§ 840. State level activities, rapid response. 1. The state shall be responsible for rapid response activities pursuant to section 312.1 of the federal Job Training Partnership Act (P.L. 97-300), coordination of title III activity and the state unemployment insurance program, state and regional projects and demonstrations, and the discretionary allocation of additional funds to substate areas based on determination of need. 2. The state's designated dislocated worker unit shall have the capability to provide rapid response services to dislocated workers affected by a substantial layoff or a plant closing. Such services shall include:(a) on site intervention within forty-eight hours of notification of either a plant closing or a substantial layoff;
(b) provision of emergency basic readjustment services as needed;
(c) promotion of labor-management cooperation through the initiation, with the department of economic development, where appropriate, of labor-management committees;
(d) development, with the department of economic development, of an early warning system;
(e) dissemination of information on dislocated worker services available under title III of the federal Job Training Partnership Act (P.L. 97-300) and other appropriate services funded by the federal, state, and local governments;
(f) provision of technical assistance to substate grantees;
(g) receipt of notifications of layoffs and closings and provision to substate grantees of such information as soon as possible to assure the maximum local response;
(h) coordination between rapid response activities and the unemployment insurance system and the job training partnership system, state and local economic development activities and the regional education centers of the state education department; and
(i) notification of appropriate state agency staff and coordination with the activities of central, local or regional staff of the departments of labor, economic development and education to facilitate additional on-site contact with employer and employee representatives within a short period of time, preferably forty-eight hours, after becoming aware of a current or projected permanent closure or substantial layoff in order to provide information on and facilitate access to available public programs and services. 3. The commissioner may, under exceptional circumstances, authorize the designated dislocated worker unit to provide rapid response services when the employment loss is for less than twenty-five employees, is not at a single site of employment or does not take place during a single thirty day period. For purposes of this subdivision, exceptional circumstances include those situations which would have a major impact on the community or communities in which they occur.
