Submitted by Traci Holt

Lassen Career Network
2545 Main Street, Susanville, CA 96130
(530) 257-5057
www.aworkforce.org

 

One-Stop Activities


NoRTEC All Staff Retreat

On September 20th and 21st, we gathered at the beautiful Feather River Inn for
NoRTEC All Staff Retreat. It was an opportunity to meet folks from other counties as well as share ideas on best practices for our job seeker and business services activities. Kathy and Anna presented the NoRTEC Business Service Model presentation during the opening session. We closed with a consensus workshop designed around how we can better integrate our job seeker and business services teams. We came away with some awesome ideas and we soon begin to implement them.

Thanks to NoRTEC for the opportunity!!!


High Desert State Prison Recruiting

AFWD partnered with High Desert State Prison for an all-day job fair aimed at recruiting correctional officers for the State of California. The shortage of correctional officers statewide is close to 2,000. Locally, the two state prisons are short close to 120 officers. If enough interest is generated in Susanville, there could be a possibility of a Correctional Officer Training Academy located in Susanville.

Society for Human Resource Management Training
I have been studying for the Professional in Human Resource(PHR) certificate for the past several weeks. I have attended a facilitated course hosted by (Northern California Human Resources Association. The Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) exams are both based on U.S. laws, regulations and practices and are generalist in nature (i.e., they assess all the functional areas of the HR field). They differ in terms of focus and the cognitive level of questions. PHR questions tend to be at an operational/technical level. SPHR questions tend to be more at the strategic and/or policy level.

The value added from attending this training and attaining the certificate, is that AFWD will be better positioned to continue to provide excellent level of business services.

For more information on the exam, please check out HRCI's website

New Staff
We are very happy to announce the addition of 2 staff for AFWD. Jessica is our new Front Line Team Member and Donna Myers is our new Employment Specialist. Both have experience in the One-Stop environment. Jessica's background includes working with the Welfare to Work program in the Bay Area. Donna brings more than 25 years of experience with the Washington State Employment Development Department where she managed TAA and Dislocated Workers. We are very happy to have them on our TEAM!!!

Sexual Harassment Prevention Training
Complying with California's New Law AB1825
Harassment claims are on the rise and are potentially very expensive to businesses. Many people are not aware that individuals can even be held personally liable for harassment.

The number one complaint to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, (DFEH), is Harassment, which includes non-sexual forms of harassment. The estimated cost to business is 6.7 million per year in non-litigation costs. To protect businesses and employees, California passed a new Sexual Harassment Prevention law, AB1825.

The law states that as of January 1, 2006, employers who regularly employee 50 or more full -time, part-time, temporary and/or contract employees must provide at least 2 hours of harassment training and education to all supervisors employed as of July 1, 2005. The training must take place every two years thereafter. New supervisors must be trained within 6 months of hire or promotion.

The law does not define what a supervisor is, but the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) broadly defines it to include any individual with the authority to "hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to direct them". As a result, employers should provide training under AB1825 to anyone who has the responsibility for any of the above personnel actions, even if the employee does not have the official "supervisor" title.

To help local businesses save time and money, the Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc. (AFWD), and Plumas Bank have joined forces to provide the required training locally.

“Mark Vegh, a Labor and Employment Law Attorney, with Carr, Kennedy, Peterson & Frost in Redding is providing this valuable training”, states Traci Holt, Sr. HR Consultant with AFWD. “Businesses with over 50 employees will be able to meet the new California AB 1825 requirements without having to travel out of the area. Mark has presented several excellent workshops to our local employers this year, and we are thrilled to have him return.”

The workshops will take place on Wednesday, November 16, 2005. Morning sessions will be at Lassen Career Network, 2545 Main Street, in Susanville from 8:00 am to 11:00 am. Afternoon sessions will be from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm at the Plumas Bank Administrative Annex, 32 Central Avenue behind the Safeway building in Quincy. Refreshments will be provided, courtesy of Plumas Bank at both locations. A second seminar is scheduled for Tuesday December 6, 2005 to accommodate those who cannot attend the seminars in November.

“All businesses, regardless of size, are encouraged to attend these sessions to learn how to protect yourself, your company and your employees,” added Holt.

The fee is $30. Space is limited to 40 participants, so businesses with 5 or more attendees should call immediately for advance registration. Additional workshops may be scheduled as necessary. For more information, or to RSVP, please contact Holly Schirmer at Lassen Career Network at 257-2586, or Alisa Marble at the Work Connection, 283-1606.

Northeastern Rural Health Clinics Customized Recruitment Update

Northeastern Rural Health Clinics, Inc. are well on their way to fulfilling the requirements for the CDBG grant they received. Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc. secured the customized recruitment contract to hire 17 new positions. This positions were created as a result of the business expansion. To date, we have provided recruiting services for 9 of the 17 positions.

Success Story

Ron Bernal was a truck driver for Sierra Pacific Industries before he was dislocated dur to the closure. Ron has always been a truck driver for the timber industry and did not want to continue with the uncertainty of the industry. He took a survival job until he was accepted at the California Correctional Academy this past summer. We helped Ron with the costs associated with his uniforms. We are happy to report Ron started work at High Desert State Prison on Monday, October 24th as a correctional officer. Ron is very proud and thankful of the help he received from AFWD.


 

 
Rapid Response Update

During the past 3 months, we have been very busy with Rapid Response activities. Some of the closures required the efforts of staff from Lassen and Plumas Counties. The following businesses have closed:

On September 30th we were notified that Lear Siegler, a federal contractor for Sierra Army Depot would be reducing their workforce substantially on October 3rd. Our Rapid Response Team went into immediate action on Monday, October 3rd. As expected, the laid off employees came to the One-Stop to file their UI and were also provided immediate orientations to our Dislocated Worker Program. Orientations began at 10am and continued throughout the day to accommodate everyone who came through the One-Stop. In addition, orientations were scheduled throughout the week in Susanville and in Herlong, the location of Lear Siegler. To date, we have captured 29 of the 48 laid off employees. Outreach and orientations continue on a daily basis.

Upcoming Events


October 13th- County Agency Fair
October 31st- Rapid Response Orientation for Lear Siegler
November 2nd - Rapid Response Orientation for Lear Siegler
November 15th - Unveiling of New Lobby for the One-Stop
November 16th - Sexual Harassment Training-AB1825, Mark Vegh
December 6th - Sexual Harassment Training-AB1825, Mark Vegh