The mission of the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Employment & Training is “to provide services enabling employers and job seekers to make informed employment and training choices leading to employment.”

The Division of Employment & Training (DET) operates a statewide labor exchange system serving both employers and job seekers.

The division also administers 15 different federal and state-funded employment and training programs that assist individuals with social, economic, educational and other barriers to make the transition to employment.

DET has four full-service delivery locations throughout the state. Each One-Stop office has computers that provide our customers with access to the internet, a ‘resource room’, and clients may be offered core services, intensive services, and/or training services.

The services can be obtained in a variety of ways: one-on-one, group services, Self Directed Services with some or with no help (depending on the person’s ability).

Some of the services available at the One-Stop are referrals to a job, aptitude and interest assessment, resume writing assistance, employment counseling, referral to training, and participation in workshops.

The oldest program we administer is the Labor Exchange Program also called the Wagner-Peyser Program. Two senators introduced this in 1938 in order to establish the matching of jobs to people and people to jobs. It is the public labor exchange and is open to everyone with no eligibility criteria.

In order to facilitate this match, we use our office staff and/or the Internet.

The Dislocated Worker Program assists eligible individuals in obtaining unsubsidized employment through training and related employment services. Programs are conducted in cooperation with employers or labor organizations to provide early intervention in the event of closures of plants or facilities.

The Blue Collar Jobs Program provides funds to train economically disadvantaged individuals and others with barriers to employment. The Division of Unemployment Insurance collects an employer assessed tax and receives 10% of the total dollars collected for administration of this fund.

The Delaware Economic Development Office administers 25% of the remaining funds, which are devoted to industrial training and career ladder training for state employees. The Delaware Private Industry Council and DET administers the balance or 75% of the remaining funds, which are dedicated to training or retraining for dislocated workers, providing young people school-to-work transition services and for innovative training programs.

The veterans’ programs include the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) – which is an outreach program designed to meet the needs of veterans, especially disabled veterans of the Vietnam era.

And the Local Veterans’ Employment Representative (LVER) whose primary purpose is to ensure that there is local supervision of DET compliance with federal regulations and standards of performance, and to grant agreement provisions for special services and priorities for veterans.

The Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers program includes a variety of services to help migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families find alternative job opportunities in year-round employment or to improve their well being if they remain in seasonal agricultural work.

The State Summer Youth Employment Program is a state-funded jobs program that awards grants to qualifying non-profit agencies and organizations for the hiring of Delaware youths during the summer months.

The Foreign Labor Certification (or Alien Certification) assists employers in meeting requirements for recruitment of alien workers and assures that regulatory processes are followed to document that American workers are not available.

The Welfare to Work tax credit was created by the Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997. It is intended to offer incentives to employers to hire members of families that have been long-term assistance recipients.

WOTC is a federal income tax credit that encourages employers to hire eight targeted groups of job seekers. The tax incentive is designed to help the job seekers most in need of employment gain on-the-job experience and move toward economic self-sufficiency.

The Trade Act assists workers whose employment is adversely affected by imports. Assistance includes help in preparing for and obtaining new employment. Eligible workers may also receive training, job search and relocation allowances. Additionally, Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA) may be payable to eligible workers following exhaustion of their unemployment insurance benefits.

The Prison-To-Work Initiative is a collaborative effort between the Department of Labor and the Department of Correction. The goal of this effort is to ensure that those individuals who have been incarcerated, and those on probation and parole, are taking maximum advantage of all the employment-related services, which are available to them, thus increasing the odds that they will become productive members of the community.

Reemployment assistance is available to workers if they are laid off permanently as a direct result of increased imports from any country or a shift in production to Canada or Mexico that appear to be the cause of the layoff.

WIA is the largest Federal Program. Its purpose is to enable states to build a workforce investment system that respects individual choices, reflects local conditions, and results in increased employment, retention, earnings and productivity of participants, reduces welfare dependency and increases occupational skills attained by the partnerships.

Related Topics:  Employers, Employment & Training, Job Seekers