Submitted by Janis R. Trueblood

July 1 - September 30, 2003

The Employment & Training Center
1905 E. Main Street, Quincy, CA 95971
(530) 283-1606
www.aworkforce.org

"The mission of the Employment & Training Center is to provide a comprehensive array of quality employment services, job-related education, and training opportunities to job seekers, business, and the community."

 

PLUMAS WORKFORCE DEVELOMENT TEAM

BUSINESS SERVICES

CALIFORNIA LABOR LAW

An ounce of prevention......

Small business in our local area continuously strives to meet the requirements of California's various laws when conducting their HR functions. During the recent Quarterly Conferences held on September 4th and 5th, local employers had the opportunity to get an overview from John McBride, Deputy Labor Commissioner, Department of Industrial Relations-Enforcement Division on some of the important provisions of the California Labor Code and IWC Orders.

Mr. McBride stressed the importance of accurate recordkeeping, documented lunch periods and breaks, paying employees timely in the event of termination, what constitutes overtime, and exempt vs. non-exempt employee status. Participants appreciated the opportunity to ask questions and get the "right answers" which will help them to better manage their employees legally and safely.

Attendees comments included:

  • "It was all very informative!"
  • "Excellent, John was great!"
  • "The question and answer period was the best part about today's presentation."
  • "Presenter had excellent knowledge of the law."
  • "It should have been longer, 1-1/2 hours wasn't enough time."

The Quarterly Conferences start at the eastern end of the county in Portola at 7:30am on Thursday and finish in the northern area of Chester/Lake Almanor at 1:30pm on Friday. A total of sixty businesses attended in the four areas during the two day period.

Members of the Plumas Workforce Development Team include representatives from the Employment Development Department, Plumas Corporation, Plumas Rural Services, Plumas County Office of Education, Feather River College, Plumas County CalWORKs, Alliance for Workforce Development, and the Small Business Development Center.

The Plumas WFDT is working together to support local business!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Career Day, Quincy Jr. High School, October 8, 2003 sponsored by the Plumas Workforce Development Team

Artist to Artisan Business Training, November 15, 2003 sponsored by SBDC, Plumas Corporation, and the Plumas Workforce Development Team.

Employment Tax Seminar, Quarterly Conference, January 8-9, 2004 sponsored by the Plumas Workforce Development Team

Workers Compensation Seminar, Quarterly Conference, March 4-5, 2004 sponsored by the Plumas Workforce Development Team

NURSING GRADUATES SUPPORTED BY CTI & NWI

On August 9th, Feather River College graduated nine licensed vocational nursing students at completion of their two-year program. Feather River College and the Alliance for Workforce Development worked together to assure that these students had the support needed to successfully complete this challenging program. Through the Caregiver Training Initiative (CTI) funding, students were recruited, oriented, assessed and enrolled in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and Welfare-to-Work (WTW) programs, and funds were used to support the high costs related to this training program. Later these students were also enrolled in the Nurse Workforce Initiative (NWI) which continued to support them through completion.

These graduates are already working as they await the State Board Exam this fall. Congratulations to these hard working students and best wishes for their continued pathway to success!

 

 

"Planning to Put the Pieces Together"

hosted by NoRTEC

Mt. Shasta Resort, October 14-16, 2003

This Community Coordinator has spent 18 years in this business and one thing is constant.....Change!

Staff are looking forward to the opportunity to discuss changes in the delivery of services within the One-Stops. The focus of NoRTEC on expanding the delivery of business services will be the core subject with further discussion of how we can coordinate with the job seeker programs to increase enrollments and placements.

NoRTEC is hosting a three day workshop/training for staff to understand this shift in focus, share, and learn ideas to implement in their local areas.

"BUSINESS SERVICES FIRST"

PRESENTED AT THE MEETING OF THE MINDS CONFERENCE IN MONTEREY

Charlie Brown (NoRTEC), Kathy Garcia (Job Training Center-Tehama), and I presented at the Annual California Workforce Assocation Conference in Monterey on August 26th. The feedback was very positive from the attendees with lots of questions about the innovative approach to business services that NoRTEC supports. It was also a really great opportunity to network with the NoRTEC staff and my peers exchanging ideas and philosophies, not to mention the awesome seafood!

For those interested, this is the PowerPoint presentation that AFWD utilized for their portion of the presentation — Monterey Presentation.

Thank You NoRTEC for this Opportunity!
TRI-COUNTY BUSINESS TRAINING

"SUPER SERVICE SPECTACULAR UPDATE"

Last quarter's Community Coordinator Report provided an update on the purchase of the guest service curriculum which can now be offered to local business and their employees throughout the tri-county service area.

Co-presenters Laurie Wann and I piloted our first presentation to Plumas Rural Services staff on September 19th. WIB Member Michele Piller along with her staff were kind enough to allow us to use them as guinea pigs for this new project. Unless Michele was just being kind, the presentation was a "hit" with interest for an encore presentation to her entire staff. For those of you who were unaware, Plums Rural Services is one of the largest employers in Plumas County!

On September 23rd, we were on the road to Lassen County where we delivered the same curriculum to the management of Diamond Mountain Casino! We must have done it right, they just entered into an agreement for us to provide the training to their entire staff of 100 employees! Some of the comments about the presentation included:

"The best part about the presentation was the positive manner of the delivery, the real life examples and how you created/caused interaction throughout."

"The energy displayed by Janis and Laurie was the best! We all enjoyed having so much fun and having permission to enjoy ourselves meant so much!"

The Plumas Workforce Development Team will be discussing our approach to delivering this training in Plumas County....we will keep you posted!

HIGH SIERRA MUSIC FESTIVAL - July 3-6, 2003

Plumas County is a happening place during the Fourth of July weekend with the fireworks, parade, and festivities from Lake Almanor to Graeagle, to the Taylorsville Rodeo, to the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy. There is too much to choose and too much to do during this tourist impacted weekend and local businesses love it!

Approximately 15,000 people entered the county for the Music Festival alone! One local business met their sales target for the month during this single weekend.

Thank you to all the visitors of Plumas County throughout the year, we enjoy hosting you.

Don't forget to create

"Magical Moments"

for your internal and external guests.