Wagner-Peyser Act Staffing

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department or DOL) is issuing a final rule that requires States to use State merit staff to provide Wagner-Peyser Act Employment Service (ES) services. In the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), the Department proposed that this requirement would apply to all States. However, the Department recognizes three States that have been approved by the Department to administer ES services using alternative staffing models for decades and is allowing only these three States to continue using the alternative staffing models. The requirement to use State merit staff to provide all ES services applies to all other States, including those States that implemented staffing flexibility under the 2020 Final Rule. The Department additionally is revising the ES regulations to strengthen the provision of services to migrant or seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) and to enhance the protections afforded by the Monitor Advocate System and the Employment Service and Employment-Related Law Complaint System (Complaint System). States have 24 months to comply with this final rule.