Narrative: d. 1.

CTDOL emails a Claimant’s Guide to Unemployment Benefits to all initial unemployment claim filers. A hard copy of this guide can be printed upon request. This guide contains all necessary information related to a person’s eligibility for unemployment benefits as well as a listing of the American Job Centers throughout Connecticut and information about the employment services they provide to job seekers. As a result of filing for Unemployment Insurance, UI claimants are registered with the State’s employment service in the form of a registration in CTHires, the state’s web-based workforce development system that provides case management and labor exchange services and the state job bank. Claimants will receive a welcome email from CTHires after filing, which explains the services available and encourages them to utilize CTHires for their job search.

CTDOL administers the work test for UI claimants through the UIRESEA program. All claimants selected to participate will have a review of their UI eligibility and efforts to find work. Any claimant determined to have an eligibility issue or insufficient work search efforts will have a stop entered on his or her unemployment claim and the eligibility issue is referred to the UI expert in the AJC for review and potential referral to the Adjudications Unit.  All claimants who attend the Initial RESEA appointment will receive a customized reemployment plan, jointly developed with the RESEA representative, and be required to participate in at least one additional mandatory employment service activity. Services include referrals to employment readiness workshops, résumé critiques, career counseling, WIOA orientation sessions, or any other service available in the American Job Center.

State agency merit-based staff will continue to provide Wagner-Peyser Act funded labor exchange activities. These services include job readiness workshops on topics such as Successful Job Search Strategies, Fundamentals of Résumé Writing and Interviewing Strategies and Techniques; one-on-one career counseling, résumé critiques; employer recruitments; job readiness assessments; and Career Center services. In the Career Centers located in the American Job Centers, job seekers will be able to work on their résumés and cover letters, complete online job applications, research companies, review job postings and conduct any other business related to their job search. They will have access to copy machines, fax machines, free postage for mailing résumés and applications to employers and most importantly, in-person support from CTDOL and Workforce Development Board contractor staff that provide whatever guidance and support might be needed. Career Center customers with disabilities will have access to accessible technology, such as large screen computer monitors and visual magnifiers, screen reader software, adjustable workstations, computer keyboards with visually enhanced lettering, sign language interpreters and any other reasonable accommodation the customer might need. All American Job Centers will have a process in place that allows staff to refer customers to education and training programs as well as other resources and supportive services. Some referrals will be made “in house” to other partner agencies under the roof of the American Job Center while others may be to organizations that are located in separate venues. Trade Act clients will be co-enrolled into WIOA as a standard operating procedure. CTDOL will continue to deploy a team of Business Services Specialists across Connecticut whose sole focus is working with employers. Business Services Specialists identify employers interested in scheduling recruitment events in the American Job Centers and coordinate those events around the state. Some offices strategically conduct multi-employer recruitments in the AJC on the same day as Initial RESEA appointments. This allows RESEA participants to connect in-person with hiring employers at the conclusion of their Initial RESEA appointment. Employers with scheduled recruitments are required to post their job listings in CTHires to make their employment opportunities available to all job seekers including UI claimants. Business Services Specialists also provide in-person business consultations to identify a company’s needs, promote Work Opportunity Tax Credits, and provide customized labor market information, unemployment compensation information as well as information and referral to CTDOL’s Registered Apprenticeship program.