Glossary

A

• ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) - A law signed on July 26, 1990, providing civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. The ADA guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public and private sector services and employment by banning discrimination on the basis of disability.
• Apprenticeship - Formal programs sponsored by employers who hire and train individuals in the workplace, combining hands-on-training with related theoretical instruction. They have a specific legal status, and are regulated by federal and state laws and regulations leading to a post-secondary program, entry-level job, or registered apprenticeship program.
• Aptitude Assessment - A process which determines the probability of a student's success in an activity in which he/she is not yet trained. Sometimes a multidimensional battery (mechanical reasoning, spatial relations, verbal reasoning, numerical ability, work knowledge, perceptual speed and accuracy, manual speed and dexterity, etc.)
• Array of Services - The entire collection of activities provided to students by the WorkAbility Program.
• Authentic Assessment - A process of selection, examples and/or evidence of student work which illustrates best real life achievements, e.g. certificates, resumes, portfolios, awards, recommendations etc.

B

• BaseLine/Follow-Along Data - Basic student information, related to identification and services provided, that will be used during the follow-up data collection for WorkAbility students.
• BEL: Business, Education and Labor Committee
• Budget Amendment - A process by which WorkAbility Program can move funds within the budget. An amendment must be submitted to the state office for any changes that exceed 10% of the total budget amount. Changes in budget line items that are less than 10% of the total budget amount may be made at the local level without state approval.
• Budget Line Items - Each of the individual budget categories that make up the state budget guidelines. (Refer to WAI Budget Instructions)

C

• CalJOBS - An Internet service by EDD, which creates and transmit a resume viewable to employers. CalJOBS has a variety of job openings located throughout the state. It has the largest database of job seekers in California. Reference: www.caljobs.ca.gov
• CalOSHA (California Occupational Safety and Health Act) and California Administrative – A state occupational safety and health agency mandated to develop and enforce California regulations and standards, take worker complaints and inspect workplaces, and as a consultation service assist employers. California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 3203-6400.
• CalWORKS (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids) - AB 1542 renamed the AFDC to CalWORKS and it is established in place of GAIN (Greater Avenues to Independence). It includes subsidized or unsubsidized employment, job search and job readiness, vocational training and skills related to employment, child care services, mental health, and job retention services etc. Requires that all welfare-to-work recipients participate in employment activities.
• Career Guidance and Counseling - Assisting students to make and implement informed educational and occupational decisions while encouraging nontraditional career choices and providing strategies to overcome employment barriers. Services may be delivered individually, through group, class or computer activities.
• Career/Vocational Assessment - An evaluation of a student's interests, skills, and abilities to assist in job matching and selection of career choices. The assessment tools may be formal or informal, self-directed, specialized, or a combination of any of these.
• Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 (PL 105-332) - This law reauthorized on July 1, 1999, with funds geared towards developing more fully the academic, vocational, and technical skills for secondary and postsecondary students who enroll in vocational and technical education programs. Special populations are a priority and must be served under this act. WAI Directors should be aware of their LEA's district plan. Reference: www.cde.ca.gov/perkins.
• Carryover: Budgeted money carried over to the next fiscal year. WAI does not allow carryovers.
• CAWEE (California Association of Work Experience Educators) - Provides in-service workshops and conferences to review and familiarize new Work Experience Educators with career education, related classroom instruction, monitoring of work sites and work-based learning activities. CAWEE conducts in-service training for Work Experience Educators and staff in child labor laws and regulations, develops and conducts work experience education training for students enrolled in WEE. Reference: www.cawee.org
• CBO (Community Based Organization) - A private nonprofit organization which is representative of communities or significant segments of communities, which may provide subsidized and unsubsidized employment and training related services. Normally, subcontracting with the Local Workforce Investment Areas (LWIA), LEAs are sometimes awarded sub-contracts by the LWIAs to serve youth with special needs.
• CDE (California Department of Education) - A state agency which governs public education in California.
• Community Classroom - Utilizes unpaid on-the-job-training experiences at business, industry, and public agency sites to assist students in acquiring those competencies (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) necessary to secure entry-level employment. The intent of the community classroom is to augment classroom instruction that can be extended into the community, and to enhance the acquisition of marketable skills. Students must be enrolled in an approved vocational course/program. (Title 5, Section 10080)
• Community Service Organization - An organization whose function is to be of benefit to the community by providing services to the citizens, such as the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club or Lions Club.
• Community Service Project - A WorkAbility program may conduct a community service project as an extension of learning activities to increase student involvement in the community. An example may be making table decorations and serving food and coffee at the local senior citizen housing complex as part of a holiday celebration.
• Compliance: Following program rules.
• Cooperative Vocational Education - Correlates concurrent, formal vocational classroom instruction with regularly paid on-the-job-training experience. Cooperative vocational education assists students to develop and refine occupational competencies needed to acquire, adjust, and advance in an occupation. "Competency" (CCR, Title 5, Article 6) means the prescribed performance level for a skill, knowledge, and attitude necessary to accomplish a job task.

D

• Data Collection – Mandatory documentation of all students served and placed. Each program is required to collect student data annually and submit to CDE via the WorkAbility web-based data collection website.
• Developmental Disability - Refers to a child experiencing developmental delays as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one of more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development.
• DOL (Department Of Labor) - Federal agency whose responsibility it is to administer and enforce federal statutes regarding all aspects of work and work related issues such as workplace safety and health, pensions and benefit plans, unemployment insurance, Workers' Compensation, sub-minimum wage (training wage), and equal employment opportunities.
• DOR (Department of Rehabilitation) - A state agency that helps individuals with disabilities enter or return to work and live more independently. One service Department of Rehabilitation provides is to contract with school districts through the Transition Partnership Program (TPP).

E

• EDD (Employment Development Department) - The California EDD provides programs and services for the following:
  • Governor's Committee for Employment of Disabled Persons
  • Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
  • School-to-Career/One-Stop-Career Centers
  • Veterans Services
  • Welfare-to-Work
  • Services also include online job and resume bank (CalJOBS), labor market tools and information, Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance Claims, and tax information. For additional information, contact: www.edd.ca.gov or www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov.
• Encumbrance: Earmarking specific sums of money for specific expenditures.
• EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer) - An employer which affirms that it does not discriminate in hiring and employment practices because of an individual's race, color, ancestry, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender, age, religion, national origin or disability.
• ERWS (Employer Required Workplace Skills) - A Competency System that identifies primary and secondary job tasks and duties as they relate to SCANS Skills Competencies consisting of Resources, Interpersonal Skills, Information, Systems, and Technology.
• EWEE (Exploratory Work Experience Education) - Vocational guidance of the students by affording them the opportunities to observe and sample systematically a variety of conditions of work for the purpose of ascertaining their interest and suitability for the occupation they are exploring. EWEE includes a combination of job observations and related classroom instruction. The student may be required to perform, on a limited, periodic and sampling basis, unpaid work activities while exploring the occupation. The district shall provide Workers' Compensation Insurance for the student.

F

• Family Participation & Support of Transition - Engage family and supportive adults in assisting students to set goals and start planning their future.
• FAPE: free and appropriate public education
• FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Act) - Legislation that authorizes collection of contributions to the social insurance system known as Social Security. Funds are collected as a withholding tax from an employee's paycheck.
• FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) - Administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division with respect to private employment, state and local and federal employees. FLSA monitors child labor, minimum wage, overtime pay, and wage and hour record keeping. For the FLSA to apply to a person engaged in work that is covered by the Act, an employer-employee relationship must exist. (See Trainee for an "Employment Relationship"). Within this law are specific sections, which apply to student-learners. These sections specify what conditions must exist for non-paid wage status, hours minors can work, and the jobs they can or cannot perform. This law impacts work-based learning to the greatest degree of all the labor laws and cannot be waived.
  • Note: WorkAbility students may be placed in a work-based training site without being paid a wage under three conditions: Trainee, Volunteer, and In-School Placements. Reference: www.dir.ca.gov/dlse
  • Follow-Along - The process of monitoring a student's activities and collecting data during their time of participation in WorkAbility prior to their exiting their educational program.
  • Follow-Up - The collection of WorkAbility data after a student has left their educational program.
  • Grievance - A complaint of unfair or illegal employment practice.
• FMTA (Focused Monitoring Technical Assistance): A unit within the California Department of Education’s Special Education Division that provides focused monitoring and technical assistance to school districts and SELPAs. They are assigned regionally throughout the state. www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/qa/fmtacncnt.asp
• Follow-Along: Services, including placements, which are provided to students while they are still in school.
• Follow-Up: Survey-based data collected to determine adult outcomes for former WAI students one and two years past their exit dates from high school.
• FTN: Family Transition Network Committee
• Functional Assessment - Identifies an individual's vocational potential using actual job tasks in a variety of environments.

G

• Grant letter: A letter issued by CDE, stating a local program will be funded for a specific amount of money.
• GRC: Government Relations Committee

H

• Habilitation - Branch under the Department of Rehabilitation umbrella which is responsible for providing evaluation and assessment, vendor referral, and supportive services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Employment services may include supported employment programs, base programs, and vocational rehabilitation work activity programs. To be eligible for services, an individual must be a Regional Center client and out of high school.
• Harassment- Defined as unwanted and unwelcome behavior from individual student or staff member, which interferes with another individual's life. When it is sexual in nature, it is "sexual harassment." When it is racial in nature, it is "hate-motivated behavior" or sometimes a "hate crime." Harassment includes slurs, epithets, verbal abuse, derogatory comments or degrading descriptions based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or gender.
• HSS: Human Support Services

I

• I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification - The INS requires this form to verify an individual's right to work. Employers should have a Form I-9 on each employee; retaining the form for three years after the date the person begins work or one year after the person's employment is terminated (whichever is later). WorkAbility Project Directors should refer to the I-9 Handbook of Instructions to ensure compliance with eligibility documents and the right to work in the United States.
• IDEIA (Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Education Act, reauthorized in 2004, PL 105-17) - Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) in 1975 to support states and localities in protecting the rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and improving the results for individuals with disabilities and their families. This law is currently enacted as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, amended in 1997. Reference: www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS
• IEP (Individual Education Plan) - The education agency's written plan for services for students in special education. The plan includes the outline for services to be provided under educational services, health services, speech and language, adaptive P.E., and other special education departments. Transition services language is required for students ages 14 and up includes objectives for education, community and employment.
• IIPP (Injury Illness Prevention Program) - is normally conducted by each LEA and/or other project site Risk Management Directors to comply with the standards set by CalOSHA to minimize the number of injuries and illnesses that occur during any school year. WorkAbility students must be instructed as to the safety procedures contained therein.
• Independent Living Skills - Skills individuals will need to become self-sufficient members of the community such as the ability to use community resources, domestic skills and money management skills.
• INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) - The branch of the Department of Homeland Security that enforces the laws regulating the admission of foreign-born persons to the United States and for administering various immigration benefits, including the naturalization of qualified applicants for U.S. citizenship.
• Interest Inventory - An assessment tool of varying types used to determine work related activities or careers of interest to an individual student.
• Internship - A student internship provides a student an opportunity to participate in unpaid, work-based learning for a specified period of time to learn about a particular industry or occupation. The workplace supervisor instructs the student, critiques the performance, challenges and encourages the student to do well. It is critical to ensure that all aspects of criteria outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act are met to ensure this experience is a work-based learning experience and not employment.
• IWC (Industrial Welfare Commission) Division of Labor Standards Enforcement - The state agency responsible for regulating minimum wages, hours, and working conditions of men, women, and minors. The IWC issues industry-wide and occupation-wide Wage Orders. Reference:
  • www.dir.ca.gov/DLSE/dlse.html. See Wage Labor Safety Committee Handbook and Child Labor Laws 2000.

J

• Job Coaching - Providing direct support and supervision of an individual or group of students to assist with learning and performance of job tasks, self-advocacy skills, mobility training, communication skills, and interpersonal skills required to enter employment.
• Job Development - The act of canvassing the community to locate employers willing to hire WorkAbility students. Job development can be conducted by a variety of methods, i.e. phone calls, site visits, newspaper ads, networking, Chamber of Commerce contacts, etc.
• Job Match - Utilizing all of the information you obtain about a particular student and a particular job to refer to the employer the most appropriate student who best fits the job requirements and employment environment.
• Job Retention Skills - Skills an individual will need to maintain their job, upgrade their position, or leave their current job and move to another position.
• Job Search Skills - The skills and tools an individual will utilize to seek and obtain employment such as the application, interview, resume, portfolio, and agency process.
• Job Shadowing - An activity designed to allow students to explore a range of career choices to assist with their selection of a career. Students follow and observe an employee at a worksite for a specified period of time to learn about the particular job and the work environment.

K

L

• LEA (Local Education Agency) - This term refers to the agency responsible for providing educational services to students such as a school district, county office of education, non public school, community college, etc.
• Learning Style - The way in which an individual comprehends new material. There are three basic learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. An individual may learn best in one primary style, or may learn in a combination of learning styles.
• Listserv: A distribution list that ensures all sites receive information from CDE in a timely manner.
• Local Advisory Committee - A knowledgeable and diverse group of individuals formed to consult and critique the focus of the WorkAbility Program. The committee membership may include: employers, community representatives, WorkAbility staff, education agency staff, students, parents, representatives from agencies providing services to WorkAbility students, and other interested individuals.
• LRE: least restrictive environment
• LWIA (Local Workforce Investment Area/Board - Replaces the JTPA Service Delivery Areas (SDA) and Private Industry Council (PIC) and conducts all employment training programs for youth and adults under the Workforce Investment Act. Members of the Board include individuals nominated by regional or local educational agencies and are appointed by chief elected officials. The Board will be the major oversight body for Titles I and in of the Workforce Investment Act at the local level.
  • NOTE: WorkAbility Directors are urged to subscribe to their LWIA Policy and Agenda listings.

M

• Medicare Tax - Medicare tax of 1.45% of an employee's gross pay is withheld from each paycheck. (Refer to Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Notice 767, "Questions and Answers on Medicare Tax for State and Local Government Employment.)
• Memo of Understanding (MOU) – An agreement between two entities that clearly defines each entity’s roles, responsibilities and expectations as defined in the MOU.
• Mentor: An experienced WorkAbility I program representative assigned to assist and guide less experienced or troubled programs.
• Mentoring - The act of serving as an on going trainer for a student or program.
• Minimum Wage - The lowest hourly wage allowable by law to be paid an individual for work performed. Both state and federal governments set minimum wage standards.
• Mobility/Travel Training - Teaching a student to utilize public transportation and/or to cope with a sensory deficit. May include community orientation to learn the community and to travel from various points within the community in a group or independently.

N

• NCDG (National Career Development Guidelines) - An extensive list of age and grade appropriate competencies that provide a structure and framework to the guidance and counseling process.
• NPS (Non Public School) - This designates any school other than a public school that provides educational programs for students.

O

• OJT (On-The-Job-Training) - Paid training in the private or public sector which occurs while the participant is engaged in productive work, and which provides knowledge or skills essential to the full and adequate performance of the job.
• On-campus placement: Any job provided on the same campus where the student attends school.

P

• Partnership Collaboration - The forming of a partnership between a business or an agency and the WorkAbility program to work together for a common goal. Example: A WorkAbility program may form a collaborative partnership with the local city government to enhance the services for WorkAbility students.
• Placement: Any WAI student who receives pay for work.
• Portfolio - A collection of work that documents a student's educational achievement. A portfolio typically includes materials (e.g. reports, photos, certificates) selected by the student. Portfolios may be used for a variety of purposes including increasing student learning opportunities, helping students demonstrate a wide variety of skills, helping students to recognize their own academic growth, and teaching students to take responsibility for their own learning and development.
• Post-Secondary Transition Planning – Age appropriate assessments and measurable post-secondary goals are mandatory in Education or Training and Employment. When appropriate, goals must be included in independent living skills and related services.
• Pre-Employment/Work Maturity Skills - U.S. Department of Labor guidelines require that the pre-employment/work maturity skills competency system include the following core competencies of:

Q

R

• Recruitment - Encouraging individuals’ active participation in your WorkAbility program. This can be accomplished through classroom presentations, career fairs, advertising the program to students and staff, etc.
• Regional Centers - Private, nonprofit corporations contracted through the Department of Developmental Services to serve individuals with developmental disabilities from infants through adults. Services are person-centered and designed to assist individuals to become involved in the community by providing necessary support and agency collaboration.
• Regional Manager: A WorkAbility I program representative elected from the field to supervise a specific state region.
• Related Classroom Instruction - A required component of the Work Experience Program, related instruction may consist of, but not be limited to, the following: Pre-employment/Work Readiness Skills competencies, fiscal management, health and safety procedures, harassment and discrimination on the job, grievance procedures, labor laws, and hazardous occupations. Related instruction units should be in the district's course of study and developed for 1- 4 semesters. Students must attend a minimum of one instructional period per week of related instruction. (EC 51760, 51762.5 & CCR, T5 10073)
• Request For Work Permit and Statement Of Intent To Employ Minor (Bl-1) - This form is the application for a Work Permit and must be filled out prior to issuing the Work Permit. The parent and the prospective employer must sign the Bl-1. Employers must list the insurance earner for their Workers' Compensation coverage.
• ROP [now CTE (Career Technical Education )] - CTE provides vocational training for specific occupations. The courses offered, which may be held on high school campuses or at special centers, are determined by job market analyses of employment opportunities. On-the-job experience may be included in the training.

S

• SCANS (Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) - Skills young Americans will need to succeed in the workplace as determined by the Secretary of Labor and the SCANS commission in a report published in 1991. It defines workplace readiness as an individual's possession of workplace competencies built on a strong academic foundation. SCANS is made up of five competencies and a three-part foundation of skills and personal qualities that are needed for solid job performance.
  • The competencies are:
    • Resources
    • Interpersonal Skills
    • Information
    • Systems
    • Technology
  • The foundation skills are:
    • Basic Skills
    • Thinking Skills
    • Personal Qualities
• School Based Business - An enterprise in which students as part of their school program produce goods or services working within the parameters of a business plan.
• School Leaver - A student who is leaving the secondary educational system and is not expected to return to any secondary educational facility.
• School to Work Opportunities Act, 1994 (PL 103-239) - Jointly administered by the U.S. Dept. of Education and Labor. This act was designed to prepare young people for further education and careers in high-skill, high-wage jobs by creating opportunities for them to learn by applying what they learn to real life, real work situations. The school-to-work system contains the following three fundamental elements:
• Screening - The process by which students that are referred to WorkAbility are determined eligible for services, i.e. does the student have a current IEP?
• Selective Service - Registration with Selective Service provides our country with a means to develop a listing of names and addresses of men who might be called upon to serve their country through the military in time of need. Requires that all male U.S. citizens and male aliens lawfully admitted to the United States who are between 18-25 years of age register for the Selective Service. They must do so 30 days before or after their 18th birthday. Men who fail to register may lose eligibility benefits for federal job training and student financial aid under the Higher Education Act. This includes educational benefits and the opportunity to work for the Federal Government. Register on line at www.sss.gov
• Self-Advocacy Training - Training to assist students to understand their rights and responsibilities, express themselves and their ideas, state their needs, and know where to go for help and support.
• Self-Insured - Many school districts (LEAs) are self-insured for the purposes of Workers' Compensation, liability and auto insurance. A Self-Insured letter assures that employers understand that the LEA is the employer of record and is fully insured to conduct Work Experience programs for youth.
• SELPA (Special Education Local Plan Area) - Required by AB 1250 in 1977. All school districts and county schools offices formed geographical regions of sufficient size and scope to provide for all the special education service needs of children residing within the region's boundaries. SELPA's responsibilities include ensuring program availability, curriculum and program development, interagency coordination and personnel development.
• Served: Any student who participates in specific school-based, work-based, and connecting activities as outlined in the array of services.
• Service Learning - A method of instruction that combines community service with a structured school based opportunity for reflection about that service, emphasizing the connections between service experiences and academic learning. Students benefit from acquiring skills, knowledge and learning civic responsibility and the community benefits from the service.
• Situational Assessment - Students participate in various work situations in order to determine their ability to perform tasks and to identify the degree of support they need. It provides an opportunity to evaluate the student in real world situations.
• SSA (Social Security Administration) - The Federal agency responsible for development of policy and program direction of Social Security, administering the federal retirement system, survivors and disability insurance programs, as well as SSI (Supplemental Security Income).
• SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) - A program that workers, employers and self employed pay for with Social Security taxes. Individuals qualify based on their work history. The amount of the benefit paid is based on the individual's previous earnings.
• SSI (Supplemental Security Income) - A program paid for through general tax revenues, not through Social Security trust funds. SSI disability benefits are paid to people who have a disability, and are based on need, not work history.
• SSID/CSIS numbers: The California School Information Services Statewide Student Identifiers, 10-digit numbers designed to facilitate reporting of school data to the state.
• Sub-minimum wage (training wage): Wages paid below the legally mandated minimum wage. WorkAbility I does not allow special sub-minimum wage for student pay.
• Subsidized Placement - A WorkAbility placement in which the student's wages are paid by a funding source other than the employer, such as WorkAbility, the school district. Department of Rehabilitation, etc.
• Supported Employment - Supported Employment services are provided through Habilitation and may be short or long term in length. Services may include assessment, job placement, job coaching and other support as necessary based on individual need.

T

• TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) - Replaces AFDC and is public assistance to families with a demonstrated need. Funds provided by Social Services.
• Task Analysis - The process of breaking down one component of a job into individual steps for instructional purposes. A job coach to aid in the student's mastery of the task to be performed usually performs the task analysis.
• TPP (Transition Partnership Program) - A contractual agreement between Department of Rehabilitation and education agencies to provide rehabilitation services to youth prior to their exiting high school.
• Trainee - A student in an unpaid placement so that he/she may learn a particular job. Whether trainee or student is employee of an employer under U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fair Labor Standards Act depends on all of the circumstances surrounding his/her activities on the job site. If all of the following criteria are met, the trainee or student is not employees within the meaning of FLSA:
  • Training is similar to that in a vocational program.
  • Training is for the benefit of the trainee or student.
  • A Trainee does not displace regular workers
  • Employer derives no immediate advantage from the activities at the work site.
  • A Trainee is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of training.
  • The employer and employee understand that the trainee is not entitled to wages for (he time spent in the training.
• Transition: The act of moving from one stage to another. WAI focuses on moving students from high school to the post-secondary world.
• Transition Services Language – Federal law requires addressing transition needs and services for students in special education from age 16 forward, specifically IEPs should include appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills…and the transition services (including course of study) needed to assist the child in reaching these goals

U

• Unemployment Insurance - Operated by the Employment Development Department (EDD) and provides financial benefits for workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own, and are able to, available for, and actively seeking work as instructed. Eligibility for receiving benefits is set by law. Eligibility requirements are listed in the Unemployment Insurance Code. In California, no deductions are made from the worker's wages to finance UI; it is paid entirely by employers.
• Unsubsidized Placement - A WorkAbility placement in which the employer pays the students' wages.

V

• Volunteer (Volunteer Services) - Individuals who volunteer or donate their services, usually on a part-time basis, for public service, religious or humanitarian objectives, not as employees and without contemplation of pay, and are not considered as employees of the religious, charitable and similar nonprofit corporations, which receive their services. Examples of volunteer services are Candy Stripers in a hospital or skilled nursing facility, tutorial reading to children and adults, library aides, camp counselors, etc. The fact that services are performed under such circumstances is not sufficient to create an employer-employee relationship.

W

• W-4 Form, Employee's Withholding Certificate - A form to be filled out by all students in a paid status. The W-4 is required in order that employers can withhold the correct Federal income tax from the individual's paycheck.
• WAI: WorkAbility I
• WBL: Work-Based Learning Experiences
• WorkAbility I Web-Based Data System (caworkability.org) - Required method to annually collect and report data to CDE. Includes student data, array of services, CDE reporting, and grant renewal forms.
• WorkAbility Central - Web-based domain with multiple platforms for statewide collaboration and communication (sites, email, calendars, shared documents, groups (committees), etc.)
• Work-Based Learning – WBL is defined as learning experiences and activities that are based on, and take place in some type of work setting or simulated work setting. Apprenticeships, internships, on-the-job training, career academies, school based businesses, occupational/technical labs and job simulations are all examples of work-based learning.
• WIA (Workforce Investment Act) PL-95-220 - The enactment of the WIA presents an opportunity to better prepare youth for the workforce by offering a comprehensive and extended array of services based on the individual's needs. WIA includes a collaborative community partnership and programs to meet the needs of youth that are closely aligned to local labor market needs. WIA promotes academic achievement and connects classroom training to workplace requirements. Under WIA, there is no separate funding for a "stand alone" summer youth program as under JTPA. There is a single integrated funding stream for all youth programs which is part of a year-round program. Under JTPA, services were available to the disadvantaged and dislocated workers (including the disabled). In contrast, WIA offers universal access, making services available to all populations through the local One-Stop-Career Centers.
  • NOTE: WorkAbility directors are urged to contact their Local Workforce Investment Area/Boards to identify the CBO that serves their area for referral, eligibility, and program opportunities.
• WorkAbility I Exiting Students [see website (www.caworkability.org)] - A student who has left the WorkAbility I program after receiving services, is not expected to return to the same program, but is expected to remain in the secondary education system.
• Work Experience Education (WEE) - The primary purpose of Work Experience Education is to provide students with employment experiences that will enable them to make better career decisions, and/or develop vocational skills. The types of Work Experience programs include General, Vocational, and Exploratory Work Experience Education. These programs are considered to be a critical part of the total educational effort of the district, and are designed to enable the business/industrial community and the schools to cooperate in providing quality education to the students. WEE extends the learning experiences outside the classroom and into the community by emphasizing linking the academic core curriculum to the workplace and by promoting students' school-to-career transitions. Students enrolled in WEE will receive school credit towards graduation. Districts with State approved Work Experience plans shall ensure that students receive at least the equivalent of one instructional period per week of related classroom instruction. (EC 51760-51769 and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 10070) (See Pay For Work Handbook.)
• Work Experience Education Training Agreement - The Education Code of the State of California requires that students enrolled in Work Experience Education Programs be covered by a training agreement that is signed by the parties involved including the Work Experience Teacher/Coordinator, employer, student, and parent/guardian. The Training Agreement must list the responsibilities of each of the parties. The employer responsibilities must contain a statement that he/she will not discriminate in their hiring practices. This agreement is not a legal contract and may be terminated, for cause, at any time by any of the parties.
• Workers' Compensation Insurance - Insurance benefits that cover injuries that occur on the job. The cost of these benefits is withheld from an employee's paycheck. (Some school districts are self-insured for this insurance.)
• NOTE: WorkAbility Directors should include Workers' Compensation Insurance when budgeting their staff costs on student wages. (Check with local fiscal policy regarding student wages.)
• Work Permit - Documentation required for minor students who have not graduated from high school to work within the State of California. A Work Permit is required for all minors (youth under age 18) who are employed. The Work Permit must be displayed at the place of employment and verifies that students are covered by Workers Compensation Insurance and lists the number and spread of hours a minor may work. Work Permits are issued through local school districts.

X

Y

Z