About Us
History
The Monterey County Workforce Development Board (WDB) was established through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in 1998, which was superseded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on July 22, 2014.
The History of Workforce Development and Labor
Workforce development is essential to any society, whether in a period of growth or recession.
Education and training are essential to bridge the skills gap that occurs through generations of new technological advances. There have been numerous workforce statutes created over the past 80 years that emphasize the need for education and training to ensure a skill-ready workforce.
The Department of Labor (DOL), in coordination with the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS), has worked to prepare everyone for the implementation of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
The U.S. Departments of Labor and Education issued five rules implementing WIOA. WIOA is landmark legislation that is designed to strengthen and improve our nation’s public workforce system and help get Americans, including youth and those with significant barriers to employment, into high-quality jobs and careers and help employers hire and retain skilled workers.
WIOA’s Hallmarks of Excellence
- The AJCC physical location enhances the customer experience.
- The AJCC ensures universal access, with an emphasis on individuals with barriers to employment.
- The AJCC actively supports the One-Stop system through effective partnerships.
- The AJCC provides integrated, customer-centered services.
- The AJCC is an on-ramp for skill development and the attainment of industry-recognized credentials which meet the needs of targeted regional sectors and pathways.
- The AJCC actively engages industry and labor and supports regional sector strategies through an integrated business service strategy that focuses on quality jobs.
- The AJCC has high-quality, well-informed, and cross-trained staff.
- The AJCC achieves business results through data-driven continuous improvement.
What is Workforce Development?
Workforce development serves a dual function; enabling individuals to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes for gainful employment or improved work performance; and providing employers with an effective means to communicate and meet their demand for skills.
Assisting youth and adults in acquiring knowledge and developing skills beyond basic literacy, numeracy, and life skills, which are part of the basic education program, and behaviors to find legitimate jobs, establish viable self-employment ventures, and stay employed and productive in a changing economy.
Workforce development initiatives aim to deliver targeted education, training, and employment support services that allow people to improve their opportunities for employment. These initiatives assist governments, universities, and training institutions to understand and anticipate the changing demand for skills. They also build tools and systems that bring together job seekers and employers.
Formal and informal education systems, economic development policies and programs, and the private sector’s human resource function.
While our population will increase across all age groups by 2040, the number of residents over age 50 will increase dramatically. People will tend to change jobs more often throughout their careers, requiring improvements to our workforce development system.
March 4, 1913
President Taft Creates Labor Department
After much opposition, President William Howard Taft signs the Organic Act creating the U.S. Department of Labor. Signed during Taft’s last hours in office, it is followed shortly thereafter by President Woodrow Wilson’s appointment of William B. Wilson (no relation) as the first Secretary of Labor.
January 22, 1915
Meeting the Job Needs of Immigrants
As a result of the Immigration Act, the U.S. Employment Service begins functioning as a non-statutory general placement agency for immigrants.
May 1, 1915
The Monthly Labor Review is First Published
Royal Meeker, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), launches the Monthly Labor Review. It includes information about the labor force, the economy, employment, inflation, productivity, occupational injuries and illnesses, and wages.
June 5, 1920
Women Receive a Voice in the Workplace Through the Women’s Bureau
The Women’s Bureau is created to develop standards and polices ensuring the effective employment of women and promoting the welfare of wage-earning women. Mary Anderson is the bureau’s first director, serving until 1944.
July 7, 1930
BLS Begins Collecting Unemployment Data
When the Great Depression hits, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is only collecting information on employment. In 1930, Congress authorizes BLS to collect unemployment data–just as unemployment is about to hit an all-time high.
December 9,1930 to March 4, 1933
Father of the Five-Day Workweek
William N. Doak (Dec. 12, 1882-Oct. 23, 1933). As Secretary of Labor under President Herbert Hoover, he institutes a five-day workweek at the Labor Department, leading the way for progressive reform throughout all labor sectors.
March 4, 1933 to June 30, 1945
The Trail Blazer
Frances Perkins is the first woman appointed to the Cabinet. Perkins is the principal architect of the Social Security Act of 1935, maximum hour laws, and a federal minimum wage. She also oversees the creation of regulations on child labor and unemployment insurance.
March 31, 1933
New Deal Agencies Offer Employment During Depression
President Roosevelt and Congress create independent agencies like the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of the New Deal to help reduce high unemployment and bring an end to the Depression.
June 6, 1933
Wagner-Peyser Act Brings Workers, Employers Together
Created with unemployed workers in mind, the Wagner-Peyser Act establishes the U.S. Employment Service, which creates a forum where workers and employers can exchange information.
June 5, 1935
National Labor Relations Act Codifies Worker Protections
The National Labor Relations Act defines unfair labor practices and protects workers’ rights to strike and collectively bargain. The National Labor Relations Board is created to enforce the new law.
August 14, 1935
Social Security Act Creates Safety Net for Most Vulnerable
The Social Security Act of 1935 begins payment of benefits to the elderly, disabled, and unemployed. Social Security benefits are supported through payroll taxes. The Social Security Administration began life as the Social Security Board.
August 16, 1937
Apprenticeship Act Allows Labor Department to Oversee On-the-Job Training
Before the National Apprenticeship Act is passed, on-the-job training is unregulated. The Labor Department is put in charge of creating regulations protecting the health, safety, and welfare of workers. The new law also encourages the use of contracts when hiring individuals to work as apprentices.
June 15, 1938
Fair Labor Standards Act Codifies 40-Hour Workweek
The Fair Labor Standards Act standardizes the 40-hour workweek and codifies paid overtime, minimum wage, and child labor laws. It also creates the Wage and Hour Division to enforce the law.
March 15, 1962
Job Training Takes Hold
The Manpower Development and Training Act creates the first major federal job training program. It is focused on training and retraining individuals who lose jobs due to automation and technology. Less than a year after the law is passed, the Manpower Administration is created. The new agency is tasked with overseeing all employment and training programs at the department.
June 10, 1963
Equal Pay for Equal Work
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 guarantees that men and woman be given equal pay for equal work. It also ensures that employers cannot reduce the wages of either sex to equalize pay.
July 2, 1964
Banning Discrimination in the Workplace
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The act was initiated under President John F. Kennedy. Following his assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson saw it through to law.
August 20, 1964
Launching the Job Corps
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Economic Opportunity Act which, in part, creates the Job Corps. A part of Johnson’s “Great Society,” the act is designed to tackle the problems of unemployment and provide opportunities for citizens living in poverty to compete in the growing economy.
November 12, 1975
From Manpower to Employment and Training
The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is created by President Gerald Ford to replace the Manpower Administration. The ETA administers job training programs and oversees the Unemployment Insurance benefits system.
February 4, 1981 to March 15, 1985
A New Calling
Although Raymond J. Donovan (b. Aug. 31, 1930) once intended to enter the seminary, it is his employment in the skilled trades that gives rise to his career in labor. He works his way up through the Schiavone Construction Co., eventually becoming Executive Vice President. Picked by President Ronald Reagan to serve as secretary of labor, Donovan is instrumental in creating the agency’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, and implementing the Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act, as well as the Retirement Equity Act.
January 14, 1983
Ensuring Rights for Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers
The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act sets employment standards for farmworkers. The act replaces the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act.
August 23, 1984 to August 29, 1984
Retirement Equity Act
The Retirement Equity Act is signed into law on August 23, 1984. It amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by addressing women’s rights not included in the original 1974 version of -ERISA-including survivorship benefits, vesting and domestic relations orders.
August 4, 1988
Fair Notice for Mass Layoffs
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, signed on August 4, 1988, protects workers by giving them advance notice of plant closings or mass layoffs. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) is a United States labor law which protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs of employees, as defined in the Act.
July 26, 1990
Making a Commitment to Americans with Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights measure, is passed to prohibit discriminatory practices on the basis of a disability. It sets guidelines for accessibility, opening premises previously unavailable to persons of diverse backgrounds, with the concept of reasonable accommodation. Disability, as the ADA defines it, includes visual, auditory, and mobility deficits as well as mental, emotional, and physical challenges.
February 5, 1993
Protecting Jobs During Family and Medical Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act is best known for its provision of parental leave for the birth of a child. It also guarantees that a job will be there upon return, for new foster parents, caretakers of injured or ill relatives, workers with personal health problems, and others.
August 7, 1998
Keeping America Earning
The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is enacted during President Clinton’s second term to create a means for businesses to participate in workforce training and career pathways programs. It replaces the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982, providing funding for local, statewide and national on-the-job training. The Office Disabilities Employment Policy works closely with Department of Labor’s workforce development system, funded by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and delivered through the nationwide network of One-Stop Career Centers. Also, called American Job Centers, these are community centers that provide employment, education and training services all in one place, offering a wealth of information and assistance for job seekers and employers. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), which became effective July 1, 2000, established the One-Stop Career Center system.
December 21, 2000
Launching the Office of Disability Employment Policy
To reinforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is created as an authority on national policy to integrate individuals with disabilities into the workplace. Its goal is to remove the limits on employment opportunities that people with disabilities face. The agency provides information on required accommodations to employers, and advises people with disabilities about their rights.
July 22, 2014
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is an amendment and reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, which supported the nation’s primary programs and investments in employment services, workforce development, adult education and vocational rehabilitation activities. Workforce Development Boards (WDBs) rely on labor market information to develop sector strategies that focus resources on a high growth industry for their area, often involving skill training for local businesses. More than 50% of each WDB’s members must come from the business community, and must have representation from local community colleges and other training providers, as well as elected officials and workforce program leaders.