WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARDS

(1)

R O C H E L L E J . D A N I E L S ,

B R O W A R D W O R K F O R C E D E V E L O P M E N T B O A R D

WORKFORCE INVESTMENT

BOARDS

6301 NW 5

th

_{Way, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309}

(2)

- WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARDS -

WIBS

• WIBs are usually organized as

• Not for profit organizations, or

• Advisory councils to local governmental units

• They measure success by

• Achievement of their mission

• Performance of their local area

• Implementation of special projects critical to their

• Local workforce

• Economy

Rochelle Daniels, Assistant County Attorney, Broward Workforce Development Board,

(3)

STRATEGIC PLAN

• Performing WIBs preserve and reshape

their mission

• Through their strategic plan which should be

forward and future focused

• It is approved by the WIB and Elected Officials

• When considering agenda action items

• Consider how the action fits with the

organization’s mission and plan

• Agenda items should track back to your plan

(4)

SUCCESSFUL WIBS

• Achieve their mission by

• Making and adopting policies

• Deciding how to Invest their resources

• Providing oversight

• Board activities

• Staff activities

• Service provider activities

• Representing their WIB in their communities

(5)

SUCCESSFUL WIBS

• Have good attendance at meetings

• The skills you bring to the table don’t matter if you

are not present.

• Is there a policy re WIB members who repeatedly

miss meetings

• Meetings with minimal participation drain the morale

of other board members

• Read the agendas

(6)

THE BOARD AS A BRIDGE

• Board members should:

• Advocate on behalf of the WIB and its interests

• Help raise awareness of the WIB’s mission

• Provide feedback when there is a need to

change

• Policies

• Plans

• Programs in response to a changing environment

• Bring a sensitivity to the environment in which the

organization operates

(7)

THE BOARD AS A BRIDGE

• Boards can advocate

• Locally and to local elected officials

• At the state level

• At the national level

• This is a critical time as bills have been

introduced to the Congress

• What is the role of the local WIB in the new

bills

(8)

THE BOARD AS A BRIDGE

• Sometimes board members need to step

forward to support the WIB and its staff

• From external threats

• Sometimes Issues arise that threaten the

autonomy, services or good name of the WIB

• Scandals involving the WIB or service provider

• Political attacks on the purposes or programs of

the system

(9)

ACT LIKE A BUSINESS

• Boards are told to act like a business

• But beware

• Government funds come with strings

• Not all business practices make for good

government practices

• Boards charged with oversight need to

exercise oversight

• When they don’t bad things can and

eventually do happen

(10)

THE BOARD AS A BRIDGE

• WIB members are a link between the

organization and the public

• The public increasingly holds board

members legally and ethically accountable

for the actions or inactions of organizations

• When something happens

• A monitoring report

• An audit

• Poor performance

• The WIB needs to take action

(11)

Rochelle Daniels, Assistant County Attorney, Broward Workforce Development Board, Inc.

WorkForce One Employment Solutions 11

WHAT EVERY NEW

AND

(12)

SO A NEW MEMBER HAS BEEN APPOINTED

• New members should receive an orientation

• A dictionary of acronyms

• Explains how the board functions

• Committees

• Management Staff

• Providers

• A description of management duties vs. board

duties

• What authorities are delegated

• What the role is of the elected officials

(13)

THE INTRODUCTION

• How communication works

• Florida – 2 members make a meeting

• Other states – have different rules

• Agenda formats

• Board meetings

• Indemnification and insurance

information

• A tour of the organization’s facilities, one

stops and youth providers

(14)

A BOARD MEMBER’S ESSENTIALS

• Articles of incorporation or organizational

info

• Bylaws and amendments

• A statement of the organization’s history,

mission and services

• The strategic plan

• A summary of the budget & recent monthly

financial report

• The most recent audit including the

management letter

(15)

A BOARD MEMBER’S ESSENTIALS

• A WIB list and contact information

• The CEO and Executive VP contact

info

• A calendar of upcoming board

meetings

• Minutes of the past year’s meetings

• The conflict-of-interest policy and

financial disclosures if required

(16)

COMMITTEES

• Most of the board’s work should be done by its committees

• Individual board members will become knowledgeable in key

areas

• The full board will spend less time on any one issue or set of issues

• Board’s are usually comfortable follow their committee’s

recommendations

• Most common committees

• Finance

• Audit

• Organizational Resources -personnel, nominating, governance

• Program - Employer services and one stop/jobseekers

• Planning

• Youth Council

• Ad Hoc - RFP review, or special projects

(17)

Rochelle Daniels, Assistant County Attorney, Broward Workforce Development Board, Inc. WorkForce

One Employment Solutions 17

(18)

SETTING BOARD POLICY

• The Board

• Approves new programs or deletes old ones

• Selects, oversees and decides the CEO’s compensation

• Approves the operating budget recommended by

management

• Management is generally responsible for

• Selection and supervision of staff

• Development, recommendation and implementation of the

policies and expenditure of funds pursuant to board

direction

• Establishing operating procedures

(19)

THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

• The CEO manages the organization

• Is the full time leader of the organization

• recommends & implements board policies and

programs

• is responsible for the integrity of the organization

• Selects staff

• Approves expenditures

• Assures the organization is well-managed

(20)

BOARD VS. MANAGEMENT

• The board and management must have a clear

understanding of each other’s roles

• Conflict occurs when those distinctions aren’t clear.

• A WIB member may become too heavily involved

in day to day operations

• Ex: A WIB Chair asks to monitor and review

participant files

• Power and authority resides with the board not an

individual

(21)

BOARD V MANAGEMENT

• The board sets standards to measure how

well management performs, and

• Initiates actions, when necessary, to see that

management carries out its obligations

(22)

WHO DOES WHAT

Rochelle Daniels, Assistant County Attorney, Broward Workforce Development Board, Inc. ₂₂

WIB

Responsibilities

Elected

Officials

Responsibilities

Joint WIB and

Elected

Officials

Responsibilities

Management

Responsibiliies

Selection of

Youth Providers

Appointment of

Board

Members

Approval of the

(23)

Rochelle Daniels, Assistant County Attorney, Broward Workforce Development Board, Inc.

WorkForce One Employment Solutions ₂₃

INTEGRITY

(24)

WIB MEMBERS ~ PUBLIC OFFICIALS

• Individuals appointed to serve on WIBs are

considered public officers.

(25)

GETTING TO THE BUSINESS OF THE BOARD

• WIB members are stewards of the

organization’s assets. They

• Assure funds are being used consistent

with the intent of the grants

• Assure integrity

• Be aware that not everything consistent

with the grants will pass the “Miami Herald

Test”

(26)

INTEGRITY POLICIES

• WIBs should adopt

• a code of ethics

• a conflict of interest (and disclosure)

policy

• Whistleblower policy - the policy

should clarify how to raise such issues

and how to prohibit retribution for

raising them.

(27)

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• Realizing improper or undisclosed personal or

organizational financial benefit as a result of the

WIB’s transactions

• In general

• The board or a committee

• That has no conflicts of interest with the person or

organization whose transaction is under consideration

• Should approve all transactions involving insiders

• WIB Members

• Executive Management

• Staff?

(28)

WHAT IS THE CONFLICT RULE?

• The federal rule applies to personal

and organizational conflicts of interest

• WIB members may not vote on:

• Matters regarding the provision of services

by the member or an organization they

represent, or

• Matters which may result in a financial

benefit to them or their immediate family.

(29)

WHEN RIGHT IS WRONG

• WIB member is the director of a not for profit

• WIB member has always abstained from votes

regarding funds awarded to his organization

• His organization had received about $3 million while

he was a board member

• WIB member resigns from the WIB

• He is given a $10,000 consulting contract

• Later the same month is hired into a $104,000 job

with the WIB

• He resigns from the WIB to run for elected office

• Story runs in the paper questioning these actions

(30)

WHEN RIGHT IS WRONG

• Questions raised

• Should members of these volunteer boards

be eligible to receive any of this federal

money?

• Should they be eligible if they resign from

the board first?

• Should there be a cooling-off period?

(31)

LIABILITY

• WIB members have a fiduciary obligation

to the organization

• They must act with good faith and loyalty

• In the best interests of the organization

• Liability facing boards

• Liability to third parties, such as service providerts

• Liability to the organization and its members

• Statutory liability

• A duty to protect the organization’s assets.

(32)

DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS LIABILITY

INSURANCE

• All boards should have D & O insurance

• Members should know the extent of the

coverage

• Some states have adopted

volunteer-protection statutes for board volunteer

members

• Claims against individual board members

• Employees claiming wrongful termination or other

violation of their rights

• Service providers

(33)

NOTE

• Not for profit WIBS must file Form 990

• The IRS monitors not-for-profits and can

impose sanctions for

• Awarding unreasonable salaries and benefits

• Allowing board members or other interested

parties to provide goods or services to their

organization for more than they are worth

• Services provided in exchange for compensation

(34)

FORM 990 DISCLOSURES INCLUDE

• The names and compensation of an organization’s

directors and officers

• Details of financial transactions between the

organization and a board member or a group with

which he or she is affiliated

• Information regarding the organization’s assets,

liabilities, income sources, revenues and expenses

(35)

HOW ABOUT DISCUSSION?

• The conflict rule has been defined to include

participation in any process leading up to the vote.

• Processes Leading Up to a Vote

• Committee meetings at which policies are discussed,

considered and recommended

• Even where comments during a discussion are true or

provide information members may not discuss

• Members must avoid the appearance of a conflict

of interest

• Members must not be perceived as trying to

influence a vote which will inure to their benefit

(36)

WHO IS IN MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY FOR

PURPOSES OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST?

• Wife

• Husband

• Son

• Daughter,

• Son in law

• Daughter in law

• Sister,

• Brother

• Sister-in-law

• Brother in law

• Mother

• Father

• Mother-in-law

• Father-in-law,

• Aunt

• Uncle

• Niece

• Nephew

• Stepparent

• Stepchild,

• Grandparent

• Grandchild,

• Half brother,

• Half sister

• First cousin.

(37)

WHEN WOULD THE APPEARANCE OF A

CONFLICT OF INTEREST BE CREATED?

• The appearance of a conflict of interest arises when a

reasonable person knowing the facts would think that a

member’s judgment is likely to be compromised.

• If you have to ask the question, “is there a conflict of

interest if ….?

• The answer most often is yes.

• Is there a conflict if I participate in a discussion?

• Yes

• Members are influenced by each other’s thoughts and

opinions.

• Board members in positions of public trust are assumed to base

their opinions which will later be expressed as a votes in an

atmosphere in which the public interest comes first.

(38)

QUESTION

• I am a WIB member. I represent a

government agency which funds a

provider that has applied to the WIB

for funding.

• May I participate in committee, RFP

evaluation and voting decisions regarding

that provider?

• Yes. Your agency or organization is not

benefiting as a result of your vote.

(39)

QUESTION

• My spouse or a close family member serves

as an unpaid board member for an

organization, which has applied to WIB for

funding.

• May I vote on that matter?

• Yes. The voting board member does not

represent the organization and neither the

board member nor the immediate family

member will realize a pecuniary benefit as a

result of the vote

(40)

QUESTION

• My spouse or a close family member

works for an organization, which has

applied to the WIB for funding.

• May I vote on that matter?

• No. In this instance, a benefit may be

realized by the related organization

(41)

WHAT IS A CODE OF CONDUCT?

• It is a manner of behavior

• Not accepting any compensation, payment, or thing of value

when such individual knows, or, with the exercise of reasonable

care, should know, that it was given to influence a vote

• Not to corruptly use or attempt to use a member’s official

position or any property or resource which may be within his or

her trust, or perform his or her official duties, to secure a special

privilege, benefit, or exemption for himself, herself, or others

• Not to disclose or use information not available to members of

the general public and gained by reason of his or her official

position for his or her personal gain or benefit or for the

personal gain or benefit of any other person or business entity.

(42)

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

• Management buys

• $144,000 of office cubicles from a board member

• Spends $21,000 with a board member’s marketing

company

• Is it true that there is no federal prohibition other

than

• Declaring the conflict

• Not voting

• What if this is never presented to the board?

(43)

CONFLICT AND NEPOTISM

• The CEO

• Contracts with her son for the development of a

website

• Hires her daughter as her administrative assistant

• A senior vice president. approves

contracts with for the renovation of

space and later hires the same

company to repair her roof

(44)

• The CEO contracts with the wife of her VP

for strategic planning services

• The CEO approves $123,000 of in-house

training costs for the Board Chair’s

consulting company or about $3,844 an

hour,

• The CEO hires his father to do maintenance

work

CONFLICTS

(45)

CONFLICTS

• Private gain happens when an organization’s

assets are used for the benefit of an individual, as

opposed to the organization itself.

• For example private gain may result if an organization pays

compensation at a level that is unreasonably high

compared with the level of effort and responsibility of the

recipient.

• WIB members must monitor the activities of the

organization and its officers to ensure that no

private inurement occurs.

(46)

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

• A workforce senior manager did not

disclose she and her husband were the

founding officers of Not for Profit Inc. and

were awarded a contract from the WIB to

provide job training for teens

• A nonprofit organization run by the husband

of a WIB member received $30,000 from the

WIB. The WIB member served as board chair

during that time.

(47)

CODE OF CONDUCT

• Travel

• A workforce agency CEO picked up the tab while

out of town for people from other areas and also

for liquor and charged it to the workforce area

credit card

• Meals at a conference are claimed for

reimbursement even though some of the meals

were paid for as a part of the registration

(48)

ANNUAL AUDITS

• Audits and monitoring

• This is the WIB’s, Management’s and Elected Officials’

insurance policy

• WIBs should have external monitoring and pay attention to

state monitoring reports

• The audit firm should be selected by the audit committee /

elected officials

• They should present the audited financial statements to

• the audit committee

• the full board

• Members should be encouraged to ask questions

• This provides a level of confidence in the financial

information and internal controls of the WIB and

management

(49)

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

• Management should provide their WIBs with

regular financial reports comparing financial

results with budgetary predictions

• Every board member should have a chance to

ask about the budget

• Every board member should have a chance

• Management should make financial

disclosures —consistent with that required of

WIB members

(50)

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

• Is it available when needed?

• Is the information accurate?

• Quarterly or semi annual income and expenditure

projections help WIB members

• anticipate problems

• judge actual performance