Incumbent Worker Policy

Approved and Published: August 2019

Updated: April 2020

Purpose

Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) is a work-based training resource to keep employers, and the jobs they provide, viable. This policy provides information regarding IWT in additional to local policy and guidance.

Authority

The authority for this policy is derived from the following:

• WIOA 134(d)(4)
• 20 C.F.R. §680.780 – .840
• 20 C.F.R. §680.320 and §680.530
• TEGL 19-16
• TEGL 10-16, Change 1

Background

Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) is a work-based training resource which provides both workers and employers with the opportunity to build and maintain a quality workforce, by increasing both participants’ and companies’ competitiveness.  As found in 20 C.F.R. §680.790, Incumbent Worker Training is designed to meet the special requirements of an employer (including a group of employers) to retain a skilled workforce or to avert the need to lay off employees by assisting the workers in obtaining the skills necessary to retain employment.  Local workforce areas may use up to 20 percent of their local adult and dislocated worker allocations to provide for the federal share of the cost of providing incumbent worker training.  This 20 percent can only be used for IWT activities that are programmatic in nature, as administrative activities must be paid out of the Board’s administrative funds.  The training should, whenever possible, allow the participant to gain industry-recognized training credentials and/or experience. 

Incumbent Worker Eligibility

To qualify as an incumbent worker, the worker must:

1. Be employed,
2. Meet the Fair Labor Standards Act requirements for an employer-employee relationship (29 U.S.C. Chapter 8), and
3. *Have an established employment history with the employer for six (6) months or more
4. Earn less than $26 per hour, ($54,080 annually) when applying for training; and
5. Reside within COWIB’s 9 county service area, (Canadian, Cleveland, Hughes, Lincoln, Logan, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, and Seminole counties).

*In the event that the incumbent worker training is being provided to a cohort of employees, not every employee in the cohort must have an established employment history with the employer for 6 months or more as long as a majority of those employees do meet the employment history requirement.

Individuals receiving incumbent worker services are not subject to the eligibility criteria that apply to participants in the Adult or Dislocated Worker programs, unless they are receiving other services under those programs.  Therefore, individuals who only receive IWT and no other WIOA title I career or training services are not included in WIOA performance indicator calculations for the core programs. 

IWT is not permitted to be used to provide the occupational training a new hire needs.

Employer Eligibility

In accordance with 20 C.F.R. §680.810, COWIB must consider under WIOA §134(d)(4)(A)(ii):

1. The characteristics of the individuals in the program;
2. The relationship of the training to the competitiveness of an individual and the employer; and
3. Other factors the Local WDB (COWIB) determines appropriate.

TEGL 19-16 adds further suggestion for “other factors”, including:

• The number of employees participating in the training;
• Wage and benefit levels of those employees (both pre- and -post-training earnings);
• The existence of other training and advancement opportunities provided by the employer;
• Credentials and skills gained as a result of the training;
• Layoffs averted as a result of the training;
• Utilization as part of a larger sector and/or career pathway strategy; or
• Employer size.

COWIB will consider the following when selecting employers for IWT program funding:

• The characteristics of the incumbent workers to be trained, specifically the extent to which they historically represent individuals with barriers to employment as defined in WIOA Section 3(24), and how they would benefit from retention or advancement;
• Provide a quality of training which would, whenever possible, allow the participant to gain industry-recognized training experience and/or lead to industry-recognized credentials and/or an increase in wages;
• The number of participants the employer plans to train or retrain.  (Employers who plan to promote the trainee and then backfill the vacated position with a WIOA participant will be given priority);
• The wage and benefit levels of participants (before and after training);
• The occupations for which incumbent worker training is being provided must be in-demand as defined by WIOA section 3(23) and as determined by COWIBs area-specific labor market information found in the Demand Occupations List;
• The employer’s industry status:
  • In-demand industry; or
  • A stable industry; or
  • A declining industry, but there are compelling reasons (e.g., evidence of long-term viability of the employer justifying investments in incumbent worker training;
• The employer must not be a “relocating establishment”.  That is, that the employer has relocated their operation within the last 120 days resulting in a loss of employment for any employee at the original location;
• The employer is current in unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation taxes, penalties, and/or interest or related payment plan;

COWIB will also evaluate the potential number of layoffs averted as a result of this training and will also prioritize employers based on their overall efforts to develop a more competitive workforce within the region, particularly those that show ongoing apprenticeship training models. 

Each of the above factors leading to the approval of an incumbent worker training project with an employer must be documented and placed in the contract file.

Generally, IWT should be provided to private sector employers; however, there may be instances where non-profit and local government entities may be the recipients of IWT funds.  For example, IWT may be used in the health care industry where hospitals are operated by non-profit or local government entities and a nursing upskilling opportunity is available.  In-line with other COWIB policy, IWT funds should not be used to support organizations which are religious or political in nature.

Employer Share of Training Costs

Per WIOA §134(d)(4)(C) and 134(d)(4)(D), employers participating in incumbent worker training are required to pay the non-WIOA (non-federal) share of the cost of providing training to their incumbent workers.  The employer share is based on the size of the workforce as follows:

• 50 or fewer employees                 –              At least 10 percent of the cost
• 51 to 100 employees                     –              At least 25 percent of the cost
• 101 or more employees                –              At least 50 percent of the cost

Employer cost share contributions must be tracked and documented in the contract file.  Additionally, wages paid to the participant while in training can be included as part of the employer share.

Due to the nature of the funding, COWIB has set the maximum per project contribution at $10,000.00 & the maximum per IWT participant contribution at $5000.00.  These maximums reset if the employer is awarded another project contract. 

Regulatory Limitations and Prohibited Activities

• In accordance with WIOA §194, title I funds must not be spent on:
  • Construction, purchase of facilities or buildings, or other capital expenditures for improvements to land or buildings;
  • Sectarian activities;
  • Wages of incumbent employees during their participation in economic development activities provided through a Statewide workforce investment system; Public service employment, except to provide disaster relief employment, as specifically authorized.
  • Expenses prohibited under another Federal, State or local law or regulation;
  • Subawards or contracts with parties that are debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal programs or activities;
  • Contracts with persons falsely labeling products made in America;
  • Foreign travel;
• Funds provided to employers for incumbent worker training must not be used to directly or indirectly assist, promote or deter union organizing.
• Funds must not be used or proposed to be used for the encouragement or inducement of a business or part of a business to relocate from a location in the United States if the relocation results in any employee losing his or her job at the original location.
• Funds must not be used or proposed to be used for any business or part of a business that has relocated from a location in the United States, until the company has operated at the new location for 120 days, if the relocation has resulted in any employee losing his or her job at the original location.
• A participant in an incumbent worker training will not be employed in or assigned to a job if:
  • Any other individual is on layoff from the same or any substantially equivalent job;
  • The employer has terminated the employment of any regular, unsubsidized employee or otherwise caused an involuntary reduction in its workforce with the intention of filling the vacancy with the participant; or
  • The job is created in a promotional line that infringes in any way on the promotional opportunities of currently employed workers.
• A participant in a program or activity authorized under title I of WIOA must not displace (including a partial displacement, such as a reduction in the hours of non-overtime work, wages, or employment benefits) any currently employed employee (as of the date of the participation).
• Incumbent worker trainings are not intended to impair any existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements.  When a program or activity authorized under title I of WIOA would be inconsistent with a collective bargaining agreement, the appropriate labor organization and employer must provide written concurrence before the program or activity begins.

Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination Statement

All Recipients, and Sub-recipients / Sub-grantees must comply with WIOA’s Equal Opportunity and Nondiscrimination provisions which prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, transgender status, and gender identity), national origin (including limited English proficiency), age, disability, political affiliation or belief, or, for beneficiaries, applicants, and participants only, on the basis of citizenship status or participation in a WIOA Title-I financially assisted program or activity.

Addenda / Revisions

The COWIB Chief Executive Officer is authorized to issue additional instructions, guidance, forms, etc., to further implement these procedures. Questions about these procedures may be directed to the COWIB’s Policy Analyst at (405) 622-2026.

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