The Department of Labor (DOL) and its Employment and Training Administration
(ETA) are committed to providing customers - businesses, workers,
and stakeholders - with clear and accessible information on how to
comply with federal employment laws and guidance. This information
and assistance are generally referred to as "compliance assistance."
ETA generally is recognized as the nation's primary
"human resource" agency, charged with contributing to the more efficient
and effective functioning of the U.S. labor market. ETA does this
by providing job training, job search assistance, labor market information,
and temporary income support through state and local workforce investment
systems. ETA administers programs for occupational skills training,
job readiness preparation, rapid response to layoffs, unemployment
insurance, labor exchange and career information, and apprenticeships
under a variety of federal laws. Some ETA programs are available
to the general public (such as the electronic databases in America's
CareerOneStop @ http://www.careeronestop.org),
while others are targeted to subgroups of current or future workers
at special risk in the economy (such as dislocated workers, low
income adults and youth, and Native Americans).
ETA generally does not directly provide services,
but rather provides funds to intermediaries or partners who provide
the services. These partners include:
- State and local
government entities that provide services through state and local
government staff or through contracts and grants with other entities
at the local level;
- Public and private
not-for-profit organizations, such as community colleges, proprietary
schools, businesses, faith-and community-based organizations,
unions, and other federal agencies that receive funds directly
from ETA to provide services to individuals; and
- Private-for-profit
firms that receive funds from ETA to conduct research, provide
technical assistance, and create computer-based information systems.
ETA also administers, together with
the states, a number of foreign labor certification programs,
and shares responsibility for certifying eligibility of workers
hired by employers who claim the Work Opportunity Tax Credit or
the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit. You can access these programs at
(http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/foreign/).
Some enforcement responsibilities
for ETA-administered programs are handled by other entities. For
example, the Employment Standards Administration (ESA) has enforcement
responsibility for certain labor certification programs, and enforcement
of the WARN Act (requiring advance notice of plant closings and
mass layoffs) is carried out through the courts.
