Department of Labor February 24, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor, announces the availability of approximately $30 million for grants to serve male and female ex-offenders enrolled in work release programs (WRPs) as authorized by the Workforce Investment Act and the Second Chance Act of 2007. This Training to Work 2-Adult Reentry SGA provides the opportunity for organizations to develop and implement career pathway programs in demand sectors and occupations for individuals who are at least 18 years old and who are enrolled in WRPs. Career pathways are frameworks that help to define and map out a sequence of education, training and workforce skills training resulting in skilled workers that meets employers' needs. Career pathways are an approach to linking and coordinating education and training services in ways that enable individuals to attain such credentials, and ultimately, employment. Successful applicants will: (1) Establish a committed Career Pathways Collaborative led by the grantee that will be a non-profit organization such as a faith-based or community-based organization, and include representatives from the workforce system, WRP, and employers and/or industry associations. The collaborative will create a career pathway(s) program that defines each organizations' specific roles and responsibilities including the identification of a career pathway(s) in demand sector(s) within its community, and (2) provide an integrated set of critical participant-level services such as case management and skills training that enable participants to get on the career pathway(s) and advance along those pathways as they acquire additional skills. The complete SGA and any subsequent SGA amendments in connection with this solicitation are described in further detail on ETA's Web site at https://www.doleta.gov/grants/ or on https://www.grants.gov. The Web sites provide application information, eligibility requirements, review and selection procedures, and other program requirements governing this solicitation.

In this notice, OSHA announces the Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc. (ITSNA), application containing a request for renewal of recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) under 29 CFR 1910.7.

In this notice, OSHA announces Communication Certification Laboratory's (CCL) application containing a request for renewal of recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) under 29 CFR 1910.7.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), announces the availability of approximately $73 million for YouthBuild grants. YouthBuild grants will be awarded through a competitive process. Under this SGA, DOL will award grants to organizations to oversee the provision of education, occupational skills training, and employment services to disadvantaged youth in their communities while performing meaningful work and service to their communities. Based on our estimate of FY 2014 funding, DOL hopes to serve approximately 4,950 participants during the grant period of performance, with approximately 75 projects awarded across the country. The complete SGA and any subsequent SGA amendments in connection with this solicitation are described in further detail on ETA's Web site at https://www.doleta.gov/grants/ or on https://www.grants.gov. The Web sites provide application information, eligibility requirements, review and selection procedures, and other program requirements governing this solicitation.

These proposed regulations would clarify the maximum allowed length of any reasonable and bona fide employment-based orientation period, consistent with the 90-day waiting period limitation set forth in section 2708 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), as amended, and incorporated into the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code.

The Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) is publishing this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to propose revisions to the regulations implementing the reporting requirements under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, (``VEVRAA''). VEVRAA requires Federal contractors and subcontractors to annually report on the total number of their employees who belong to the categories of veterans protected under the Act, and the total number of those employees who were hired during the period covered by the report. The NPRM proposes rescinding the regulations which prescribe the reporting requirements applicable to Government contracts and subcontracts entered into before December 1, 2003, because VETS believes the regulations have become obsolete. In addition, the NPRM proposes revisions to the regulations which prescribe the reporting requirements applicable to Government contracts and subcontracts of $100,000 or more entered into or modified on or after December 1, 2003. The NPRM proposes revising the annual report prescribed by the regulations to require contractors and subcontractors to report the specified information for protected veterans in the aggregate rather than for each of the categories of veterans protected under the statute. The NPRM also proposes renaming the annual report prescribed by the regulations the Federal Contractor Veterans' Employment Report VETS-4212 (``VETS-4212 Report''). Further, the NPRM proposes to revise regulations that address the definitions of terms used in the regulations, the text of the reporting requirements clause included in Government contracts and subcontracts, and the methods of filing the annual report on veterans' employment. VETS proposes that contractors begin complying with the reporting requirements in the revised regulations one year after the effective date of the final rule.