Texas Register
(25 TexReg 6967).
Section 839.11 is amended to reflect the use of Workforce Investment Act
(WIA) nondiscrimination rules rather than the Job Training Partnership Act
(JTPA) nondiscrimination rules in processing complaints of discrimination
by participants in Welfare-to-Work activities.
The phrase Welfare-to-Work was published without dashes and has subsequently
been changed to include the dashes.
Concurrent with this filing, the Commission is repealing Chapter 805, Subchapter
H relating to the JTPA nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions.
The Commission is also adopting new §§841.201-841.215 relating to
the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity requirements of the WIA, which
will be published in this issue of the Texas Register.
Comment: One comment was received from the North Central Texas Workforce
Development Board regarding the proposed amendment to §839.11. The commenter
did not state agreement or disagreement with the amendment but suggested that
the reference to the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity complaint involving
Welfare-to-Work Act services was an error.
Response: Currently, complaints of violations of the nondiscrimination
and equal opportunity provisions of the Welfare-to-Work Act are to be resolved
using the JTPA grievance process. The sections of the Texas Administrative
Code describing the JTPA grievance process are being repealed and a new WIA
complaint process is being adopted concurrent with this adoption of the amendment
to §839.11. After the effective date of these rule changes, complaints
of violations of the nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of
the Welfare-to-Work Act will be resolved using the WIA complaint process.
The use of a single complaint process for both WIA and Welfare-to-Work should
ease the administration of these programs and simplify the process for those
wishing to file a complaint. Based on the determination by the Commission
that a more uniform process for appeals is appropriate where feasible, the
Commission does not agree that the reference to the complaint process was
in error.
The amendments are adopted under Texas Labor Code §§301.061
and 302.002, which provide the Texas Workforce Commission with the authority
to adopt, amend or repeal such rules as it deems necessary for the effective
administration of Commission services and activities.
The adopted amendment affects Texas Labor Code, Title 4, and Texas Government
Code, Chapter 2308.
§839.11.Applicability.
In accordance with 20 CFR §645.255, this subchapter establishes
the state WIA rules regarding Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity, located
in §§841.208-841.215 of this title (relating to Workforce Investment
Act Rules) as the applicable procedure for resolving Nondiscrimination and
Equal Opportunity complaints in the Welfare-to-Work Act, except as otherwise
provided in this chapter.