The Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Administration and Management (OASAM), through
the Department's Procurement
Executive, is responsible for the overall implementation of the
Department's procurement and grant programs and ensures that these programs are
performed in accordance with the appropriate laws and regulations. Through
delegations of grant and procurement authority these programs are implemented
through a decentralized procurement structure via several operational
acquisition and assistance offices.
DOL Guidance Clarifying the Effect of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on Faith-Based Organizations [HTML] [PDF]
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued guidance to clarify the conditions under which the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993 allows recipients of DOL financial assistance to maintain their ability to make employment decisions based on religion even when receiving a federal grant under a program whose statute limits those rights.
This guidance, which implements a recent opinion concerning the proper construction of RFRA provided by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), creates a formal process for recipients of DOL financial assistance to seek an exemption under RFRA.
RFRA, as interpreted by DOJ and as implemented by this guidance, ensures that faith-based organizations are able to participate as partners in federal programs to help meet the needs of America's communities and retain the freedom to make employment decisions necessary to preserve their religious identity. The guidance, thus, helps level the playing field for faith-based organizations by enabling them to hire like-minded individuals, just as secular organizations are currently able to do.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
- Employment and Training Administration (ETA): Acquires, primarily, research and demonstration services; Job Corps center operations and outreach, and screening and placement of Job Corps applicants.
- Mine Safety and Health (MSHA): Handles the full range of products and services for MSHA.
- Administration and Management (OASAM): Procures all major Information Technology (IT) resources for the Department (except MSHA), as well as all non-IT resource goods and services (except MSHA and ETA).
- Office of the Inspector General (OIG): Procures auditing services for the OIG.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS): provides project grants (cooperative agreements) and the
dissemination of technical statistical data and related information on labor
force activities; provides data on prices (CPI) and cost of living; data on
productivity and technology data; data on compensation and working conditions;
data on employment projections.
- Employment and Training (ETA): ETA
administers financial assistance programs pursuant to the Workforce Investment
Act (WIA), administering State formula grant programs for youth, adults and
dislocated workers, national emergency grants for workers affected by mass
layoffs, plant closures, and disasters; grant programs for workers with
disabilities, Indians and Native Americans, and for migrant and seasonal
farmworkers. ETA also administers grant programs for older American workers,
apprenticeship programs, Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) programs, and
assistance for research and development of workforce programs. In addition, ETA
is responsible for the operation and maintenance of a national system of public
employment service offices and for the national unemployment insurance program.
- Mine Safety and Health (MSHA): provides
grants for research, education and training programs to ensure an adequate and
competent staff of trained inspectors; and assistance for establishing or
improving State mine health and safety programs through technical
assistance.
- Occupational Safety and Health
(OSHA): provides grants to non-profit organizations to provide training,
educational services, and technical assistance; assistance to states to
administer and enforce state programs; assistance to states to provide
occupational safety and health technical assistance and consultant services.
- Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP): The Office
of Disability Employment Policy awards competitive grants establishing
short-term pilot and technical assistance projects designed to identify,
develop, test, evaluate, and disseminate policies to increase employment by
expanding access to training, education, employment supports, assistive and
systems technology, integrated employment, entrepreneurial development, and
small business opportunities for adults and youth with disabilities. Current
pilots projects focus on customized employment, Olmstead populations, and
innovative demonstration youth grants, among others. Solicitations for grant
applications are published in the Federal Register and announced at www.dol.gov/odep. ODEP grants are
awarded by the OASAM grant
office.
- Veterans' Employment and Training
(VETS): provides special employment and training assistance for veterans
through the Disabled Veterans' Outreach
Program (DVOP) Solicitation for Grant Applications; the Local Veterans' Employment
Representative Program (LVER); Veterans' Workforce Investment Program
(VWIP); elaws
Advisor on veterans' employment and reemployment rights; and the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project
(HVRP). VETS grants are awarded by the OASAM grant office.
| |
|