Glossary
On this page:
A | b | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
- Accessibility
- Accessibility is the extent to which individuals with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with a product. Making a website accessible may benefit individuals without disabilities in certain situations, such as people using a slow Internet connection.
- Affected Unit
- An affected unit means a unit of two or more employees, including a department or shift, designed by an employer to participate in a shared work plan.
C
- Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL)
- The Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL) is a master database used by State of Texas purchasing entities to develop a mailing list for vendors to receive bids based on the products or services they can provide to the State of Texas.
- Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
- The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government, including the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Commission
- The Commission is the governing body of the Texas Workforce Commission composed of three members appointed by the Governor as established under the Texas Labor Code that includes one representative of labor, one representative of employers and one representative of the public.
- Core Services
- Core services are those services generally available to all customers of the workforce system. Core services include activities such as job search and job placement assistance, information regarding filing for unemployment benefits, provision of job market information, eligibility determination under the Workforce Investment Act, initial assessment of skills and abilities, support services like child care and transportation, general career counseling, and information about eligible providers of training services, youth activities, adult education, post-secondary vocational education, vocational education activities available to school dropouts, and vocational rehabilitation.
D
- Disability Navigator Initiative
- The Texas Disability Navigator Initiative establishes a specialized position in each of the 28 local workforce development areas, a Disability Navigator, to facilitate staff growth and workforce system development. The purpose of this initiative is to build system capacity by assisting and training staff to more effectively serve people with disabilities, strengthen relationships with community partners to achieve collaborative services, and provide information to businesses and increase their capabilities of hiring and retaining people with disabilities.
- Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP)
- Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists develop job and training opportunities for veterans, with special emphasis on veterans with service-connected disabilities. DVOP specialists provide direct services to veterans enabling them to be competitive in the labor market. They provide outreach and offer assistance to disabled and other veterans by promoting community and employer support for employment and training opportunities, including apprenticeship and on-the-job training.
E
- Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
- The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, administers federal government job training and worker dislocation programs, federal grants to states for public employment service programs, and unemployment insurance benefits. These services are primarily provided through state and local workforce development systems.
- Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC)
- Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) is a federal program that temporarily extends unemployment benefits in states where the unemployment rate is high.
- Employer
- An employer is a person, firm, corporation or other association or organization which (1) currently has a location within the United States to which U.S. workers may be referred for employment, and which proposes to employ a worker at a place within the United States and (2) has an employer relationship with employees as indicated by the fact that it hires, pays, fires, supervises and otherwise controls the work of that employee. An association of employers is considered an employer if the association meets all the criteria listed in the preceding sentence. Such an association will, however, be considered a joint employer with the employer member if either shares in exercising one or more of the definitional elements.
- Employer Services
- Employer services include recruitment assistance, labor market information and analysis, Rapid Response, on-site recruitment, customized/incumbent worker training, Work Opportunity Tax Credit, layoff aversion, on-the-job training, job fairs, subsidized employment agreements, interview rooms, and other services.
- Employing Unit
- A person or entity that has employed an individual to perform services for them in Texas.
- Extended Benefits (EB)
- State Extended Benefits (EB) is a program, under Section 209.001 of the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act, to temporarily extend unemployment benefits when the unemployment rate in Texas is high. TWC pays EB to qualified individuals who exhaust regular unemployment benefits.
F
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prescribes standards for wages and overtime pay, which affect most private and public employment. The act is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. It requires employers to pay covered employees who are not otherwise exempt at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times the regular rate of pay. For nonagricultural operations, it restricts the hours children under age 16 can work and forbids employment of children under age 18 in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. For agricultural operations, it prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous.
- Foreign Labor Certification
- Foreign Labor Certification is a federal program that establishes a means for an employer who anticipates a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the United States to perform labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature.
H
- Historically Underutilized Business (HUB)
- A Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) is a profit-making corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership, or joint venture in which at least 51 percent of the shares or stock or other equitable securities are owned by one or more persons who are Texas residents and members of one of the following groups: Black American, Hispanic American, Asian Pacific American, Native American, and Women. The Texas Legislature requires state agencies to make a good faith effort to give HUBs part of the total contract value of all contracts.
I
- I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
- Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, must be completed and retained by all U.S. employers for each individual they hire for employment in the United States to prove the individual is authorized to work in the United States.
- Intensive Services
- Intensive services are services provided to adults and dislocated workers who remain unemployed or underemployed after utilizing core services. An individual must have received at least one core service that determines their need for intensive services. Intensive services may include comprehensive assessments of skills and abilities, in-depth evaluation to identify employment barriers and appropriate employment goals, career counseling, case management, and support services.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the federal agency responsible for the collection and enforcement of taxes.
J
- Job Seeker
- A job seeker is an employed or unemployed individual who is looking for work using a function, program, or resource made available via the Texas workforce system, including but not limited to Workforce Solutions Office services, case management systems, training programs, and WorkInTexas.com and other Web-based systems.
L
- Labor Market and Career Information (LMCI)
- TWC's Labor Market and Career Information (LMCI) department provides useful and reliable information about careers, educational training options and jobs.
- Liable Employer
- A liable employer is an employer that has become subject to pay unemployment taxes because they have met the minimum liability requirement under the Texas Unemployment Compensation Act. Any wages paid by a liable employer need to be reported and taxes paid on those wages.
- Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER)
- Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVER) are state employees located in Texas Workforce Solutions offices who provide assistance to veterans by supervising the provision of all services to veterans, monitoring job postings to ensure eligible veterans get priority in referrals, monitoring the participation of veterans in federally-funded employment and training programs, and providing other services that assist local veterans in finding and retaining employment.
M
- Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Program
- The Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Program is a federally-mandated program to ensure that Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFWs) are offered the full range of employment services, benefits, and protections, including the full range of counseling, testing, and job training referral services. The purpose of the mandate is to enhance the MSFW population's employability and to provide needed services. By law, MSFWs must receive services that are qualitatively equivalent and quantitatively proportionate to services provided to non-MSFWs.
N
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
- The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) offers a national, voluntary accreditation system to set professional standards for early childhood education programs and to help families identify high-quality programs.
- National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)
- The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) provides an accreditation system for providers of family-based child care, which is offered in an individual's home and provides care and education for children who may not be related to the provider.
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
- The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a coding system used by government and business to classify business establishments according to their type of economic activity (e.g., process of production) in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
O
- Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
- The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is the primary source of occupational information and classification for government and business in the United States, and is sponsored by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the U.S. Department of Labor helps assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women.
- One-Stop Center
- See Workforce Solutions Office.
- One-Stop Operator
- A one-stop operator is a public or private entity eligible to receive funds under the Workforce Investment Act and responsible for providing Workforce Investment Activities other than Training Services, Intensive Services or Youth Activities. (Refer to Rqmt ID 10.018.) The entity or entities are designated or certified as a One-Stop Operator through a competitive process and in agreement with the local Board and a consortium of entities that, at a minimum, includes three or more one-stop partners. One-Stop Operators may include a postsecondary educational institution or an employment service agency established under the Wagner-Peyser Act; a private, nonprofit organization including a community-based organization; a private for-profit entity; a government agency; or another interested organization or entity, which may include a local chamber of commerce or other business organization.
- One-Stop Partner
- A one-stop partner is an entity that makes services available to participants through a One-Stop service delivery network under the terms of a memorandum of agreement with a Local Workforce Development Board.
P
- Portable Document Format (PDF)
- Portable Document Format (PDF) is a format used for some TWC information on this website. It requires Adobe Reader, which you can download for free.
R
- Rapid Response
- Rapid Response is a proactive, business-focused strategy designed to help growing companies access an available pool of skilled workers from companies that are downsizing and to respond to layoffs and plant closings by providing immediate on-site assistance to transition workers to their next employment as soon as possible.
S
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
- The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative recruits and retains Texas students in STEM fields of study to support the workforce demands of the six industry clusters that Texas identified as driving economic growth in the 21st century. TWC provides state and federal funds for STEM summer camps, STEM competitions, and postsecondary STEM scholarships and internships.
- Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
- The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system classifies occupations by job duties to enable job matching and statistical analysis. See also Occupational Information Network.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T)
- The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) program promotes long-term self-sufficiency and independence by preparing SNAP recipients for employment through work-related education and training activities, including job search and job readiness activities, workfare, work experience, nonvocational education, and vocational training.
T
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) /Choices
- (TANF)/Choices assists applicants, recipients, nonrecipient parents, and former recipients of TANF cash assistance to transition from welfare to work through participation in work-related activities that meet the needs of local employers.
- TexasLMI
- TexasLMI provides career, economic and labor market information.
- Texas Career Check
- Texas Career Check is a multi-media career information system designed for individuals to explore different careers and related educational opportunities in Texas and around the country.
- Texas Commission on Human Rights
- The Texas Commission on Human Rights governs the Civil Rights Division within TWC and is separate from TWC's Commission.
- Texas Unemployment Compensation Act (TUCA)
- The Texas Unemployment Compensation Act (TUCA) is the law governing unemployment insurance benefits in the state of Texas.
- Texas Veterans Commission (TVC)
- The Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) is the state-appointed advocate of Texas veterans as they attempt to secure the benefits rightly earned in exchange for their service in our nation's armed forces.
- Texas Veterans Leadership Program (TVLP)
- The Texas Veterans Leadership Program (TVLP) is a TWC resource and referral network that serves to connect returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan with the resources and tools they need to transition smoothly from the military back into civilian life.
- Texas Workforce Commission (TWC)
- The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is the state government agency charged with overseeing and providing workforce development and unemployment insurance services to employers and individuals in Texas.
- Texas Workforce Solutions
- Texas Workforce Solutions is a statewide network comprised of the Texas Workforce Commission, 28 local Workforce Development Boards, and numerous service-delivery contractors and partners. The primary focus of this network is to promote and support a workforce system that offers workforce solutions to employers, employees, job seekers, and communities, to help them achieve and sustain economic prosperity. These services are provided through a network of more than 275 Workforce Solutions Offices located across the state.
- Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
- Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) is a federally-funded program that provides training, reemployment services, job search assistance, and other services to individuals who lose their jobs due to foreign imports of goods and services or job shifts to other countries.
- Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA)
- Trade Readjustment Allowances (TRA) are income support paid on a biweekly basis to persons whose jobs were affected by foreign imports and who exhaust their unemployment benefits while receiving training.
- Training Services
- Training services are available to employed and unemployed adults and dislocated workers who have received intensive services and have still been unable to obtain or retain employment. "Trained" individuals are those who are unable to obtain training assistance from other sources and who meet the priority of services established by the local workforce development area. A selected training program should be directly linked to the employment opportunities in the local area. Training services are provided through Individual Training Accounts that allow individuals to purchase training services in order to maximize informed customer choice. Training may only be purchased from providers found on the State's eligible training provider list. A training program may consist of one or more courses or classes, or a structured regimen, that leads to a certificate, degree, or skills or competencies needed for a specific job.
- Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL)
- Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL) searches and locates information collected in an archive of more than 180 Texas state agency Web servers.
U
- Unemployment Benefits
- Unemployment benefits provide temporary income to workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
- U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
- The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is the federal government agency charged with fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improving working conditions; advancing opportunities for profitable employment; and ensuring work-related benefits and rights.
V
- Veteran
- A veteran is an individual who served in the active military and who was NOT dishonorably discharged or released. Additionally, a federal qualified veteran served on active duty more than 180 days, and a state qualified veteran served more than 90 days during a nationally declared emergency. A qualified spouse is an individual married to a person in the military who died of a service-connected disability, is considered missing in action, was captured in line of duty by a hostile force, was forcibly detained or interned in line of duty by a foreign government or power, has a total disability resulting from a service-connected disability, or died while a disability existed.
- Veteran Preference
- Veteran preference gives qualified individuals preference in employment with or appointment to a public entity or for a public work of this state over other applicants for the same position who do not have a greater qualification.
- Veteran Priority of Service
- Veteran priority of service gives priority in selection and referral to qualified veterans and provides preferential treatment to disabled veterans.
- Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS)
- The Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, serves veterans and service members by providing resources and expertise to assist and prepare them to obtain meaningful careers, maximize their employment opportunities, and protect their employment rights.
W
- Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act
- The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs.
- Workforce Center
- See Workforce Solutions Office.
- Workforce Development Area
- A Workforce Development Area is a workforce area designated by the Governor and functioning as a Local Workforce Investment Area.
- Workforce Development Board
- A Workforce Development Board is established in each workforce development area of the state and certified by the Governor. The 28 local Workforce Development Boards in Texas plan and oversee state and local job matching and placement and job training programs on a regional level, providing valuable workforce development leadership in their communities.
- Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
- The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) supports a market-driven system that provides employment and training services designed to meet the needs of employers and assist job seekers in obtaining employment.
- Workforce Investment Board
- See Workforce Development Board.
- Workforce Solutions Office
- A Workforce Solutions office is a local office that provides workforce services, including but not limited to job search and placement assistance, education and training, and other related direct, support, and referral services.
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal tax credit used to reduce the federal tax liability of private-for-profit employers when they hire a qualified employee from one of nine different targeted groups.
