Downsizing and need help finding jobs for your displaced employees?
Let the Little Rock Workforce Center help affected employees find a suitable new job through:
- Pre-layoff services
- FREE Job training programs
- Community resources
- Outplacement services
- Company-specific services
Governor’s Dislocated Worker Task Force
The Governor’s Dislocated Worker Task Force (GDWTF) is a division of the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, headed by John C. “Jay” Bassett III. Contact information for the task force includes:
1501 S. Main St.
PO Box 2981
Little Rock, AR 72203
Jay Bassett
(501) 682-1818
[email protected]
Regina Moss
(501) 683-1412
[email protected]
When a company is laying off employees or closing, several laws and state agencies may be called into action. The size of the company or the lay-off may affect the process that determines the best response, but all dislocated workers are given priority and all employers are encouraged first to call. The GDWTF has the frontline staff to determine the severity of a potential lay-off, the capacity to make rapid responses, and the means to keep all information in the strictest confidence. The GDWTF will meet with the management of the affected company, coordinate the services of other state and local responders, and conduct worker trainings and workshops.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act
Generally, an employer with 100 employees or more should be aware that they may be required by law to file a WARN Notice.
However, it is incumbent upon the company and its legal advisors to determine if this step is necessary, and neither the GDWTF nor a local government entity can provide this legal advice to them.
Company leaders may find more information on determining if a WARN Notice is required at: https://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-warn.htp.
Other Dislocated Worker Resources
Several other federally funded programs may serve as resources to address the needs of the company and its dislocated workers in the event of a lay-off or company closing situation.
- Trade Affected Assistance (TAA) Reform Act of 2002, which becomes available to workers dislocated by increased imports or shifts to production outside the U.S.
- A National Emergency Grant (NEG) might also take effect when mass layoffs, company closings, natural disasters, and other emergency situations require a rapid response. (In Little Rock, examples of this have included the closing of the Southwest * Airlines Call Center and the Levi Strauss plant, the Katrina disaster, and the ice storms during 2008-2009.)
- The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Dislocated Worker funding stream allows dislocated workers to receive priority of service without the income or other eligibility requirements of normal WIOA participants. Contact information for dislocated worker services at the Little Rock Workforce Center includes: