Equal Opportunity Notice
Equal Opportunity is the Law
It is against the law for this recipient of Federal financial assistance to discriminate on the following bases: Against any individual in the United States, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, sex stereotyping, transgender status, and gender identity), national origin (including limited English proficiency), age, disability, or political affiliation or belief, or, against any beneficiary of, applicant to, or participant in programs financially assisted under Title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, on the basis of the individual's citizenship status or participation in any WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity.
The recipient must not discriminate in any of the following areas:
- Deciding who will be admitted, or have access, to any WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;
- Providing opportunities in, or treating any person with regard to, such a program or activity; or
- Making employment decisions in the administration of, or in connection with, such a program or activity.
Recipients of federal financial assistance must take reasonable steps to ensure that communications with individuals with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. This means that, upon request and at no cost to the individual, recipients are required to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services to qualified individuals with disabilities.
What To Do If You Believe You Have Experienced Discrimination
If you think that you have been subjected to discrimination under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity, you may file a complaint within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation with any of the following options:
Option 1: Partner4Work Equal Opportunity Officer
Subrecipient Compliance Manager - Equal Opportunity Officer; or
Option 2: Office of Equal Opportunity
Mr. James J. Kayer, Director
Office of Equal Opportunity
Department of Labor & Industry
Room 1402, Labor & Industry Building
651 Boas Street
Harrisburg, PA 17121
Toll Free 1-800-622-5422
TDD/TTY 1-800-654-5984 or PA Relay 711
Option 3: Civil Rights Center
Director, Civil Rights Center
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room N-4123
Washington, DC 20210
(202) 219-7026
TDD (202) 219-7003
or electronically as directed on the CRC Web site at www.dol.gov/crc.
Complaint Processing Procedures
Complaint forms for filing allegations of discrimination at the local, state and federal levels can be obtained from the EO Liaison in the PA CareerLink®, the Local WIOA EO Officer, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Labor and Industry, Office of Equal Opportunity, or directly from CRC. Complaints must be filed within 180 days from the date of the alleged occurrence of discrimination. Complaints filed after the 180-day period will be forwarded to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Labor and Industry, Office of Equal Opportunity, or the CRC. The Director of CRC and the Director of the OEO, for good cause shown, may extend the filing time beyond 180 days. Individuals, specific classes of individuals, or authorized representatives may file complaints/allegations of discrimination regarding PA CareerLink® issues with the Equal Opportunity Liaison in the PA CareerLink® who forwards them directly to the State Equal Opportunity Officer. Individuals, specific classes of individuals, or authorized representatives may file complaints/allegations of discrimination about LWDA programs or services with the Local Workforce Development Area’s Equal Opportunity Officer, or directly with the State Equal Opportunity Officer. Complainants are also made aware of their right to file allegations directly with the USDOL Civil Rights Center (CRC).
NOTE: Complaints/allegations do not have to be submitted on the prescribed complaint form to be considered valid complaints or allegations. Discrimination complaints may be submitted to: Local Workforce Development Area Equal Opportunity Officer or Director, Office of Equal Opportunity Department of Labor & Industry Room 1402, Labor & Industry Building 651 Boas St Harrisburg, PA 17121 Toll Free 1-800-622-5422 TDD/TTY 1-800-654-5984 or PA Relay 711 or 39 Director, Civil Rights Center U.S. Department of Labor 200 Constitution Avenue, NW Room N-4123 Washington, DC 20210 (202) 219-7026 TDD (202) 219-7003
Complaints filed by the complainant or his/her authorized representative must be filed in writing and must contain the complainant’s and respondent’s name and address, date alleged incident of discrimination occurred, a description of the allegations with enough detail to allow a determination by the Equal Opportunity Officer for Partner4Work, the Civil Rights Center (CRC) or the Department of Labor & Industry, about jurisdiction over the complaint, whether or not the complaint was filed in a timely manner, apparent merit, and, if true, whether the allegations would violate any of the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of WIOA, and the complainant’s or his/her authorized representative’s signature.
When a formal complaint is received by the Partner4Work EO Officer, the Partner4Work EO Officer shall provide: (i) an acknowledgement of receipt; (ii) notice that the complainant has the right to be represented in the complaint process; (iii) notice of rights contained in the Equal Opportunity Notice; (iv) Notice that the complainant has the right to request and receive, at no cost, auxiliary aids and services, language assistance services, and that this notice will be translated into the non-English languages; and (v) an estimated time period for fact-finding and investigation. Within 90 days of filing, the EO Officer shall provide a Notice of Final Action to the complainant containing a summary of the issues and final determination. Additionally, this Notice of Final Action shall inform the complainant of their right to file a complaint with CRC within 30 days of the date on which the Notice of Final Action is received if the complainant is dissatisfied with the recipient's final action on the complaint.
If you file your complaint with the LWDA EO Officer, you must wait either until the recipient issues a written Notice of Final Action, or until 90 days have passed (whichever is sooner), before filing with the Civil Rights Center (see address above).
If the LWDA EO Officer does not give you a written Notice of Final Action within 90 days of the day on which you filed your complaint, you may file a complaint with CRC before receiving that Notice. However, you must file your CRC complaint within 30 days of the 90-day deadline (in other words, within 120 days after the day on which you filed your complaint with the recipient).
Non-Acceptance of Complaint
If a complaint is not within the jurisdiction, is not timely filed, or does not have apparent merit, the complainant will be immediately notified in writing stating the reason, i.e., the basis for the complaint is not covered by the prohibitions set forth by 29 CFR Part 38; the complaint was not filed within the prescribed 180-day time-frame or; the complaint is against an entity that is not a recipient of WIOA Title I financial assistance as defined by 29 CFR Part 38.
If the complaint is not within the jurisdiction of OEO or the Civil Rights Center, but within the jurisdiction of another federal grant making agency, the complaint will be returned to the complainant, stating the reason(s) for the lack of jurisdiction. The complainant will be advised of the appropriate agency that handles the complaint. If a complaint alleges discrimination by an entity that operates a program or activity financially assisted by a federal grant agency other than DOL but participates as a partner in a PA CareerLink®, the following will apply: If the complaint alleges discrimination on a basis prohibited by Section 188 or Civil Rights laws, the OEO and the grant-making agency will have dual jurisdiction over the complaint. If the complaint alleges discrimination on a basis that is prohibited by Section 188 of WIOA but not by any Civil Rights laws enforced by the federal grant-maker, the complaint will be referred to CRC which has sole jurisdiction over the complaint.
Lack of jurisdiction.
If the LWDA does not have jurisdiction over a complaint, the EO Officer must:
(a) Notify the complainant in writing and explain why the complaint falls outside the coverage of the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of WIOA or this part; and
(b) Where possible, transfer/refer the complaint or complainant to an appropriate Federal, State or local authority.