75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 758
House Bill 2204
Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
Presession filed (at the request of Governor Theodore R.
Kulongoski for Employment Department)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Eliminates Employment Department component of JOBS Plus
program. Transfers balance of moneys in Oregon JOBS Plus
Unemployment Wage Fund to General Fund.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to JOBS Plus program; creating new provisions; amending
ORS 411.877, 411.878, 411.882, 411.886, 411.888, 411.889,
411.890; 411.892 and 657.190; and repealing ORS 411.884 and
657.925.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 411.877 is amended to read:
411.877. As used in ORS { - 316.680, - } 411.877 to 411.896
{ - and 657.925 - } :
(1) 'Board' means the JOBS Plus Advisory Board established in
ORS 411.886.
(2) { - ' Department' means the Department of Human
Services. - } { + ' Food stamp plan' means the plan described
in ORS 411.825.
(3) 'Job opportunities and basic skills program' means the
program described in ORS 412.006. + }
{ - (3) - } { + (4) + } 'JOBS Plus' or 'program' means the
JOBS Plus Program established in ORS 411.878.
SECTION 2. ORS 411.878 is amended to read:
411.878. (1) In establishing and implementing a program to be
known as the JOBS Plus Program, the Legislative Assembly
recognizes that early attachment to work and development of
knowledge and skills are the most effective means of helping
people make the transition from dependence on public assistance
and subsiding in poverty to regular employment and self-reliance.
It is the intent of the Legislative Assembly to promote greater
economic self-sufficiency among Oregon families { - and
workers - } by:
(a) Increasing the employability of unemployed and
underemployed Oregonians through on-the-job training;
(b) Invigorating the public-private workforce partnership
through development of jobs with both private for-profit and
public employers;
(c) Ensuring that program participants through their employment
development plans have opportunities to improve work skills,
education and employability and to establish recent work
histories with work site training, mentoring, individual
education accounts and provision of necessary support service
benefits that include child care, workers' compensation, job
placement and a guarantee that participation in the JOBS Plus
Program does not result in a reduction in net income to a
participant when compared with the participant's combined income
from the temporary assistance for needy families program
{ - , - } { + and + } the food stamp { + plan + }
{ - program and the unemployment insurance program - } ; and
(d) Expeditiously placing program participants in subsidized
and unsubsidized employment.
(2) The JOBS Plus Program is created as a program in which
residents of the State of Oregon shall, in lieu of receiving food
stamp benefits and payments from the temporary assistance for
needy families program, be provided jobs and paid in a way that
promotes self-sufficiency and encourages unemployed Oregonians to
improve their positions in the workforce. { - Recipients of
unemployment insurance also shall be offered employment under the
program. - } The JOBS Plus Program shall be a public assistance
to work strategy for the State of Oregon and operate under the
job opportunities and basic skills program and rules adopted
thereunder to the extent such rules are not inconsistent with ORS
{ - 316.680, - } 411.877 to 411.896 { - and 657.925 - } .
These rules include but are not limited to rules regarding
participation requirements { - , exemptions - } and support
services.
SECTION 3. ORS 411.882 is amended to read:
411.882. In administering the JOBS Plus Program and to the
extent permitted by federal law, the Department of Human Services
shall maximize the use of federal grants and apportionments of
the temporary assistance for needy families program, the food
stamp
{ - program - } { + plan + } and employment related child
care.
SECTION 4. ORS 411.886 is amended to read:
411.886. (1) The JOBS Plus Advisory Board is established. The
board shall advise the Department of Human Services { - and the
Employment Department - } in the direction and administration of
the JOBS Plus Program established { + in + } { - under ORS
316.680, 411.877 to 411.896 and 657.925 - } { + 411.878 + }.
The board shall have seven members, consisting of six
representatives of the business community and one employed former
recipient of temporary assistance for needy families { - , - }
{ + or + } the food stamp { + plan + } { - program or the
unemployment insurance program - } .
(2) The Governor shall appoint new members from nominees
recommended by the board.
(3) Members appointed to the board shall serve terms of three
years.
SECTION 5. ORS 411.888 is amended to read:
411.888. (1) Nominations for persons to fill scheduled
vacancies must be made to the Governor not less than 30 days
prior to the effective date of the vacancy. Nominations for
persons to fill an unscheduled vacancy shall be made to the
Governor not more than 30 days after the position becomes vacant.
(2) The JOBS Plus Advisory Board shall select one of its
members to serve as a chairperson for such terms and with duties
and powers necessary for the performance of the functions of such
office as the board determines. A majority of the members of the
board constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business.
(3) The board shall meet at least once each quarter with the
Director of Human Services { - and the Director of the
Employment Department - } .
(4) The board shall report at least annually to the Governor
and the Legislative Assembly on the status and progress of the
JOBS Plus Program. The chairperson of the board shall have the
additional duty to work with and coordinate the local councils
created in ORS 411.890.
SECTION 6. ORS 411.889 is amended to read:
411.889. The { - Employment Department and the - }
Department of Human Services shall explore contracting for job
procurement and placement services with private job placement
institutions. If contracting is deemed beneficial, { - the
Employment Department and - } the Department of Human Services
{ - are - } { + is + } encouraged to and shall have the
authority to contract with private placement firms.
SECTION 7. ORS 411.890 is amended to read:
411.890. A JOBS Plus Implementation Council shall be
established in service areas to be determined by the Director of
Human Services to assist the JOBS Plus Advisory Board { - , - }
{ + and + } the Department of Human Services { - and the
Employment Department - } in the administration of the JOBS Plus
Program and to allow local flexibility in dealing with the
particular needs of each county. Each council shall be primarily
responsible for recruiting and encouraging participation of
employment providers in the county. Each council shall be
composed of seven members who shall be appointed by the county
commissioners in each county in the district. Council members
shall be residents of the district in which they are appointed
and shall serve four-year terms. Six members of the council shall
be from the local business community. At least one member shall
be a current or former recipient of the temporary assistance for
needy families program { - , - } { + or + } the food stamp
{ + plan + } { - program or the unemployment insurance
program - } .
SECTION 8. ORS 411.892 is amended to read:
411.892. (1)(a) All employers, including public and private
sector employers within the State of Oregon, are eligible to
participate in the JOBS Plus Program. The Department of Human
Services { - or Employment Department, as appropriate, - }
shall adopt by rule a method to disqualify employers from
participating in the program. No employer is required to
participate in the JOBS Plus Program. In the event that there are
unassigned participants whom no employer desires to utilize, the
participants may be assigned to work for a public agency.
(b) The maximum number of program participants that any
employer is authorized to receive at any one time may not exceed
10 percent of the total number of the employer's employees.
However, each employer may receive one participant. The Director
of Human Services { - or Director of the Employment Department,
as appropriate, - } may waive the limit in special
circumstances.
(c) The Department of Human Services { - or Employment
Department, as appropriate, - } by rule shall establish criteria
for excluding employers from participation for failure to abide
by program requirements, showing a pattern of terminating
participants prior to the completion of training or other
demonstrated unwillingness to comply with the stated intent of
the program.
(2) The Department of Human Services { - or Employment
Department, as appropriate, - } shall ensure that jobs made
available to program participants:
(a) Do not require work in excess of 40 hours per week;
{ - (b) Are in conformity with section 3304(a)(5) of the
Federal Unemployment Tax Act; - }
{ - (c) - } { + (b) + } Are not used to displace regular
employees or to fill unfilled positions previously established;
and
{ - (d) - } { + (c) + } Do not pay a wage that is
substantially less than the wage paid for similar jobs in the
local economy with appropriate adjustments for experience and
training.
(3)(a) Eligibility for the program shall be limited to
residents who are:
(A) Adults and caretaker relatives who are receiving temporary
assistance for needy families benefits;
(B) Adult food stamp { - program - } recipients except as
described in subsection (5)(b) of this section; { + and + }
{ - (C) Unemployment compensation recipients; and - }
{ - (D) - } { + (C) + } Unemployed noncaretaker parents of
children who are receiving temporary assistance for needy
families benefits.
(b) In addition to those residents eligible for the program
under paragraph (a) of this subsection, additional residents who
are seeking employment may be eligible for the program if there
are legislatively allocated funds available { - from the
savings attributable to the program in the Unemployment
Compensation Trust Fund or - } in the temporary assistance for
needy families budget of the Department of Human Services.
(4)(a) Individuals desiring work through the program shall
contact the nearest Department of Human Services office serving
the county in which they reside if they are temporary assistance
for needy families program or food stamp { - program - } { +
plan + } applicants or recipients or noncustodial parents of
individuals receiving temporary assistance for needy families.
{ - Unemployment insurance applicants or recipients or others
seeking employment may gain access to the program through their
local Employment Department office. - }
(b) With the assistance of the local JOBS Plus Implementation
Councils and the JOBS Plus Advisory Board, the Department of
Human Services shall develop a job inventory of sufficient size
to accommodate all of the participants who desire to work in the
program. In consultation with the participant, the department
shall try to match the profile of each participant with the needs
of an employer when assigning a participant to work with the
employer.
(c) Either the employer or the participant may terminate the
assignment by contacting the appropriate Department of Human
Services { - or Employment Department - } office. In such
event, the Department of Human Services { - or Employment
Department - } shall reassess the needs of the participant and
assign the participant to another JOBS Plus Program placement or
another job opportunity and basic skills program component and,
at the employer's request, provide the employer with another
participant.
(d)(A) { - Subject to ORS 657.925 (6)(d), - } If after four
months in a placement, a participant has not been hired for an
unsubsidized position, the employer shall allow the worker to
undertake eight hours of job search per week. Participating
employers shall consider such time as hours worked for the
purposes of paying wages.
(B) { - Subject to ORS 657.925 (6)(d), - } If after six
months in a placement, a participant has not been hired for an
unsubsidized position, the placement shall be terminated, and the
caseworker shall reassess the participant's employment
development plan.
(e) The Department of Human Services may pay placement and
barrier removal payments to temporary assistance for needy
families { + program + } and food stamp { - program - } { +
plan + } participants as necessary to enable participation in the
JOBS Plus Program.
(f) The Department of Human Services shall accept eligible
volunteers into the program prior to mandating program
participation by eligible persons.
(5)(a) Assignment of participants to available jobs shall be
based on a preference schedule developed by the Department of
Human Services { - and the Employment Department - } . Any
temporary assistance for needy families recipient or food stamp
recipient may volunteer for the program.
(b) The following individuals may not be required to
participate in the program:
(A) { + Recipients under the + } temporary assistance for
needy families { + program + } and { + the + } food stamp { +
plan + } { - recipients - } who are eligible for Supplemental
Security Income benefits or other ongoing state or federal
maintenance benefits based on age or disability.
(B) Food stamp applicants or recipients who are employed
full-time or are college students eligible for food stamps and
enrolled full-time in a community college or an institution of
higher education, or enrolled half-time in a community college or
an institution of higher education and working at least 20 hours
per week.
(C) Teenage parents who remain in high school if progressing
toward a diploma. Teenage parents not in school are eligible for
the JOBS Plus Program.
(c) The Department of Human Services shall provide life skills
classes and opportunities to achieve General Educational
Development (GED) certificates to appropriate participants in
conjunction with working in the JOBS Plus Program.
(d) { + Subject to subsection (7) of this section,
+ }temporary assistance for needy families and food stamp
benefits shall be suspended at the end of the calendar month in
which an employer makes the first wage payment to a participant
who is a custodial parent in a family that receives temporary
assistance for needy families or to any adult member of a
household receiving food stamp benefits. Failure of the
participant to cooperate with the requirements of the JOBS Plus
Program may result in the participant's removal, in accordance
with rules adopted by the Department of Human Services, from the
JOBS Plus Program and suspension of the participant's temporary
assistance for needy families grant and food stamp benefits. A
temporary assistance for needy families and food stamp benefits
recipient who has been removed from the program for failing to
cooperate shall be eligible to reapply to participate in the
program and shall have eligibility for program services
determined without regard to the length of time the person was
not participating following removal.
(6)(a) Employers shall pay all participating individuals at
least the hourly rate of the Oregon minimum wage.
(b) Sick leave, holiday and vacation absences shall conform to
the individual employer's rules for temporary employees.
(c) Group health insurance benefits shall be provided by the
employer to program participants if, and to the extent that,
state or federal law requires the employer to provide such
benefits.
(d) All persons participating in the JOBS Plus Program shall be
considered to be temporary employees of the individual employer
providing the work and shall be entitled only to benefits
required by state or federal law.
(e) Employers shall provide workers' compensation coverage for
each JOBS Plus Program participant.
(7) In the event that the net monthly full-time wage paid to a
participant would be less than the level of income from the
temporary assistance for needy families program and the food
stamp benefit amount equivalent that the participant would
otherwise receive, the Department of Human Services shall
determine and pay a supplemental payment as necessary to provide
the participant with that level of net income. The department
shall determine and pay in advance supplemental payments to
participants on a monthly basis as necessary to ensure equivalent
net program wages. Participants shall be compensated only for
time worked.
(8) In addition to and not in lieu of the payments provided for
under subsections (6) and (7) of this section, participants shall
be entitled to retain the full child support payments collected
by the Department of Justice.
(9) Program participants who are eligible for federally and
state funded medical assistance at the time they enter the
program shall remain eligible as long as they continue to
participate in the program. In conformity with existing state day
care program regulations, child day care shall be provided for
all program participants who require it.
(10) JOBS Plus Program employers shall:
(a) Endeavor to make JOBS Plus Program placements positive
learning and training experiences;
(b) Maintain health, safety and working conditions at or above
levels generally acceptable in the industry and no less than that
of comparable jobs of the employer;
(c) Provide on-the-job training to the degree necessary for the
participants to perform their duties;
(d) Recruit volunteer mentors from among their regular
employees to assist the participants in becoming oriented to work
and the workplace; and
(e) Sign an agreement to abide by all requirements of the
program, including the requirement that the program not supplant
existing jobs. All agreements shall include provisions noting the
employer's responsibility to repay reimbursements in the event
the employer violates program rules. When a professional
placement service, professional employment organization or
temporary employment agency is acting as an employer pursuant to
subsection
{ - (14) - } { + (13) + } of this section, agreements under
this paragraph shall require a three-party agreement between the
professional placement service, professional employment
organization or temporary employment agency, the organization
where the participant has been placed to perform services and the
State of Oregon. The three-party agreement shall include
provisions requiring that all JOBS Plus reimbursements received
by the professional placement service, professional employment
organization or temporary employment agency be credited to the
organization where the participant has been placed to perform
services.
(11) Program participant wages shall be subject to federal and
state income taxes, Social Security taxes and unemployment
insurance tax or reimbursement as applicable under ORS chapter
657, which shall be withheld and paid in accordance with state
and federal law. Supplemental payments made pursuant to
subsection (7) of this section shall not be subject to state
income taxes under ORS chapter 316 and, to the extent allowed by
federal law, shall not be subject to federal income taxes and
Social Security taxes.
(12)(a) { - (A) - } The Department of Human Services shall
reimburse employers for the employers' share of Social Security,
unemployment insurance and workers' compensation premiums paid on
behalf of program participants { - , other than those who are
unemployment insurance claimants, - } referred to the employer
by the Department of Human Services, as well as the minimum wage
earnings paid by the employer to program participants referred to
the employer by the Department of Human Services.
{ - (B) The Employment Department shall reimburse employers
$5 per hour paid by the employer as earnings to JOBS Plus Program
participants, who are unemployment insurance claimants and are
referred to the employer by the Employment Department. - }
(b) If the Department of Human Services { - or Employment
Department - } finds that an employer has violated any of the
rules of the JOBS Plus Program, the { - appropriate - }
department:
(A) Shall withhold any amounts due to employers under paragraph
(a) of this subsection.
(B) May seek repayment of any amounts paid to employers under
paragraph (a) of this subsection.
{ - (13) Subject to ORS 657.925 (6)(d), for unemployment
insurance claimants participating in the JOBS Plus Program: - }
{ - (a) If after nine weeks in a placement, a participant has
not been hired for an unsubsidized position, the employer shall
allow the worker to undertake up to five hours of job search per
week. Participating employers shall consider this time as hours
worked for the purposes of paying wages. - }
{ - (b) If after 13 weeks in a placement, a participant has
not been hired for an unsubsidized position, the employer shall
terminate the placement and the Employment Department shall
assess the participant's employment development plan. - }
{ - (14) - } { + (13) + } For purposes of this section,
'employer' shall include professional placement services,
professional employment organizations and temporary employment
agencies.
SECTION 9. ORS 657.190 is amended to read:
657.190. { - (1) - } In determining whether any work is
suitable for an individual, the Director of the Employment
Department shall consider, among other factors, the degree of
risk involved to the health, safety and morals of the individual,
the physical fitness and prior training, experience and prior
earnings of the individual, the length of unemployment and
prospects for securing local work in the customary occupation of
the individual and the distance of the available work from the
residence of the individual.
{ - (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the
director may refer claimants to JOBS Plus Program jobs for which
the claimant does not have adequate skills or experience when the
JOBS Plus Program job is likely to result in an upgrade in the
claimant's skills and experience. - }
SECTION 10. { + Any unexpended balances remaining in the
Oregon JOBS Plus Unemployment Wage Fund on the effective date of
this 2009 Act shall revert to the General Fund. + }
SECTION 11. { + ORS 411.884 and 657.925 are repealed. + }
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