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DuPage County committee approves Salem Group as employer-of-record to expand work-based learning
Summary
The DuPage County Economic Development Committee approved a contract with Salem Group to serve as employer of record for work-based learning participants, enabling expansion from youth placements to adult and dislocated-worker populations and shifting employer liability to the vendor.
Chair U and committee members approved a contract on June 16, 2026, to retain Salem Group as the employer of record for DuPage County's work-based learning placements for the period July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
Lisa, speaking for county staff, summarized why the county sought the contract: "The county has historically served as employer record and the grant pays the wages for those participants." She said the county wants to expand beyond youth placements (historically ages 17 to 24) to include adult and dislocated-worker populations and that Salem Group has been used successfully by a neighboring county for more than a decade.
According to Lisa, moving the employer-of-record function to Salem Group would transfer related liability and administrative burden away from county HR and finance staff and allow county employees to focus on recruiting employers, matching participants to host sites, and program administration. The contract is procured under a governmental joint purchasing agreement with Lake County and carries a not-to-exceed amount of $200,000 as stated in the agenda memo.
The committee discussed operational benefits and the challenges the county experienced while scaling youth placements, including finance and HR workload. The motion to approve EDP2-26 passed without recorded opposition.
Next steps: county staff will finalize the vendor agreement and proceed with implementation plans to expand work-based learning placements under the new employer-of-record arrangement.
