Recommendation: The Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services should work with the Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration to assess options for changing the H-2B visa program and, as warranted, implement changes or submit proposed legislative changes to Congress. DHS and DOL could consider options included in their June 2019 report to Congress and identify those that may be implemented cost effectively and without adversely affecting U.S. workers. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Status: Open

Comments: DHS agreed with this recommendation and noted that it plans to work further with DOL to explore options for improving the H-2B visa program and possibly develop proposals for legislative changes.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration should work with the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to assess options for changing the H-2B visa program and, as warranted, implement changes or submit proposed legislative changes to Congress. DOL and DHS could consider options included in their June 2019 report to Congress and identify those that may be implemented cost effectively and without adversely affecting U.S. workers. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. DOL said it is prepared to work with DHS to consider options for changing the H-2B program and to provide any technical assistance that Congress may need on this issue. We will monitor the agency's progress to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services should work with the Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration to assess the advantages and disadvantages of considering current economic trends in determining the appropriate number of additional H-2B visas to provide when given this authority by Congress and, as warranted, implement an approach that considers such trends. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not agree with this recommendation. DHS said it would continue to work with DOL-as it has done in prior years--if and when Congress delegates the authority to make additional H-2B visas available beyond the statutory cap to DHS. The agency also expressed its view that Congress is better positioned to determine whether and how many additional visas should be made available to meet the needs of U.S. businesses. In fiscal years 2017 through 2020, DHS was authorized to increase the number of H-2B visas beyond the statutory cap, after consulting with DOL to determine that "the needs of American businesses [could not] be satisfied...with United States workers..." In exercising this authority in prior years, DHS stated that "[t]he scope of the assessment called for by the statute [in making this determination] is quite broad, and accordingly delegates the Secretary of Homeland Security broad discretion to identify the business needs [s]he finds most relevant." In light of DHS's broad view of its authority, we continue to believe that it would be appropriate for DHS, in consultation with DOL, to assess the advantages and disadvantages of considering current economic trends in determining the appropriate number of additional H-2B visas to provide. If they determine that using such data would be warranted, the agencies would then be well positioned to implement such an approach if DHS is granted such authority in the future. Moreover, if-as DHS stated in its response to our recommendation-the agency believes that Congress is best suited to determine what increases in visa numbers may be needed to meet the needs of U.S. businesses, consistent with protecting American workers, it may wish to work with Congress to draft a legislative proposal reflecting this view.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration should work with the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to assess the advantages and disadvantages of considering current economic trends in determining the appropriate number of additional H-2B visas to provide when given this authority by Congress and, as warranted, implement an approach that considers such trends. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to draw on its data on labor market and economic trends to provide technical assistance to DHS on the determination of how many additional H-2B visas to make available.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration should take steps to target its audits of H-2B employers to employers with the highest likelihood of violating program requirements; such steps could include moving ahead with developing a system for identifying trends in H-2B employer audit outcomes. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. DOL noted that while further development of a system for tracking industry and occupational trends in H-2B employer violations is currently on hold due to budgetary constraints, when this system is available it will provide the capacity to take a risk-based approach to selecting employers for audits. We will monitor the agency's progress to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should clarify policies and procedures to remind staff that a diagnosis of a substance use disorder is not necessary to conduct a Drug Addiction and Alcoholism evaluation. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation. The agency stated that it had revised related policies in February 2020, and had planned to issue guidance and video-on-demand training to further clarify policies and procedures in this area. However, SSA said its efforts to maintain mission critical activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic have delayed further implementation of this recommendation and a specific implementation date could not be provided at this time.

Recommendation: The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that staff document their rationale for decisions involving the Drug Addiction and Alcoholism evaluation process. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Social Security Administration
Status: Open

Comments: SSA agreed with this recommendation. The agency said it had planned to issue guidance reinforcing its policy on properly documenting decisions involving the Drug Addiction and Alcoholism evaluation process. However, SSA said its efforts to maintain mission critical activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic have delayed implementation of this recommendation and a specific implementation date could not be provided at this time.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should collaborate with the Secretary of Transportation to continue to convene key groups of stakeholders to gather information on potential workforce changes that may result from automated trucking as the technology evolves, including analyzing needed skills and identifying any information or data gaps, to allow the agencies to fully consider how to respond to any changes. These stakeholders could include, for example, representatives of other relevant federal agencies, technology developers, the trucking industry, organizations that represent truck drivers, truck driver training schools, state workforce agencies, and local workforce development boards. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted several efforts that it said will help the agency assess and provide information on the potential workforce effects of evolving technologies, such as automated trucking. For example, DOL noted that the agency's employment projections incorporate expert interviews and other information to identify shifts in industry employment. DOL is also currently consulting with DOT to study these workforce effects, and agreed to consider what other information and stakeholder meetings remain necessary after that study-due in March 2019-is completed. Likewise, DOL agreed to share related information as the technology evolves, and the agency noted it currently publishes employment projections and other occupational information. While useful, these efforts alone will not allow DOL to sufficiently anticipate the future workforce effects of automated trucking. For instance, the broad employment projections do not provide estimates specifically for the long-haul truck drivers who could be affected by automated trucking first. Further, DOL's occupational information is based on surveys of current workers, so it does not include the skills future drivers will need as automated trucking evolves. Therefore, we continue to believe that convening stakeholders and sharing information about potential workforce effects in the future will position DOL to better understand and inform key stakeholders of these changes.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should collaborate with the Secretary of Labor to continue to convene key groups of stakeholders to gather information on potential workforce changes that may result from automated trucking as the technology evolves, including analyzing needed skills and identifying any information or data gaps, to allow the agencies to fully consider how to respond to any changes. These stakeholders could include, for example, representatives of other relevant federal agencies, technology developers, the trucking industry, organizations that represent truck drivers, truck driver training schools, state workforce agencies, and local workforce development boards. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT agreed with this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's progress to address it.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Transportation should consult with the Secretary of Labor to further analyze the potential effects of automated trucking technology on drivers to inform potential workforce-related regulatory changes, such as the requirements to obtain a commercial driver's license or hours of service requirements (e.g., the maximum hours commercial truck drivers are permitted to work). This could include leveraging the analysis described by the Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 once it is complete, as well as information the department obtains from stakeholders as the technology evolves. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Transportation
Status: Open

Comments: DOT agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted two of its current efforts related to automated trucking technology, namely its October 2018 automated vehicles voluntary guidance, Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0, and its Congressionally-directed research on the impact of automated vehicle technologies on the workforce.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should consult with the Secretary of Transportation to share information with key stakeholders on the potential effects of automated trucking on the workforce as the technology evolves. These stakeholders could include, for example, representatives of other relevant federal agencies, technology developers, the trucking industry, organizations that represent truck drivers, truck driver training schools, state workforce agencies, and local workforce development boards. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. The agency noted several efforts that it said will help the agency assess and provide information on the potential workforce effects of evolving technologies, such as automated trucking. For example, DOL noted that the agency's employment projections incorporate expert interviews and other information to identify shifts in industry employment. DOL is also currently consulting with DOT to study these workforce effects, and agreed to consider what other information and stakeholder meetings remain necessary after that study-due in March 2019-is completed. Likewise, DOL agreed to share related information as the technology evolves, and the agency noted it currently publishes employment projections and other occupational information. While useful, these efforts alone will not allow DOL to sufficiently anticipate the future workforce effects of automated trucking. For instance, the broad employment projections do not provide estimates specifically for the long-haul truck drivers who could be affected by automated trucking first. Further, DOL's occupational information is based on surveys of current workers, so it does not include the skills future drivers will need as automated trucking evolves. Therefore, we continue to believe that convening stakeholders and sharing information about potential workforce effects in the future will position DOL to better understand and inform key stakeholders of these changes.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should systematically collect sufficient information on state profiling systems, possibly through DOL's new UI state self-assessment process, to identify states at risk of poor profiling system performance. For instance, DOL could collect information on challenges states have experienced using and maintaining their profiling systems, planned changes to the systems, or state processes for assessing the systems' performance. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor agreed with this recommendation and said it would take action to address it. In June 2020, DOL reported that agency staff and a contractor had made significant progress in implementing plans to revise the self-assessment tool. First, staff and the contractor gathered feedback and recommendations for improvements to the tool through focus group sessions with states in each region. DOL also reported that the contractor has been developing revised questions for inclusion in the updated self-assessment tool. While agency work on the project was temporarily halted due to the agency's focus on issuing guidance and providing technical assistance to states concerning various new UI programs of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Pub. L. 116-136), officials said the contract has been extended to November 2020, and staff plan to resume work on the project soon. GAO will monitor the agency's progress and update the status of this recommendation, as appropriate.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should develop a process to use information on state risks of poor profiling system performance to provide technical assistance to states that need to improve their systems. DOL may also wish to tailor its technical assistance based on state service delivery goals and technical capacity. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor agreed with this recommendation and said it would take action to address it. In June 2020, DOL said that it was committed to using the information collected by the new self-assessment tool to develop standard operating procedures for capturing and maintaining the profiling assessment tracking information. These activities are dependent on the revisions to the self-assessment tool discussed in DOL's update for recommendation 1. We will monitor the agency's progress and update this recommendation as appropriate.

Recommendation: The Secretary of Labor should update agency guidance to ensure that it clearly informs states about the range of allowable profiling approaches. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Labor
Status: Open

Comments: The Department of Labor agreed with this recommendation and committed to publishing an Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) regarding the implementation and maintenance of acceptable state profiling systems. In June 2020, DOL reported that efforts to develop the UIPL had been delayed, due in part to the intersection of the Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) program and the now permanent Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) program. Agency officials said they remain committed to publishing the UIPL and noted that they were developing an analysis of statistical modeling approaches that states can consider using and providing a framework for a simplified and low-cost approach to testing these different modeling techniques using their own state data. While agency officials said they were not able to devote the needed time to completing the UIPL due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the UI program, officials said their goal was to publish the UIPL by the end of 2020. We will monitor the agency's progress in implementing this recommendation, and update its status, as appropriate.