Section 336-F. Subsidized private sector and not-for-profit employment programs

1. A social services district may establish subsidized private
  sector employment programs for public assistance  recipients  including,
  but  not  limited  to,  grant diversion programs, which may be supported
  wholly or in part with public assistance funds. Such programs  shall  be
  established  through  agreements  between local districts and employers,
  including  not  for  profit  employers;  provided,  however,  that,   if
  appropriate,  the  department  may  act  on  behalf of one or more local
  districts in establishing such agreements.
    2. Programs may include,  but  need  not  be  limited  to,  on-the-job
  training  programs  which  reimburse  employers for the cost of training
  public assistance recipients through wage subsidies.
    3. The social services official or the  department  is  authorized  to
  transfer public assistance funds to employers through written agreements
  developed and executed in accordance with department regulations.
    4.  A  recipient  may  be  placed  in  a  subsidized private sector or
  not-for-profit employment activity only if:
    (a) the conditions of employment including such factors as the type of
  work to be performed, the  geographic  location  of  the  job,  and  the
  qualifications of the participant are appropriate and reasonable.
    (b) the recipient is deemed an employee for purposes of the applicable
  collective  bargaining and labor laws and receives the same benefits and
  protections as an employee similarly situated (working a similar  length
  of  time  and doing similar work) receives pursuant to the provisions of
  law, an applicable collective bargaining agreement or otherwise as  made
  available to the employees of the employer.
    (c)  no  employee  of  the  participating employer is displaced by any
  recipient hired pursuant to  this  section.  For  the  purpose  of  this
  subdivision,  the  term displacement shall include partial displacement,
  such as a reduction in the customary hours of work (including overtime),
  wages, or employment benefits.
    (d) no participant shall be hired:
    (i)  if  any  other  employee  of  the  employer  is   available   for
  reinstatement,  recall  or  reemployment  following  a leave of absence,
  furlough, layoff or  suspension  from  the  same  or  any  substantially
  equivalent job; or
    (ii)  when  the  employer has terminated the employment of any regular
  employee or otherwise reduced its  work  force  with  the  intention  of
  filling  the  vacancy  or  vacancies  so created by hiring a participant
  whose wages are subsidized under this program; or
    (iii) when the employee organization  representing  employees  of  the
  employer  is  engaged in a strike against the employer or such employees
  have been locked-out by the employer; or
    (iv) when such hiring will result in the loss  of  a  bargaining  unit
  position as a result of work experience participants performing, in part
  or  in  whole,  the  work  normally  performed  by  the employee in such
  position.
    (e) no job  is  created  that  will  infringe  in  any  way  upon  the
  promotional  opportunities of current employees or individuals currently
  engaged in an approved apprenticeship training program.
    (f) no participant shall remain  in  a  job  if  another  employee  is
  eligible for promotion to that job. An employer shall, at least ten days
  prior  to  filling  a  position  with a participant, notify any employee
  organization that represents employees who are engaged in  similar  work
  or  training  in  the  same or substantially equivalent jobs as those in
  which the placement is to be made, that it intends to make  a  placement
  pursuant to the terms of this section.

    (g)  where  an  employee  organization  represents  employees  who are
  engaged in similar work in the same or substantially equivalent jobs  as
  those  proposed  to  be  funded  under  this  program, an opportunity is
  provided for such organization to comment on the proposed placement of a
  participant or the administration of the program and the social services
  official  or  his  or her designee shall respond to such comments within
  ten days of receipt thereof.
    (h) employers are prohibited from using  public  assistance  funds  to
  encourage   or   discourage  membership  in,  or  participation  in  the
  activities of, any employee organization and each employer  provides  to
  the  social services district assurances that no such funds will be used
  for such purposes.
    5. The  social  services  district  shall  require  every  private  or
  not-for-profit  employer  that intends to hire one or more work activity
  participants to certify to the district that such employer has  not,  in
  the  past  five  years,  been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor the
  underlying basis of which involved workplace safety and health or  labor
  standards.  Such employer shall also certify as to all violations issued
  by the department of labor  within  the  past  five  years.  The  social
  services  official  in  the  district in which the participant is placed
  shall determine whether there is a pattern of violations  sufficient  to
  render  the  potential  employer  ineligible. Employers who submit false
  information under this section shall be subject to criminal  prosecution
  for filing a false instrument.