Section 658.602 - Employment and Training Administration National Office responsibilityThe ETA National Office must:
(a) Monitor ETA Regional Offices' operations under ES regulations;(b) From time to time, conduct such special reviews and audits as necessary to monitor ETA regional office and SWA compliance with ES regulations;(c) Offer technical assistance to the ETA regional offices and SWAs in carrying out ES regulations and programs;(d) Have report validation surveys conducted in support of resource allocations; and(e) Develop tools and techniques for reviewing and assessing SWA performance and compliance with ES regulations.(f) ETA must appoint a National Monitor Advocate (NMA), who must devote full time to the duties set forth in this subpart. The NMA must:(1) Review the effective functioning of the Regional Monitor Advocates (RMAs) and SMAs;(2) Review the performance of SWAs in providing the full range of ES services to MSFWs;(3) Take steps to resolve or refer ES-related problems of MSFWs which come to their attention;(4) Take steps to refer non-ES-related problems of MSFWs which come to their attention; (5) Recommend to the Administrator changes in policy toward MSFWs; and(6) Serve as an advocate to improve services for MSFWs within the ES system. The NMA must be a member of the National Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Staff Level Working Committee and other Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) task forces, and other committees as appropriate.(g) The NMA must be appointed by the Office of Workforce Investment Administrator (Administrator) after informing farmworker organizations and other organizations with expertise concerning MSFWs of the opening and encouraging them to refer qualified applicants to apply through the Federal merit system. Among qualified candidates, determined through merit systems procedures, individuals must be sought who meet the criteria used in the selection of the SMAs, as provided in SWA self-monitoring requirements at § 653.108(a) of this chapter.(h) The NMA must be assigned staff necessary to fulfill effectively all the responsibilities set forth in this subpart.(i) The NMA must submit the Annual Report to the OWI Administrator, the ETA Assistant Secretary, and the National Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee covering the matters set forth in this subpart.(j) The NMA must monitor and assess SWA compliance with ES regulations affecting MSFWs on a continuing basis. Their assessment must consider: (1) Information from RMAs and SMAs;(2) Program performance data, including the service indicators;(3) Periodic reports from regional offices;(4) All Federal on-site reviews;(5) Selected State on-site reviews;(6) Other relevant reports prepared by the ES;(7) Information received from farmworker organizations and employers; and(8) Their personal observations from visits to SWAs, ES offices, agricultural work sites, and migrant camps. In the Annual Report, the NMA must include both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of their findings and the implementation of their recommendations by State and Federal officials, and must address the information obtained from all of the foregoing sources. (k) The NMA must review the activities of the State/Federal monitoring system as it applies to services to MSFWs and the Complaint System including the effectiveness of the regional monitoring function in each region and must recommend any appropriate changes in the operation of the system. The NMA's findings and recommendations must be fully set forth in the Annual Report.(l) If the NMA finds the effectiveness of any RMA has been substantially impeded by the Regional Administrator or other regional office official, they must, if unable to resolve such problems informally, report and recommend appropriate actions directly to the OWI Administrator. If the NMA receives information that the effectiveness of any SMA has been substantially impeded by the State Administrator, a State or Federal ES official, or other ES staff, they must, in the absence of a satisfactory informal resolution at the regional level, report and recommend appropriate actions directly to the OWI Administrator.(m) The NMA must be informed of all proposed changes in policy and practice within the ES, including ES regulations, which may affect the delivery of services to MSFWs. The NMA must advise the OWI Administrator concerning all such proposed changes which may adversely affect MSFWs. The NMA must propose directly to the OWI Administrator changes in ES policy and administration which may substantially improve the delivery of services to MSFWs. They also must recommend changes in the funding of SWAs and/or adjustment or reallocation of the discretionary portions of funding formulae.(n) The NMA must participate in the review and assessment activities required in this section and §§ 658.700 through 658.711 . As part of such participation, the NMA, or if they are unable to participate, an RMA must accompany the National Office review team on National Office on-site reviews. The NMA must engage in the following activities during each State on-site review: (1) They must accompany selected outreach staff on their field visits.(2) They must participate in field check(s) of migrant camps or work site(s) where MSFWs have been placed on inter or intrastate clearance orders.(3) They must contact local WIOA sec. 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program grantees or other farmworker organizations as part of the on-site review and discuss with representatives of these organizations current trends and any other pertinent information concerning MSFWs.(4) They must meet with the SMA and discuss the full range of the ES services to MSFWs, including monitoring and the Complaint System.(o) In addition to the duties specified in paragraph (f) of this section, the NMA each year during the harvest season must visit the four States with the highest level of MSFW activity during the prior fiscal year, if they are not scheduled for a National Office on-site review during the current fiscal year, and must: (1) Meet with the SMA and other ES staff to discuss MSFW service delivery; and(2) Contact representatives of MSFW organizations and interested employer organizations to obtain information concerning ES delivery and coordination with other agencies.(p) The NMA must perform duties specified in §§ 658.700 through 765.711 . As part of this function, they must monitor the performance of regional offices in imposing corrective action. The NMA must report any deficiencies in performance to the Administrator.(q) The NMA must establish routine and regular contacts with WIOA sec. 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program grantees, other farmworker organizations and agricultural employers and/or employer organizations. The NMA must attend conferences or meetings of these groups wherever possible and must report to the Administrator and the National Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee on these contacts when appropriate. The NMA must include in the Annual Report recommendations about how the Department might better coordinate ES and WIOA sec. 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program services as they pertain to MSFWs.(r) In the event that any SMA or RMA, enforcement agency, or MSFW group refers a matter to the NMA which requires emergency action, the NMA must assist them in obtaining action by appropriate agencies and staff, inform the originating party of the action taken, and, upon request, provide written confirmation.(s) Through all the mechanisms provided in this subpart, the NMA must aggressively seek to ascertain and remedy, if possible, systemic deficiencies in the provisions of ES services and protections afforded by these regulations to MSFWs. The NMA must: (1) Use the regular reports on complaints submitted by SWAs and ETA regional offices to assess the adequacy of these systems and to determine the existence of systemic deficiencies.(2) Provide technical assistance to ETA regional office and ES staff for administering the Complaint System, and any other ES services as appropriate.(3) Recommend to the Regional Administrator specific instructions for action by regional office staff to correct any ES-related systemic deficiencies. Prior to any ETA review of regional office operations concerning ES services to MSFWs, the NMA must provide to the Regional Administrator a brief summary of ES-related services to MSFWs in that region and their recommendations for incorporation in the regional review materials as the Regional Administrator and ETA reviewing organization deem appropriate.(4) Recommend to the National Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee specific instructions for action by WHD and OSHA regional office staff to correct any non-ES-related systemic deficiencies of which he/she is aware.81 FR 56352, Aug. 19, 2016, as amended at 85 FR 629, Jan. 6, 2020 81 FR 56352, 10/18/2016; 85 FR 629, 2/5/2020; 88 FR 82733, 1/23/2024