La. Admin. Code tit. 13 § III-317

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section III-317 - General Award Provisions

A. Award Agreement

1. A written award agreement, contract or cooperative endeavor agreement will be executed between LEDC, acting through the LED, and the successful applicant or company. The award agreement will specify the amount of the award, the terms and conditions of the award, the performance objectives expected of the company and the compliance requirements to be enforced in exchange for state assistance, including, but not limited to, the time required for job training, job creation and/or retention, and the achievement of employee salary levels to be reached by the company.

2. LED will oversee the progress of the company's training and will disburse funds to the company on an as needed reimbursement basis as provided by the award agreement, based on cost reports certifying the amount expended by the company for the training of employees for which reimbursement is sought, submitted by the company on a form provided by LED. LED may request the company at any time and from time to time to submit additional or supporting information.

3. Funds may be used for training programs extending up to and not exceeding a term of two years in duration.

4. Contracts issued under previous rules may be amended to reflect current regulations as of the date of the most recent change, upon the request of the company, the recommendation of LED, and the approval of LEDC.

B. Funding

1. The Louisiana Workforce Development and Training Program offers financial assistance in the form of a performance-based grant for reimbursement of eligible training costs specified in the award agreement.

2. Eligible training costs may include the following:

a. instruction costs-wages for company trainers and training coordinators, Louisiana public and/or private school tuition, contracts for vendor trainers, training seminars;

b. materials and supplies costs-training texts and manuals, audio/visual materials, raw materials for manufacturer's training purposes only and Computer Based Training (CBT) software; and

c. other justifiable costs-when necessary for training, such as facility and/or equipment rental.

3. Training costs ineligible for reimbursement include:

a. trainee wages and fringe benefits;

b. travel costs, including but not limited to travel for trainers, training coordinators and trainees;

c. non-consumable tangible property (e.g., equipment, calculators, furniture, classroom fixtures, non-Computer Based Training (CBT) software), unless owned by a public training provider;

d. out-of-state publicly supported schools;

e. employee handbooks;

f. scrap produced during training for resale;

g. food, refreshments; and

h. awards.

4. Training activities eligible for funding consist of:

a. industry-specific or company-specific skills-skills which are unique to a particular industry or to a company's workplace, equipment and/or capital investment;

b. quality standards skills-skills which are intended to increase the quality of a company's products and/or services and ensure compliance with accepted international and industrial quality standards (e.g., ISO standards); and

c. other skills-skills pertaining to instructional methods and techniques used by trainers (e.g., train-the-trainer activities).

C. Conditions for Disbursement of Funds

1. Funds will be available on an as-needed reimbursement basis following submission to LED by the company of required documentation (Cost Reports, and any supporting documentation if requested by LED). Only funds spent on the project after LEDC's approval will be considered eligible for reimbursement. However, funds will not be available for reimbursement to the company until an award agreement, training agreement or contract between the company and LEDC has been finalized and executed.

2. A company will be eligible for reimbursement on a percentage of achieved performance objectives as provided in the award agreement or contract, until all or substantially all of its contracted performance objectives have been met. After the company has achieved all or substantially all of its contracted performance objectives, any remaining unpaid portion of the grant award will be made available for reimbursement. Performance objectives shall be considered substantially achieved when LED and LEDC have determined that the benefits to the state anticipated or expected as a result of the training project have been achieved, even though 100 percent of all stated objectives of the award agreement (or contract) may not have been fully achieved.

D. Compliance Requirements

1. In order to be paid or reimbursed as provided by the contract, the company shall be required to complete and submit to LED Cost Reports certifying the amount expended by the company for the training of employees for which reimbursement is sought, along with progress reports describing the company's progress toward the performance objectives specified in its contract with LEDC. Such progress reports shall include a review and certification of the company's hiring records (with copies of the company's quarterly LA. Dept. of Labor ES-4 Form filings to be attached), and the extent of the company's compliance with contract employment commitments. Further, LED shall oversee the timely submission of reporting requirements by the company.

2. The termination during the contract period of employees who have received program-funded training shall be for documented cause only, which shall include voluntary termination.

3. In the event a company fails to meet its performance objectives as specified in its contract, LEDC shall retain the right to withhold award funds, modify the terms and conditions of the award, and/or to reclaim disbursed funds from the company in an amount commensurate with the scope of the unmet performance objectives and the foregone benefits to the state, as determined by LED and on the recommendation of the secretary. Reclamation shall not begin unless LED has determined, with the concurrence of LEDC, after an analysis of the benefits to the state of the training project and the unmet performance objectives, that the state has not satisfactorily or adequately been compensated for its costs through the benefits provided by the training project.

4. In the event a company knowingly files a false statement in its application or in a progress report, the company may be guilty of the offense of filing false public records, and may be subject to the penalty provided for in R.S. 14:133.

E. LEDC shall retain the right, for itself, for the legislative auditor, for the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, and for LED, to require and/or conduct financial and performance audits of a project, including all relevant records and documents of the company.

La. Admin. Code tit. 13, § III-317

Promulgated by the Department of Economic Development, Economic Development Corporation, LR 23:46 (January 1997), amended by the Department of Economic Development, Office of the Secretary, LR 23:1643 (December 1997), LR 25:243 (February 1999), LR 25:1666 (September 1999), LR 26:243 (February 2000), amended by the Department of Economic Development, Office of Business Development, Business Resources Division, LR 29:1067 (July 2003), LR 35:886 (May 2009).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 51:2312 and 2331 et seq.