Qualified employers; application

§ 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.