Archive of Governmental Good Jobs Resources Archives - Job Quality Center of Excellence

This two-pager from the U.S. Department of Labor is a useful resource for workers interested in forming a union or all others who need a basic overview of the unionization process, its benefits, and protections for workers organizing a union. The document includes a step-by-step guide to forming a union, information on employer retaliations and protections from retaliation, as well as protections for unionized workers seeking to unionize.

This is part of a collection of resources created by the Department of Labor and other federal agencies, relating to job quality and implementing good jobs priorities through federal investments and beyond. Many of these resources are no longer publicly available on government websites, though they were all at one point public and shared with the intent of preserving these resources for public use.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that information contained in these resources related to specific programs, policies, and processes remains accurate, though many best practices and examples remain useful. In addition, many of these resources link out to government websites that do not exist anymore. You may be able to find these linked resources in the archive itself by searching the Overview document. For more resources, please visit the Data Rescue Project website, at https://www.datarescueproject.org/

The “Guide to Combatting Harassment in the Construction Industry” by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) provides an overview of what constitutes harassment in the workplace, including the definition of sex- and gender-based harassment. The guide is most relevant for employers and workers in the construction sector. It defines harassment (unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic) and sexual harassment, as well as offering promising practices to prevent and remedy harassment, such as providing and posting EEO policy statements, developing formal complaint procedures, and promoting apprenticeship programs accessible to all individuals. While the guide was created for the construction industry, and contains best practices and strategies for employers in this industry, the content may be helpful to those in other industries as well.

This tool from the U.S. Department of Labor and Department of Commerce helps employers adopt and implement skills-first hiring, a strategy that prioritizes a worker’s actual skills and knowledge over traditional credentials like a college degree. Skills-first hiring promotes job quality by expanding access to high-quality jobs for skilled workers often overlooked due to non-traditional backgrounds. Employers benefit from this model by tapping into a broader, more diverse talent pool, which can lead to reduced time-to-hire, lower costs, and higher employee retention.

The kit provides a practical, step-by-step roadmap for implementation, advising employers to clearly identify their hiring goal, select a simple job role, break a job into “core” versus “great-to-have” skills, develop a scoring rubric, and use multiple, accessible evaluation methods beyond the resume, such as structured interviews and hands-on assessments. Finally, the guide emphasizes the importance of transparent recruiting and inclusive onboarding that addresses skill gaps, provides mentorship, and ensures the new hire is paid fairly based on their actual skills, not previous salary history.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy offers “Recruiting and Hiring Disabled Workers” as a guide for employers committed to building a workplace that is inclusive to workers with disabilities. The guide outlines key strategies for recruiting and hiring disabled workers, including actively targeting candidates through vocational rehabilitation agencies and the Workforce Recruitment Program. It recommends employers demonstrate their commitment to inclusion from the outset by using disability-inclusive messaging and accessible recruitment materials, as well as being flexible in their recruitment and hiring processes—for example, by removing nonessential tasks from job descriptions, accepting work samples instead of over-relying on traditional resumes, and using skills-based hiring or paid job trials as alternatives to traditional interviews.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy guide, “Retaining and Supporting Disabled Workers,” outlines practical steps for employers to build an inclusive workplace where workers with disabilities have the support and working conditions they need to thrive. Key strategies include creating an inclusive workplace culture that promotes flexibility in time and place (like flexible lunch breaks for medication or swapping tasks) and actively works to overcome bias and stigma, especially around mental health conditions. Employers must fulfill their obligation to provide reasonable accommodations, which often carry low or no cost, and offer sufficient leave, to ensure workers don’t have to choose between their job and medical needs. The guide also emphasizes that a good job must be a safe and healthy job, requiring employers to involve disabled employees in creating accessible emergency plans, ensure workplace technology conforms to accessibility standards, and provide targeted safety training.

This is a collection of resources created by the Department of Labor and other federal agencies, relating to job quality and implementing good jobs priorities through federal investments and beyond. Many of these resources are no longer publicly available on government websites, though they were all at one point public and shared with the intent of preserving these resources for public use.

The Overview document provides a list of all resources contained in this archive and links out to these documents in the folder; this document will be the easiest starting point to search for relevant resources.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s “Artificial Intelligence and Worker Well-being: Principles and Best Practices for Developers and Employers” provides a roadmap for workplace AI use that centers job quality and worker voice in the rollout and use of new technologies. This resource is highly relevant for employers and AI developers seeking a framework to ethically design and deploy AI. It outlines eight core principles: centering worker empowerment; ethically developing AI, establishing AI governance and human oversight, ensuring transparency in AI use, protecting labor and employment rights, using AI to enable workers, supporting workers impacted by AI, and ensuring responsible use of worker data.The principles aim to help organizations counteract risks like algorithmic discrimination and job displacement, while using AI for purposes such as augmentation of work tasks and improving worker safety.

For all readers, this document offers a shared set of guidelines for promoting an inclusive, worker-centered approach to AI adoption. The best practices emphasize transparency about AI use, human oversight for significant employment decisions (like hiring, promotion, and discipline), and the responsible use of worker data.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy guide, “Advancing Disabled Workers,” provides strategies for employers to support the professional growth, development, and career advancement of employees with disabilities. Key recommendations include equitably offering learning opportunities and professional development to all employees, as well as ensuring that training is accessible and supplemented with mentorship. In order to be able to measure inclusion goals, employers must create an environment where workers feel comfortable with disclosing their disabilities. This also allows for the creation of clear and appropriate performance expectations and enable managers to provide usable, relevant feedback during performance reviews. Finally, employers should continuously track and report progress toward disability inclusion goals, hold specific individuals or teams accountable, and ensure that the voices of disabled workers are included in these efforts.

This resource was created as part of the CHIPS for America program and is intended to help employers with the implementation of child care for workers. The first half of the presentation gives an overview of the CHIPS program and the current US childcare crisis. The second half of the presentation outlines the importance of and best practices for developing child care plans to support workers and, as an extension, improve employers’ ability to hire and retain qualified staff. The resource covers evaluating worker needs, working with community partners, and designing and implementing child care offerings for employees.

The Roadmap for Investing in Good Jobs is a guide developed by the U.S. Department of Labor to help governments—at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels—leverage the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda (including BIL, CHIPS, and IRA) to create high-quality, good-paying, union jobs. This resource provides recommended language to embed in grants, loans, and contracts, which outlines requirements, preferences, and encouraging job quality practices in projects. While created for the Investing in America initative, this language in applicable beyond these projects and provides a tangible guide for employers and other organizations aiming to embed job quality more formally in their project documentation and contracts.

The Roadmap is organized around key elements of job quality and worker empowerment, such as mandating and incentivizing fair pay (e.g., prevailing wages and pay equity audits), committing to worker rights protections (like project labor agreements and union neutrality agreements), promoting skills and career advancement through proven models like registered apprenticeship programs, providing family-sustaining benefits (like paid leave and health insurance), adopting DEIA workforce plans to promote opportunities for underserved communities, and safeguarding job security and working conditions by combating worker misclassification and establishing joint labor-management safety and health committees.