(a) Rapid response is described in §§ 682.300 through 682.370, and encompasses the strategies and activities necessary to:

(1) Plan for and respond to as quickly as possible following an event described in § 682.302; and

(2) Deliver services to enable dislocated workers to transition to new employment as quickly as possible.

(b) The purpose of rapid response is to promote economic recovery and vitality by developing an ongoing, comprehensive approach to identifying, planning for, responding to layoffs and dislocations, and preventing or minimizing their impacts on workers, businesses, and communities. A successful rapid response system includes:

(1) Informational and direct reemployment services for workers, including but not limited to information and support for filing unemployment insurance claims, information on the impacts of layoff on health coverage or other benefits, information on and referral to career services, reemployment-focused workshops and services, and training;

(2) Delivery of solutions to address the needs of businesses in transition, provided across the business lifecycle (expansion and contraction), including comprehensive business engagement and layoff aversion strategies and activities designed to prevent or minimize the duration of unemployment;

(3) Convening, brokering, and facilitating the connections, networks and partners to ensure the ability to provide assistance to dislocated workers and their families such as home heating assistance, legal aid, and financial advice; and

(4) Strategic planning, data gathering and analysis designed to anticipate, prepare for, and manage economic change.

Rapid response must be delivered when one or more of the following circumstances occur:

(a) Announcement or notification of a permanent closure, regardless of the number of workers affected;

(b) Announcement or notification of a mass layoff as defined in § 682.305;

(c) A mass job dislocation resulting from a natural or other disaster; or

(d) The filing of a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) petition.

For the purposes of rapid response, the term “mass layoff” used throughout this subpart will have occurred when at least one of the following conditions have been met:

(a) A layoff meets the State's definition of mass layoff, as long as the definition does not exceed a minimum threshold of 50 affected workers;

(b) Where a State has not defined a minimum threshold for mass layoff meeting the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, layoffs affecting 50 or more workers; or

(c) When a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice has been filed, regardless of the number of workers affected by the layoff announced.

(a) Rapid response activities must be carried out by the State or an entity designated by the State, in conjunction with the Local WDBs, chief elected officials, and other stakeholders, as provided by WIOA secs. 133(a)(2) and 134(a)(2)(A).

(b) States must establish and maintain a rapid response unit to carry out statewide rapid response activities and to oversee rapid response activities undertaken by a designated State entity, Local WDB, or the chief elected officials for affected local areas, as provided under WIOA sec. 134(a)(2)(A)(i)(I).

(a) Layoff aversion consists of strategies and activities, including those provided in paragraph (b) of this section and §§ 682.330 and 682.340, to prevent or minimize the duration of unemployment resulting from layoffs.

(b) Layoff aversion activities may include:

(1) Providing assistance to employers in managing reductions in force, which may include early identification of firms at risk of layoffs, assessment of the needs of and options for at-risk firms, and the delivery of services to address these needs, as provided by WIOA sec. 134(d)(1)(A)(ix)(II)(cc);

(2) Ongoing engagement, partnership, and relationship-building activities with businesses in the community, in order to create an environment for successful layoff aversion efforts and to enable the provision of assistance to dislocated workers in obtaining reemployment as soon as possible;

(3) Funding feasibility studies to determine if a company's operations may be sustained through a buyout or other means to avoid or minimize layoffs;

(4) Developing, funding, and managing incumbent worker training programs or other worker upskilling approaches as part of a layoff aversion strategy or activity;

(5) Connecting companies to:

(i) Short-time compensation or other programs designed to prevent layoffs or to reemploy dislocated workers quickly, available under Unemployment Insurance programs;

(ii) Employer loan programs for employee skill upgrading; and

(iii) Other Federal, State, and local resources as necessary to address other business needs that cannot be funded with resources provided under this title;

(6) Establishing linkages with economic development activities at the Federal, State, and local levels, including Federal Department of Commerce programs and available State and local business retention and expansion activities;

(7) Partnering or contracting with business-focused organizations to assess risks to companies, propose strategies to address those risks, implement services, and measure impacts of services delivered;

(8) Conducting analyses of the suppliers of an affected company to assess their risks and vulnerabilities from a potential closing or shift in production of their major customer;

(9) Engaging in proactive measures to identify opportunities for potential economic transition and training needs in growing industry sectors or expanding businesses; and

(10) Connecting businesses and workers to short-term, on-the-job, or customized training programs and registered apprenticeships before or after layoff to help facilitate rapid reemployment.

Rapid response activities must include:

(a) Layoff aversion activities as described in § 682.320, as applicable.

(b) Immediate and on-site contact with the employer, representatives of the affected workers, and the local community, including an assessment of and plans to address the:

(1) Layoff plans and schedule of the employer;

(2) Background and probable assistance needs of the affected workers;

(3) Reemployment prospects for workers; and

(4) Available resources to meet the short and long-term assistance needs of the affected workers.

(c) The provision of information and access to unemployment compensation benefits and programs, such as Short-Time Compensation, comprehensive one-stop delivery system services, and employment and training activities, including information on the TAA program (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.), Pell Grants, the GI Bill, and other resources.

(d) The delivery of other necessary services and resources including workshops and classes, use of worker transition centers, and job fairs, to support reemployment efforts for affected workers.

(e) Partnership with the Local WDB(s) and chief elected official(s) to ensure a coordinated response to the dislocation event and, as needed, obtain access to State or local economic development assistance. Such coordinated response may include the development of an application for a national dislocated worker grant as provided under part 687 of this chapter.

(f) The provision of emergency assistance adapted to the particular layoff or disaster.

(g) As appropriate, developing systems and processes for:

(1) Identifying and gathering information for early warning of potential layoffs or opportunities for layoff aversion;

(2) Analyzing, and acting upon, data and information on dislocations and other economic activity in the State, region, or local area; and

(3) Tracking outcome and performance data and information related to the activities of the rapid response program.

(h) Developing and maintaining partnerships with other appropriate Federal, State and local agencies and officials, employer associations, technical councils, other industry business councils, labor organizations, and other public and private organizations, as applicable, in order to:

(1) Conduct strategic planning activities to develop strategies for addressing dislocation events and ensuring timely access to a broad range of necessary assistance; and

(2) Develop mechanisms for gathering and exchanging information and data relating to potential dislocations, resources available, and the customization of layoff aversion or rapid response activities, to ensure the ability to provide rapid response services as early as possible.

(i) Delivery of services to worker groups for which a petition for Trade Adjustment Assistance has been filed.

(j) The provision of additional assistance, as described in § 682.350, to local areas that experience disasters, mass layoffs, or other dislocation events when such events exceed the capacity of the local area to respond with existing resources as provided under WIOA sec. 134(a)(2)(A)(i)(II).

(k) Provision of guidance and financial assistance as appropriate, in establishing a labor-management committee if voluntarily agreed to by the employee's bargaining representative and management. The committee may devise and oversee an implementation strategy that responds to the reemployment needs of the workers. The assistance to this committee may include:

(1) The provision of training and technical assistance to members of the committee; and

(2) Funding the operating costs of a committee to enable it to provide advice and assistance in carrying out rapid response activities and in the design and delivery of WIOA-authorized services to affected workers.

(a) Yes, in order to conduct layoff aversion activities, or to prepare for and respond to dislocation events, in addition to the activities required under § 682.330, a State or designated entity may devise rapid response strategies or conduct activities that are intended to minimize the negative impacts of dislocation on workers, businesses, and communities and ensure rapid reemployment for workers affected by layoffs.

(b) When circumstances allow, rapid response may provide guidance and/or financial assistance to establish community transition teams to assist the impacted community in organizing support for dislocated workers and in meeting the basic needs of their families, including heat, shelter, food, clothing and other necessities and services that are beyond the resources and ability of the one-stop delivery system to provide.

As stated in WIOA sec. 133(a)(2), a State may reserve up to 25 percent of its allotted dislocated worker funds for rapid response activities. Once the State has reserved adequate funds for rapid response activities, such as those described in §§ 682.310, 682.320, and 682.330, any of the remaining funds reserved may be provided to local areas that experience increases of unemployment due to natural disasters, mass layoffs or other events, for provision of direct career services to participants if there are not adequate local funds available to assist the dislocated workers. States may wish to establish the policies or procedures governing the provision of additional assistance as described in § 682.340.

(a) Where a WIOA individual record exists for an individual served under programs reporting through the WIOA individual record, States must report information regarding the receipt of services under this subpart for such an individual. This information must be reported in the WIOA individual record.

(b) States must comply with these requirements as explained in guidance issued by the Department of Labor.

Funds reserved by the Governor for rapid response activities that remain unobligated after the first program year for which such funds were allotted may be used by the Governor to carry out statewide activities under §§ 682.200 and 682.210. Statewide activities for which these funds may be used include prioritizing the planning for and delivery of activities designed to prevent job loss, increasing the rate of reemployment, building relationships with businesses and other stakeholders, building and maintaining early warning networks and systems, and otherwise supporting efforts to allow long-term unemployed workers to return to work.