeaTac, WA, proposed that the city’s minimum wage be raised to $15 per hour for SeaTac Airport workers and those employed at surrounding hospitality businesses. It would be the first case of a Washington city to
Read More

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced a $58 million infusion of state grant money in an effort to get Dislocated Workers back into the workforce through expanding training designed to help those that qualify earn industry-recognized credentials. According to an August, 2012 news release, DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in the 3-year period between January 2009 and December 2011, some 6.1 million workers were dislocated from their jobs.  This figure related to those who had held the job for at least 3 years (long-tenured employee). The number more than doubled (12.9 million) when looking at the combination
Read More