Overview for Employers
Federal law requires employers with at least 100 employees to notify us at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development at least 60 days prior to a mass layoff or plant closing.
After an initial meeting with you -- and with your permission -- our Rapid Response Team will bring professional staff and services right to the workplace.
The sooner our team can be in place, the better prepared your employees will be to find new jobs.
Video Overview of Our Services
The following video offers overview of our services for employers. It features interviews with managers who have used our Rapid Response Team to help make layoffs as smooth as possible for their companies and to offer peace of mind to employees.
The Rapid Response Team
Ideally, we like to have our services in place two to four weeks after we meet you to have as much time as possible before the first layoff. However, our Rapid Response Team can begin working with your employees a full six months before their last day on the job.
The team uses a thorough five step process. The strategy is time-tested, simple to use and understand. Here is how our team will work with you.
Step One: Initial On-site Meeting
We meet with management and union leaders (if present) to determine the size of the job loss. We offer layoff aversion options and explain our Rapid Response program.
Step Two: Informational Meetings with Workers
Meetings occur at the work site with workers and the Rapid Response Team. The team offers an overview of its services and recruits volunteers to an Employee Management Committee (EMC). The EMC members are company management, employees and union leaders. We provide unemployment insurance information and ask employers to fill out a needs survey.
Step Three: The EMC Meets
Under the guidance of our team, the EMC identifies worker needs and how they match with services offered by our program. EMCs generally meet twice. We identify a jobs consultant in that area of the state to deliver services to employees facing layoffs.
Step Four: The EMC and Provider Refine a Grant Proposal
Services to workers can begin quickly, often within 24 hours of the EMC’s final meeting. While services are underway, the EMC and the job consulting provider will collaborate on a grant application to the state. The grant will pay for the provider’s service. We approve the grant in order for the provider to be paid.
Step Five: Quality Feedback
We want to know what you and your EMC thought about the performance of the consulting group. We ask team members to rate the services of the provider and those of our own Rapid Response Team.
Contact Us to Apply for Services
You may apply to work with the Rapid Response Team as soon as you have decided to have a permanent layoff of at least 50 employees.
Fil Chairez
Dislocated Worker Program
Phone: (651) 259-7534 or 1-866-213-1422
TTY: (651) 282-6142
Filiberto.Chairez@state.mn.us
Kim Dickey
Employer/Business Liaison
Employers Association, Inc.
Phone: (651) 259-7535 or 1-866-213-1422
Kim.Dickey@state.mn.us
Mike Goldman
Employee Liaison Minnesota AFL-CIO
Phone: (651) 259-7541 or 1-866-213-1422
TTY: (651) 282-6142
Mike.Goldman@state.mn.us
Mai Neng Moua
Dislocated Worker Program and TAA
Phone: (651) 259-7137 or 1-866-213-1422
TTY: (651) 282-6142
MaiNeng.Moua@state.mn.us