Regulations last checked for updates: Apr 19, 2024

Title 29 - Labor last revised: Apr 12, 2024
§ 38.6 - Specific discriminatory actions prohibited on bases other than disability.

(a) For the purposes of this section, prohibited bases for discrimination are race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and political affiliation and belief, and, for beneficiaries, applicants, and participants only, citizenship and participation in any WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity.

(b) A recipient must not, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, on a prohibited basis:

(1) Deny an individual any aid, benefit, service, or training provided under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(2) Provide to an individual any aid, benefit, service, or training that is different, or is provided in a different manner, from that provided to others under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(3) Subject an individual to segregation or separate treatment in any matter related to receipt of any aid, benefit, service, or training under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(4) Restrict an individual in any way in the enjoyment of any advantage or privilege enjoyed by others receiving any aid, benefit, service, or training under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(5) Treat an individual differently from others in determining whether the individual satisfies any admission, enrollment, eligibility, membership, or other requirement or condition for any aid, benefit, service, or training provided under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(6) Deny or limit an individual with respect to any opportunity to participate in a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity, or afford the individual an opportunity to do so that is different from the opportunity afforded others under a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(7) Deny an individual the opportunity to participate as a member of a planning or advisory body that is an integral part of the WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity; or

(8) Otherwise limit an individual enjoyment of any right, privilege, advantage, or opportunity enjoyed by others receiving any WIOA Title I-financially assisted aid, benefit, service, or training.

(c) A recipient must not, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements:

(1) Aid or perpetuate discrimination by providing significant assistance to an agency, organization, or person that discriminates on a basis prohibited by WIOA Section 188 or this part in providing any aid, benefit, service, or training, to registrants, applicants or participants in a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity; or

(2) Refuse to accommodate an individual's religious practices or beliefs, unless to do so would result in undue hardship, as defined in § 38.4(rrr)(2).

(d)(1) In making any of the determinations listed in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, either directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, a recipient must not use standards, procedures, criteria, or administrative methods that have any of the following purposes or effects:

(i) Subjecting individuals to discrimination on a prohibited basis; or

(ii) Defeating or substantially impairing, on a prohibited basis, accomplishment of the objectives of either:

(A) The WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity; or

(B) The nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of WIOA or this part.

(2) The determinations to which this paragraph (d) applies include, but are not limited to:

(i) The types of aid, benefit, service, training, or facilities that will be provided under any WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(ii) The class of individuals to whom such aid, benefit, service, training, or facilities will be provided; or

(iii) The situations in which such aid, benefit, service, training, or facilities will be provided.

(3) Paragraph (d) of this section applies to the administration of WIOA Title I-financially assisted programs or activities providing any aid, benefit, service, training, or facilities in any manner, including, but not limited to:

(i) Outreach and recruitment;

(ii) Registration;

(iii) Counseling and guidance;

(iv) Testing;

(v) Selection, placement, appointment, and referral;

(vi) Training; and

(vii) Promotion and retention.

(4) A recipient must not take any of the prohibited actions listed in paragraph (d) of this section either directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements.

(e) In determining the site or location of facilities, a grant applicant or recipient must not make selections that have any of the following purposes or effects:

(1) On a prohibited basis:

(i) Excluding individuals from a WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity;

(ii) Denying them the benefits of such a program or activity; or

(iii) Subjecting them to discrimination; or

(2) Defeating or substantially impairing the accomplishment of the objectives of either:

(i) The WIOA Title I-financially assisted program or activity; or

(ii) The nondiscrimination and equal opportunity provisions of WIOA or this part.

(f)(1) 29 CFR part 2, subpart D, governs the circumstances under which Department support, including under WIOA Title I financial assistance, may be used to employ or train participants in religious activities. Under that subpart, such assistance may be used for such employment or training only when the assistance is provided indirectly within the meaning of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and not when the assistance is provided directly. As explained in that subpart, assistance provided through an Individual Training Account is generally considered indirect, and other mechanisms may also be considered indirect. See also 20 CFR 683.255 and 683.285. 29 CFR part 2, subpart D, also contains requirements related to equal treatment of religious organizations in Department of Labor programs, and to protection of religious liberty for Department of Labor social service providers and beneficiaries.

(2) Except under the circumstances described in paragraph (f)(3) of this section, a recipient must not employ participants to carry out the construction, operation, or maintenance of any part of any facility that is used, or to be used, for religious instruction or as a place for religious worship.

(3) A recipient may employ participants to carry out the maintenance of a facility that is not primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or religious worship if the organization operating the facility is part of a program or activity providing services to participants.

(g) The exclusion of an individual from programs or activities limited by Federal statute or Executive Order to a certain class or classes of individuals of which the individual in question is not a member is not prohibited by this part.

authority: 29 U.S.C. 3101
source: 81 FR 87211, Dec. 2, 2016, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 29 CFR 38.6