§ 605. Qualified employers; application. An employer who has at least
two full time employees may apply to participate in a shared work
program. The written application shall be made according to such forms
and procedures as the commissioner may specify and shall include such
information as the commissioner may require, including such other
information that the United States Secretary of Labor determines to be
appropriate for purposes of a shared work program. The commissioner
shall not approve such application unless the employer (1) certifies
that for the duration of the program it will not eliminate or diminish
health insurance, medical insurance, retirement benefits or any other
fringe benefits provided to employees immediately prior to the
application unless such benefits provided to employees that do not
participate in the shared work program are reduced or diminished to the
same extent as those employees that participate in the shared work
program; (2) certifies that the collective bargaining agent for the
employees, if any, has agreed to participate in the program; (3)
certifies that if not for the shared work program to be initiated the
employer would reduce or would have reduced its work force to a degree
equivalent to the total number of working hours proposed to be reduced
or restricted for all included employees; (4) certifies that it will not
hire additional part time or full time employees for the affected work
force while the program is in operation; (5) agrees that no participant
of the program shall receive, in the aggregate, more than twenty-six
weeks of benefits exclusive of the waiting week; (6) provides a
description of how workers in the work force will be notified of the
shared work program in advance of it taking effect, if feasible, and if
such notice is not feasible, provides an explanation of why such notice
is not feasible; (7) provides an estimate of the number of workers who
would be laid off if the employer could not participate in the shared
work program; and (8) certifies that the terms of the employer's written
plan and implementation shall be consistent with employer obligations
under applicable federal and state laws.