Complaints may be filed with the department to resolve alleged
violations of the Act, federal or state regulations, grant agreement, contract
or other agreements under the Act. The department's complaint procedure may
also be used to resolve complaints with respect to audit findings,
investigations or monitoring reports.
(1) Grievances and complaints from customers
and other parties related to the regional workforce development center system
and regional programs shall be filed through regional complaint procedures. Any
party which has alleged violations at the regional level, and has filed a
complaint at the regional level, may request review by the department if that
party receives an adverse decision or no decision within 60 days of the date
the complaint was filed at the regional level.
(2) Any interested person, organization or
agency may file a complaint. Complaints must be filed within 90 calendar days
of the alleged occurrence. Complaints must be clearly portrayed as such and
meet the following requirements:
a. Complaints
must be legible and signed by the complainant or the complainant's authorized
representative;
b. Complaints must
pertain to a single subject, situation or set of facts and pertain to issues
over which the state has authority (unless appealed from the regional
level);
c. The name, address and
telephone number (or TDD number) must be clearly indicated. If the complainant
is represented by an attorney or other representative of the complainant's
choice, the name, address and telephone number of the representative must also
appear in the complaint;
d.
Complaints must state the name of the party or parties complained against and,
if known to the complainant, the address and telephone number of the party or
parties complained against;
e.
Complaints must contain a clear and concise statement of the facts, including
pertinent dates, constituting the alleged violations;
f.Complaints must cite the provisions of
federal or state regulations, grant agreements, or other agreements believed to
have been violated, if applicable;
g. Complaints must state the relief or
remedial action(s) sought;
h.
Copies of documents supporting or referred to in the complaint must be attached
to the complaint; and
i. Complaints
must be addressed to Complaint Officer, Division of Workforce Development
Center Administration, Department of Workforce Development, 150 Des Moines
Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309.
(3) A complaint is deemed filed with the
department when it has been received by the complaint officer and meets the
requirements outlined in 7.24(2). Upon receipt of a complaint, the department
will send a copy of the complaint and a letter of acknowledgment and notice to
the complainant and any persons or entities cited in the complaint within seven
calendar days. The letter of acknowledgment and notice shall contain the filing
date and notice of the following opportunities:
a. The opportunity for informal resolution of
the complaint at any time before a hearing is convened; and
b. The opportunity for a party to request a
hearing by filing with the complaint officer within seven calendar days of
receipt of the acknowledgment of the complaint.
(4) Failure to file a written request for a
hearing within the time provided constitutes a waiver of the right to a
hearing, and a three-member panel shall rule on the complaint based upon the
information submitted. If a hearing is requested within seven calendar days of
receipt of the acknowledgment of the complaint, the hearing shall be held
within 20 calendar days of the filing of the complaint. The party(ies) to the
complaint shall have the opportunity to submit written evidence, statements,
and documents in a time and manner prescribed by the complaint
officer.
(5) The complaint officer
shall convene a review panel of three agency staff members to review complaints
within 20 calendar days of the receipt of the complaint. The review panel may,
at its discretion, request oral testimony from the complainant and the parties
complained against. Within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the complaint,
the review panel shall issue a written decision, including the basis for the
decision and, if applicable, remedies to be granted. The decision shall detail
the procedures for a review by the director if the complainant is not satisfied
with the decision.
(6) Party(ies)
may appeal the decision by filing an appeal with the complaint officer no later
than 10 calendar days from the issuance date of the decision. The complaint
officer will forward the complaint file to the director for review. If no
appeal of the decision is filed within the time provided, the decision shall
become the final agency decision.
(7) A complaint may, unless precluded by
statute, be informally settled by mutual agreement of the parties at any time
before a hearing is convened. The settlement must be effected by a settlement
agreement or a statement from the complainant that the complaint has been
withdrawn or resolved to the complainant's satisfaction. The complaint officer
must acknowledge the informal settlement and notify the parties of the final
action. With respect to the specific factual situation which is the subject of
controversy, the informal settlement constitutes a waiver by all parties of the
formalities to which they are entitled under the terms of the Iowa
administrative procedure Act, Iowa Code chapter 17A, the Act, and the rules and
regulations of the Act.
(8) Upon
receipt of a timely request for a hearing, the complaint officer shall assign
the matter to a panel. The panel will give all parties at least seven days'
written notice either by personal service or certified mail of the date, time
and place of the hearing. The notice may be waived in case of emergency, as
determined by the panel, or for administrative expediency upon agreement of the
interested parties.
a. The notice of hearing
shall include:
(1) A statement of the date,
time, place, and nature of the hearing;
(2) A brief statement of the issues involved;
and
(3) A statement informing all
parties of their opportunities at the hearing.
b. All parties are granted the following
opportunities at hearing:
(1) Opportunity for
the complainant to withdraw the request for hearing before the
hearing;
(2) Opportunity to
reschedule the hearing for good cause, provided the hearing is not held later
than 20 days after the filing of the complaint;
(3) Opportunity to be represented by an
attorney or other representative of choice at the complainant's
expense;
(4) Opportunity to respond
and present evidence and bring witnesses to the hearing;
(5) Opportunity to have records or documents
relevant to the issues produced by their custodian when such records or
documents are kept by or for the state, contractor or its subcontractor in the
ordinary course of business and where prior reasonable notice has been given to
the complaint officer;
(6)
Opportunity to question any witnesses or parties;
(7) The right to an impartial review panel;
and
(8) A final written agency
decision shall be issued within 60 days of the filing of the complaint.
(9) An appeal to the director must
be filed within 10 calendar days from the issuance date of the decision and
include the date of filing the appeal and the specific grounds upon which the
appeal is made. Those provisions upon which an appeal is not requested shall be
considered resolved and not subject to further review. Appeals must be
addressed to Complaint Officer, Division of Workforce Development Center
Administration, Department of Workforce Development, 150 Des Moines Street, Des
Moines, Iowa 50309.
Upon receipt of an appeal, the complaint officer shall forward
the complaint file to the director. The complaint officer shall give written
notice to all parties of the filing of the appeal and set a deadline for
submission of all written evidence, statements, and documents. The director
shall consider all timely filed appeals, exceptions, statements, and documents
at the time the decision is reviewed. With the consent of the director, each
party may present oral argument. The director may adopt, modify or reject the
review panel's decision or remand the case to the review panel for the taking
of such additional evidence and the making of such further findings of fact,
decision and order as the director deems necessary.
Upon completing the review of the review panel's decision, the
director shall issue and forward to all parties a final written decision no
later than 60 days after the filing of the initial complaint.
(10) The director's decision is final unless
the Secretary of Labor exercises the authority of federal review in accordance
with 20 CFR Part
667. Federal level review may be accepted by the Secretary if
the complaint meets the requirements of 20 CFR Part
667. Upon exhaustion of the
state's grievance and complaint procedure, or when the Secretary has reason to
believe that the state is failing to comply with the Act, the state plan, or
the region's customer service plan, the Secretary must investigate the
allegation or belief and determine within 120 days after receiving the
complaint whether such allegation or complaint is true.
(11) Any party receiving an adverse decision
at the regional level may file an appeal within 10 calendar days to the
department's complaint officer. In addition, any complaint filed at the
regional level with no decision within 60 days of the date of the filing may be
reviewed by the department. The request to review the complaint must be filed
with the complaint officer within 15 calendar days from the date on which the
decision should have been received. The appeal or request for review must
comply with the procedures as prescribed in 7.24(2) for filing a complaint. The
parties involved shall be afforded the rights and opportunities for filing a
state level complaint.
The complaint officer shall review all complaints filed within
seven calendar days. If the subject and facts presented in the complaint are
most relevant to regional policy, the complaint officer shall remand the
complaint to the coordinating service provider of the appropriate region for
resolution.
Failure to file the complaint or grievance in the proper venue
does not negate the complainant's responsibility for filing the complaint in
the appropriate time frames.
(12) A unit or combination of units of
general local governments or a rural concentrated employment program grant
recipient that requests, but is not granted automatic or temporary and
subsequent designation as a local workforce investment area, may appeal to the
state workforce development board within 30 days of the nondesignation. If the
state workforce development board does not grant designation on appeal, the
decision may be appealed to the Secretary of Labor within 30 days of the
written notice of denial. The appeal must be submitted by certified mail,
return receipt requested, to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor,
Washington, DC 20210. The appellant must establish that it was not accorded
procedural rights under the appeal process described in the state plan or
establish that it meets the requirements for designation in the Act. The
Secretary shall take into account any comments submitted by the state workforce
development board.
(13) Training
providers have the opportunity to appeal denial of eligibility by a regional
workforce investment board or the department, termination of eligibility or
other action by a regional workforce investment board or the department, or
denial of eligibility as a provider of on-the-job training or customized
training by the coordinating service provider. All appeals must be filed with
the department within 30 days of receipt of written notice of denial or
termination of eligibility. Appellants must follow the procedures for a
complaint described in 7.24(2). Appeals shall be handled in the same manner as
a complaint. State decisions issued under this subrule may not be appealed to
the Secretary of Labor.
(14) WIA
participants subject to testing for use of controlled substances and WIA
participants who are sanctioned after testing positive for the use of
controlled substances may appeal to the department using the procedures for a
complaint described in 7.24(2). State decisions issued under this subrule may
not be appealed to the Secretary of Labor.
(15) A workforce development region may
appeal nonperformance sanctions to the Secretary of Labor under the following
conditions:
a. The region has been found in
substantial violation of WIA Title I, and has received notice from the governor
that either all or part of the local plan will be revoked or that a
reorganization will occur; or
b.
The region has failed to meet regional performance measures for two consecutive
years and has received the governor's notice of intent to impose a
reorganization plan.
Revocation of the regional plan or reorganization does not
become effective until the time for appeal has expired or the Secretary has
issued a decision. An appeal must be filed within 30 days after receipt of
written notification of plan revocation or imposed reorganization. It must be
submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, to Secretary of Labor,
Attention: ASET, U. S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20010. A copy of the
appeal must be simultaneously provided to the governor. In deciding the appeal,
the Secretary may consider comments submitted in response from the governor.
The Secretary will notify the governor and appellant in writing of the
Secretary's decision within 45 days after receipt of the appeal filed under
7.24(15)"a" above; and within 30 days after receipt of appeals
filed under 7.24(15)"*" above.
