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Dislocated Workers' Programs

WIA Dislocated Worker: 512-936-0369

Rapid Response | Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is the nation's premier employment and training program. The program is federally funded and is available at no additional expense to employers and workers. In Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission administers this program. Services are provided through local Workforce Centers overseen by Local Workforce Development Boards.

WIA offers unique programs for persons who have lost their jobs in mass layoffs or plant closings, or who have been laid off and are unlikely to return to their jobs. The regular Dislocated Worker program under WIA offers employment and training programs for eligible workers who are unemployed due to no fault of their own or have received official notice of a layoff. This program allows for individualized re-employment services.

Rapid Response is a program which provides short-term, early intervention and immediate assistance with layoffs and/or plant closures affecting a significant number of workers.

For more information visit the US DOL Employment and Training Administration site and for assistance with long-term in depth services contact your Local Workforce Development Board web site.

Related Dislocated Worker Information:

RAPID RESPONSE

Program Description
The Dislocated Worker Services Department (DWSD) receives notices of plant closures and mass layoffs, including those covered under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). When the DWSD or the Local Workforce Development Board obtains information about a major layoff, immediate on-site services are provided to assist workers facing job losses. Rapid Response provides early intervention assistance designed to transition workers to their next employment as soon as possible.

Program Eligibility
Rapid Response was originally designed to offer services:

• When layoffs involved fifty (50) or more workers, or

• When plant closings or mass layoffs affected fewer than fifty (50) employees, but occurred in a business or industry which forms the economic base of a small community (population 50,000 or less).

Now it is up to each Local Workforce Development Board to make Rapid Response services available as often as possible to any employer requesting Rapid Response services. In the case of a relatively small lay off which affects only a few workers, it may not be necessary to conduct a grand scale Rapid Response activity. For example, It would not be feasible to conduct Rapid Response services for a small group when they can just as easily receive the required services by visiting their local Workforce Center.

Rapid Response Services must be made available to affected workers if a Trade Petition has been filed.

Core Services Available
Rapid Response provides the following services in an abbreviated format:

• WorkInTexas.com will serve as a focal point for many of the workshops and it will be required to register in WorkInTexas.com before receiving Unemployment Benefits.

• Job Search Assistance may include accessing community resources, job application and resume preparation, assessing accomplishments and skills, resume development lab, interviewing skills, effective interviewing techniques, practice interviewing lab and coping with job loss.

• Labor Market Information will be furnished to all registrants to include a target and demand occupations list along with information on other occupational resources. Job Postings will also be made available through multimedia and technology ( WorkInTexas.com ).

• Group Stress Management Seminars shall be made available on a regular and/or as needed basis. The focus of these seminars will be to develop strategies for managing the stress associated with job loss, its impact on the family unit and on maintaining community relationships

• Group Financial Management Seminars primarily focus on assisting affected workers in developing financial planning skills in order to maintain household and consumer finances. A specific focus will be on negotiating manageable payment schedules with mortgage, finance and various lending institutions.

Service Delivery Structure
Texas is divided into 28 Workforce Development Areas. Rapid Response is administered at the State level, but operated at the local level. Persons seeking services should contact their local Workforce Center. Rapid Response services offered to any company and its employees are tailored, based on the needs of the affected employees.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

The Texas Workforce Commission Dislocated Worker Services Department (DWSD) receives notices of plant closures and mass layoffs, including those covered under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). The WARN Act offers protection to workers, their families and communities by requiring employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of covered plant closings and covered mass layoffs.

Notices of Plant Closures and Mass Layoffs Filed with TWC since 2003

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)

U.S. Department of Labor Employers Guide to WARN Act (PDF)

U.S. Department of Labor Workers Guide to WARN Act (PDF)

WARN Act Text