Relates to the establishment of a wage data clearinghouse

Title of bill

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the establishment of a wage data clearinghouse

Purpose or general idea of bill

Require the State Department of Labor .(DOL) to issue an RFP to form a partnership with an academic institution with proven experience in analyzing labor market data to establish a research center to serve as the State's clearinghouse for wage data. The clearinghouse would be required to issue reports evaluating workforce preparation, worker training and selected education programs, and to provide data on workforce trends. This would allow the state to benefit from the expertise of academics in conducting important research while keeping the data protected.

Summary of specific provisions

Labor Law - § 44 wage data clearinghouse.

Section 1. The labor commissioner shall establish a wage data clearinghouse in consultation with the commissioner of education and the state workforce investment board.

Section 2. The wage data clearinghouse shall be administered by an academic institution in New York state with proven experience in analyzing labor data.

Section 3. The department shall provide the wage data clearinghouse with all state and federal wage and employment related data it has available.

Section 4. A nine member advisory board is established

Section 5. The wage data clearinghouse shall provide analyses on the effectiveness of workforce preparation programs and other related research.

Section 6. The advisory board will consult with DOL, the commissioner of education and the state workforce investment board.

Section 7. The clearinghouse shall release reports and aggregated data to the department, which shall be made available online.

Section 8. DOL shall issue an evaluation of this data clearinghouse within one year, and every four years thereafter.

Effects of present law which this bill would alter

Create new section 44 of Labor Law.

Justification

The state spends billions of state and federal dollars each year on educating and training future workers through the PK-12 system, public colleges and universities, workforce development and preparation programs, and adult literacy classes. Yet policymakers and the public have little idea which programs are effective and actually help participants get on career paths that lead to living wage employment.

Since enactment of a state law in 2013, colleges and public workforce programs have had access to the earnings and employment information of people who completed their programs. While most large institutions do have the capacity to meet the state's exacting standards for using the information safely and effectively, smaller workforce preparation programs which might benefit from information do not have the technological capacity and analytical expertise to use the data.

Most other states are using wage data, often in combination with education data to assess education and workforce programs.

Examples of Data Aggregation:

*Colleges and universities can now look at earnings of graduates, see not only whether students got a job after graduation but whether they stayed in a job and were able to move into higher paying positions. *Individuals and policymakers can identify which educational and workforce development programs are producing the best outcomes for participants. *This data will help the state and localities identify how many people are trained in specific skills, where they are, whether they are out of work or are looking for similarly skilled jobs, how many went through such skill programs, are grads of programs and are successful in training more.

Prior legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

Subject to available appropriations.

Effective date

Immediately.