AN ACT Relating to voluntary work supplementation; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; creating a new section; making an appropriation; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds and declares that applicants for and recipients of aid to families with dependent children would rather work than receive public assistance if there were jobs available that provided enough income to meet the needs of their children and their families. The legislature further finds that extended high unemployment, declining incomes, and falling wages in this state have had a pronounced effect on the poorest portion of our population who participate in the state income maintenance programs. The legislature further finds that people who participate in income assistance programs generally find work in the lowest paying service and retail trade sectors. These people now have to compete with better-skilled displaced manufacturing workers, people in search of second-income jobs, and young people entering the labor force for the first time.

In order to assist recipients in gaining on-the-job experience to compete more adequately for available jobs and also to create an incentive for organizations and businesses to hire recipients of aid to families with dependent children, a work supplementation program is hereby established.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The department of employment security shall establish a work supplementation program as a part of the work incentive demonstration program. In addition, the department shall seek any necessary waivers from the federal government in order to operate the work supplementation program.

(2) This program shall be administered by the department of employment security and entities administering services in service delivery areas designated pursuant to the federal job training partnership act. The program shall provide for the diversion of aid to pay a part of the wages of participants:

(a) Engaged in on-the-job training with profit or nonprofit organizations that have agreed either to employ a participant or to guarantee a priority to hire a participant when a vacancy occurs, upon successful completion of the training; or

(b) Employed by a profit or nonprofit agency that places recipients in training with employers that qualify under this chapter and which agency receives compensation from the employers for the services performed by the recipients.

(3) On-the-job training programs using work supplementation shall be for a period not to exceed one year and the amount of the wage subsidy may be periodically reduced through the period of training. At no time during the period may the wage subsidy provided to the employer exceed fifty percent of the wages paid to the participants.

(4) Participants shall be considered recipients of aid to families with dependent children and remain eligible for medicaid benefits even if the participant does not receive a residual grant. Work supplementation participants shall be eligible for (a) the thirty dollars plus one-third of earned income exclusion from income, (b) the work-related expense disregard, and (c) the child care expense disregard deemed available to a recipient of aid in computing his or her grant under this chapter, unless prohibited by federal law.

(5) Work supplementation participants shall also be eligible for subsidized day care and subsidized transportation expenses as determined by the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The department shall, subject to the availability of funds, publicize the existence of the work supplementation program established in this chapter, and shall coordinate the program with the federal small business administration.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. An applicant or recipient of aid under this chapter who participates in the work supplementation program shall be guaranteed that the value of the benefits available to him or her before entry into the program shall not be diminished. In addition, a participant employed under this chapter shall be treated in the same manner as are regular employees, and the participant's salary shall be the amount that he or she would have received if employed in that position and not participating under this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. All applicants or recipients of aid under this chapter shall be provided with information concerning the work supplementation program. Participation in the program shall be voluntary, and no person may have any sanction applied for failure to participate. No sanctions may be imposed against a program participant if the participant is terminated by the employer. If, however, the department determines that the termination was for good cause as determined by the commissioner of insurance under rules prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to chapter 50.20 RCW, the participant shall be ineligible for further participation in the program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. All employers participating in the work supplementation program shall provide written assurances that they will hire persons employed under this program, or guarantee a priority to hire persons employed under this program, when vacancies or new jobs are created in the employers' establishments.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. An employer, before becoming eligible to fill a position under the work supplementation program in this chapter, shall certify to the department that the employment, offer of employment, or work activity complies with the following conditions:

(1) The conditions of work are reasonable and not in violation of applicable federal, state, or local safety and health standards;

(2) The assignments are not in any way related to political, electoral, or partisan activities;

(3) The work supplementation position used or established under this chapter is not created as the result of, or does not result in, any of the following:

(a) Displacement of current employees, including overtime currently worked by these employees;

(b) The filling of established unfilled positions;

(d) The filling of a position, before compliance with applicable personnel procedures or provisions of collective bargaining agreements;

(e) The filling of a position created by termination, layoff, or reduction in workforce;

(f) The filling of a work assignment customarily performed by a worker in a job classification within a recognized collective bargaining unit in that specific work site, or the filling of a work assignment in any bargaining unit in which funded positions are vacant or in which regular employees are on layoff;

(g) A strike, lockout, or other bona fide labor dispute, or violation of any existing collective bargaining agreement between employees and employers;

(4) The employer shall provide industrial insurance coverage as required by Title 51 RCW;

(5) The employer shall provide unemployment compensation coverage as required by Title 50 RCW;

(6) The wages paid to work supplementation participants must be at least five dollars per hour;

(7) The work supplementation participants hired following the completion of the program shall be provided benefits equal to those provided to other employees including social security coverage, sick leave, the opportunity to join a collective bargaining unit, and medical benefits;

(8) The work supplementation participants hired following completion of the program shall be employed by the employer for a period of at least eighteen months.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If the department determines that an organization participating under this chapter is not complying with the provisions of this chapter or with any agreements entered into pursuant to this chapter, the department shall terminate the organization's eligibility to participate under this chapter and shall recover state supplemented wages from the organization determined to be ineligible.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Applicants for and recipients of aid under this chapter are "individuals in special need" of training as described in section 2 of the federal job training partnership act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1501 et seq., "individuals who require special assistance" as provided in section 123 of that act, and "most in need" of employment and training opportunities as described in section 141 of that act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The department shall seek any federal funds available for implementation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, funds available under Title IV of the federal social security act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 601 et seq.) for the work incentive demonstration program, and the employment search program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 2 through 10 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The sum of three million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, from the general fund to the department of employment security for the purposes of this act. No more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars of the appropriation may be spent for the administration of the program. The remainder of the appropriation may only be used for subsidized day care, subsidized transportation expenses, and medicaid expenses for program participants.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.