Home Northern California Indian Development Council

Resources for Tribes and Employers

American Indian Rapid Response Project
Resources for Tribes and Employers

Rapid Response Services for Employers and Tribes
Rapid Response is a strategy designed to respond to major layoffs, plant closings, and natural disasters by quickly coordinating services and providing immediate aid to affected companies and their workers. The NCIDC American Indian Rapid Response (AIRR) project serves businesses located on Reservations, Rancherias, or within Tribally defined juristiction, as well as Indian-owned businesses located throughout California.  An NCIDC Rapid Response representative will work with your company to customize public and private efforts to minimize the disruptions of a major layoff on your company, affected workers, and the community. Employers who are expecting a layoff or plant closing, or who wish to learn more about the services Rapid Response can provide can call NCIDC at 800.566.2381 or email us at cara@ncidc.org

The Rapid Response coordinator may be able to facilitate the provision of:

  • An initial employer meeting to plan transition for your employees
  • Presentations to your employees on available services
  • An locally sponsored on-site career center for your employees, when needed
  • Skill assessments of your employees both as a group and individually
  • Stress management and debt counseling
  • Résumé and interviewing workshops
  • Possible options to reduce or avoid the layoff
  • Coordination with other agencies for services your employees may need
  • Applications for federal funds for your workforce

The Rapid Response Transition representative can help connect your employees with appropriate services to facilitate entering new jobs, provide the assistance you need to manage the work force reduction and transition of your employees and ensure stability in the community in a positive and productive way.

 

 Benefits to Employers
The more quickly Rapid Response is begun, the more time is available for workers to overcome their fears and begin their re-entry into the workforce. Early intervention allows employers and workers to communicate about worker concerns, to take advantage of worker transition committee opportunities, to initiate peer worker projects, and to identify, design and oversee layoff aversion and incumbent worker strategies. Rapid Response services are customized to each layoff and to each company's needs and expectations, and most services are provided without cost to the employer.

Providing Rapid Response services to your workers during layoffs or plant closings has many benefits to you as an employer:

  • Higher productivity during layoff event
  • Lower absenteeism among workers
  • Lower unemployment insurance costs as workers are re-employed more quickly when services are begun prior to layoff
  • Higher morale due to reduced stress-your workers will be happier despite circumstances because they will feel that you have worked hard to help them in a difficult time
  • Decreased likelihood of sabotage or work disruptions
  • Media and rumor management-the NCIDC American Indian Rapid Response Project understands the often confidential nature of layoffs, and will work with the company to ensure confidentiality at all times
  • Better public relations for an employer--Rapid Response can also work with the media to highlight services an employer is providing to its workers during a layoff period, which will improve a company's public image
  • Provide information to company's with regard to any state or federal requirements or laws for notification, including the Worker Adjustment and Retraining (WARN) Act

 

Benefits to Your Workers
The decision to lay off employees is one no employer wants to make. However, as layoffs do occur, inviting Rapid Response to facilitate meetings with affected workers prior to the layoff will allow your employees to access services and programs which will help them through this difficult time. Rapid Response can arrainge information and services for your employees, including:

  • Career counseling
  • Job search assistance
  • Resume preparation assistance
  • Interviewing skills workshops
  • Information on the local labor market
  • Unemployment insurance
  • Information about education and training opportunities
  • Information on health benefits and pensions
  • And much more!

Local services available may include:

  • Use of computers, telephones, and fax machines for job search
  • Financial planning and stress management workshops
  • Financial support for training
  • Income support if your job was lost due to foreign trade
  • Special services for veterans and adults with disabilities

During Rapid Response, local specialists in helping workers cope with job change will gather information on workers' needs and begin to organize the services necessary to help you get back to work. Additionally, Rapid Response may arrainge for on-site meetings to introduce workers to representatives of many other programs that can help them in the time of transition. Perhaps the most important of these Rapid Response partners is the One-Stop Career Center. The One-Stop system was designed to bring together many separate partners to seamlessly provide an array of services, from resume preparation to job search to placement to supportive services, to anyone who wishes to have access to these services. Every local area has a One-Stop network open to all residents, including those who have been laid off or expect to be laid off from their job.

 

Trade-Related Layoffs and Plant Closings
The Rapid Response project will work with your company to provide information on the Trade Adjustment Act and the benefits your workers can receive if the layoffs are a result of foreign trade. Your company, the Rapid Response project, or the workers themselves can file a trade petition with the United States Department of Labor.

 

 Notice of Layoffs
Rapid Response and early intervention services can only be initiated when the Rapid Response project learns of impending layoffs. Companies will often notify the Rapid Response project of a layoff and invite them to come on site to help the workers who will be laid off. In some cases, employers are required to provide 60 days notice before a layoff. Certain mass layoffs and plant closings will meet the criteria of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining (WARN) Act  

 

Additional Rapid Response Services
In addition to the benefits described above, the Rapid Response project can help provide you with important information and other services. Ask for information on services to help plan for and avoid future layoffs.

For example, you may wish to consider selling your business to a buyer, several buyers, a management group or employees. The Rapid Response project can help you with this and other layoff aversion options.

If you are located in a Rural Area, the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service may assist you.

Services to help you access skilled job seekers

America's Job Bank currently contains the resumes of over 400,000 active job seekers with training and skills that match your recruitment needs. The One-Stop Career Center system is an excellent source of skilled workers in your community. Developing relationships with the Rapid Response team can also benefit you during hiring phases as they will have up-to-date information on skilled workers looking for employment in your area.

Meeting governmental reporting requirements

Under certain conditions, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers to give their workers specific timely notice before a plant closing or mass layoff.. Employers who are expecting a layoff or plant closing, or who wish to learn more about the services Rapid Response can provide, can call NCIDC at 800.566.2381 or email us at cara@ncidc.org

 

Rapid Response Contact Information
Employers who wish to learn more about the services Rapid Response can call NCIDC at 800.566.2381 or email us at cara@ncidc.org

 

Filing a WARN Notice
On January 1, 2003, California specific Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) requirements (Assembly Bill 2957, Chapter 4, Part 4, Sections 1400-1408, California Labor Code) became law. These Labor Code provisions expand upon requirements in the federal WARN legislation that was effective February 4, 1989.

WARN provides protection to employees, their families, and communities by requiring employers to give affected employees and other state and local representatives notice 60 days in advance of a plant closing or mass layoff. Advance notice provides employees and their families some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain alternative jobs and, if necessary, to enter skills training or retraining that will allow these employees to successfully compete in the job market.

Information on how to file a WARN Notice can be found here: http://www.edd.ca.gov/eddwarn.htm 

 

Services and Information for Workers

Additional Resources and Information