A “dislocated worker” customer of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) must meet general eligibility requirements and at least one (1) of the following dislocated worker eligibility requirements:

1. Individual or Small Group Layoff;
   1. The individual:
      1. Has been terminated or laid off or has received notice of employment termination or layoff; this would include an individual who has separated from or has an impending separation from the Armed Forces; and
      2. Is eligible for or has exhausted entitlement to unemployment compensation as documented in one of the following ways:
         1. Unemployment Insurance Benefits. The classification of persons as eligible for unemployment compensation is limited to those who have been determined eligible to receive a monetary benefit by the state unemployment insurance administering agency or who have been determined by the state unemployment insurance administering agency to have exhausted their benefits; or
            1. For those who have been notified of an upcoming layoff and will not have applied for unemployment compensation, to meet the criteria around unemployment compensation, the individual must have earned at least $2,000 in at least two (2) of the last four (4) calendar quarters.
         2. Tenure. Has been employed for a duration sufficient to demonstrate attachment to the workforce (meaning the individual must have at least thirty (30) days of employment in the industry or occupation from which he/she was dislocated), but is not eligible for unemployment compensation due to insufficient earnings or having performed services for an employer that were not covered under a state unemployment compensation law; and
      3. Is unlikely to return to a previous industry or occupation.
         1. The occupation or industry is low growth or in decline as determined below; or
            1. The individual has been laid off or terminated from a low-growth industry, defined by a North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code category with less than the statewide average growth rate; or
            2. The individual has been laid off or terminated from a low-growth occupation, defined as any O*NET Codes category with an average annual employment growth rate of less than the statewide average growth rate for all occupations;
         2. The individual requires additional assistance.  After an assessment of education, skills, and work experience has been determined by the Title IB entity to require additional assistance to qualify for any available openings in the industry or occupation from which the person was laid off, or to obtain employment in another occupation.  Such determination must be documented in the person’s case file.
            1. Examples of requiring additional assistance include, but are not limited to, the following:
               1. An individual who meets the long-term unemployed criteria (unemployed for twenty-seven (27) or more consecutive weeks);
               2. The individual is a separating or separated member of the U.S. Armed Forces;
               3. The individual has a history of involvement at any stage with the criminal justice system (justice-touched individual);
               4. The individual is likely to enter a new job that is different structurally or organizationally than their previous job;
               5. The individual is likely to enter a new job with lower seniority compared to their previous position;
               6. The individual has a gap in employment that decreases their chances of returning to the same level of occupation or type of job, including justice-touched individuals;
               7. There are limited employment opportunities in the occupation or industry within the local area;
               8. There is an excess number of workers with similar skill sets and experience in the local area;
               9. The individual has out-of-date or inadequate skills;
               10. The individual has adequate skills, but lacks a credential required by most employers;
               11. The individual has a barrier to employment such as a disability, medical condition, or legal issues that could prevent a return to employment in the same industry or occupation as outlined in the Employment Barriers Definitions (See Attachments tab); or
               12. An unsuccessful job search suggests the individual is unlikely to regain employment in their previous occupation or industry.
2. Facility Closure or Substantial Layoff;
   1. The individual:
      1. Has been terminated or laid off, or has received notice of termination or layoff from employment due to a permanent closure of or a substantial layoff (defined below) at a plant, facility, or enterprise; or
         1. Substantial layoff includes, but is not limited to, the following:
            1. Layoffs resulting from Federal, State, or local disasters or emergencies (e.g., flood, tornado, fire, COVID, etc.);
            2. Documented State or Local Rapid Response layoff in the Illinois Employment Business System (IEBS); or
            3. Layoffs from sectors and occupations that are substantial or significant to the regional or local workforce or economy as identified by the local workforce innovation board (LWIB) in the regional/local plans.
      2. Is employed at a facility in which the employer has made a general announcement that the facility will close within one hundred eighty (180) days; or
         1. Customers determined eligible under this criterion may receive the full array of career services, training services, and supportive services, as appropriate.
      3. For purposes of eligibility to receive basic career services, the individual is employed at a facility at which the employer has made a general announcement that such facility will close.
         1. Customers determined eligible under this criterion are not eligible to receive individualized career services, training services, or supportive services unless it is within one hundred eighty (180) days of planned facility closure (at which time they become eligible under 2) above for all WIOA services.
         2. LWIBs may develop policies and procedures to specify what constitutes a “general announcement” for plant closings;
            1. These policies and procedures could include policies and procedures for what constitutes a “general announcement” of a plant closing.
            2. General announcements apply only to those individuals who have received general notices of an impending layoff
3. Profiled to Exhaust Unemployment Insurance Benefits;
   1. The individual is a profiled and referred Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimant whose UI profilee date is within the past calendar year of the WIOA application date;
      1. The state has determined as allowed per 680.130(b)(3), that UI profilees are eligible dislocated workers and is consistent with the definition of dislocated worker at WIOA Section 3(15). 
      2. In such instances, no further documentation will be needed to establish the “Unlikely to Return to a Previous Industry or Occupation” criterion of WIOA section 3(15)(A)(iii).
      3. As a result, acceptance of UI profiling data to prove eligibility for meeting the requirements of 3(15) is the only standard. General eligibility requirements will still apply.
4. No Longer Self-Employed;
   1. The individual is self-employed (including employment as a farmer, a rancher, or fisherman) but is unemployed as a result of general economic conditions in the community in which the individual resides or because of natural disasters;
      1. LWIBs may develop policies and procedures to specify what constitutes “unemployed as a result of general economic conditions in the community in which the individual resides or because of natural disasters” for individuals who are self-employed, including family members and ranch hands.
      2. Eligibility determination for the self-employed is based on the following requirements: 
         1. Formerly self-employed but currently unemployed, including individuals who have lost their business(es) due to a specified natural disaster or a specific economic condition.
         2. Self-employed and going out of business or in the process of going out of business due to specified events or conditions that provide evidence of impending business failure. 
         3. Family member of, or worker for a formerly self-employed individual including farm hands or ranch hands of persons in categories a. and b. above, provided that their contribution to the business constituted as least one (1) year of full-time work.
         4. This would include independent contractors or consultants who are not employees of an entity.
5. Displaced Homemaker; or
   1. The individual is a Displaced Homemaker which is defined as an individual who:
      1. Was dependent on the income of another family member and is no longer supported by the income of that family member; and
      2. Is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment.
6. Spouse of Military Service Members.
   1. The individual is the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces on active duty as defined in section 101(d)(1) of Title 10, United States Code.
      1. Has experienced a loss of employment as a direct result of relocation to accommodate a permanent change in duty station; or
      2. Is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment.

Refer to WIOA Title IB General and Fund Source Eligibility Requirements and Documentation Sources for a list of allowable sources of documentation that can be accepted as evidence of dislocated worker eligibility.  (See the Attachments tab.)  Evidence of eligibility must be maintained in the participant’s case file. 

Additionally, a Dislocated Worker Eligibility Criteria Checklist to assist in determining eligibility is available.  (See Attachments tab.)