§ 336-F — Subsidized private sector and not-for-profit employment programs

§ 336-f. Subsidized private sector and not-for-profit employment\nprograms. 1. A social services district may establish subsidized private\nsector employment programs for public assistance recipients including,\nbut not limited to, grant diversion programs, which may be supported\nwholly or in part with public assistance funds. Such programs shall be\nestablished through agreements between local districts and employers,\nincluding not for profit employers; provided, however, that, if\nappropriate, the department may act on behalf of one or more local\ndistricts in establishing such agreements.\n 2. Programs may include, but need not be limited to, on-the-job\ntraining programs which reimburse employers for the cost of training\npublic assistance recipients through wage subsidies.\n 3. The social services official or the department is authorized to\ntransfer public assistance funds to employers through written agreements\ndeveloped and executed in accordance with department regulations.\n 4. A recipient may be placed in a subsidized private sector or\nnot-for-profit employment activity only if:\n (a) the conditions of employment including such factors as the type of\nwork to be performed, the geographic location of the job, and the\nqualifications of the participant are appropriate and reasonable.\n (b) the recipient is deemed an employee for purposes of the applicable\ncollective bargaining and labor laws and receives the same benefits and\nprotections as an employee similarly situated (working a similar length\nof time and doing similar work) receives pursuant to the provisions of\nlaw, an applicable collective bargaining agreement or otherwise as made\navailable to the employees of the employer.\n (c) no employee of the participating employer is displaced by any\nrecipient hired pursuant to this section. For the purpose of this\nsubdivision, the term displacement shall include partial displacement,\nsuch as a reduction in the customary hours of work (including overtime),\nwages, or employment benefits.\n (d) no participant shall be hired:\n (i) if any other employee of the employer is available for\nreinstatement, recall or reemployment following a leave of absence,\nfurlough, layoff or suspension from the same or any substantially\nequivalent job; or\n (ii) when the employer has terminated the employment of any regular\nemployee or otherwise reduced its work force with the intention of\nfilling the vacancy or vacancies so created by hiring a participant\nwhose wages are subsidized under this program; or\n (iii) when the employee organization representing employees of the\nemployer is engaged in a strike against the employer or such employees\nhave been locked-out by the employer; or\n (iv) when such hiring will result in the loss of a bargaining unit\nposition as a result of work experience participants performing, in part\nor in whole, the work normally performed by the employee in such\nposition.\n (e) no job is created that will infringe in any way upon the\npromotional opportunities of current employees or individuals currently\nengaged in an approved apprenticeship training program.\n (f) no participant shall remain in a job if another employee is\neligible for promotion to that job. An employer shall, at least ten days\nprior to filling a position with a participant, notify any employee\norganization that represents employees who are engaged in similar work\nor training in the same or substantially equivalent jobs as those in\nwhich the placement is to be made, that it intends to make a placement\npursuant to the terms of this section.\n (g) where an employee organization represents employees who are\nengaged in similar work in the same or substantially equivalent jobs as\nthose proposed to be funded under this program, an opportunity is\nprovided for such organization to comment on the proposed placement of a\nparticipant or the administration of the program and the social services\nofficial or his or her designee shall respond to such comments within\nten days of receipt thereof.\n (h) employers are prohibited from using public assistance funds to\nencourage or discourage membership in, or participation in the\nactivities of, any employee organization and each employer provides to\nthe social services district assurances that no such funds will be used\nfor such purposes.\n 5. The social services district shall require every private or\nnot-for-profit employer that intends to hire one or more work activity\nparticipants to certify to the district whether such employer has, in\nthe past five years, been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor the\nunderlying basis of which involved workplace safety and health or labor\nstandards. Such employer shall also certify as to all violations issued\nby the department of labor within the past five years. The social\nservices official in the district in which the participant is placed\nshall determine whether there is a pattern of convictions or violations\nsufficient to render the potential employer ineligible. Employers who\nsubmit false information under this section shall be subject to criminal\nprosecution for filing a false instrument.\n