Maryland Department of Human Resources Section 17A-2

      (a)      Local social services offices shall give an assignment to unemployed employable persons receiving general public assistance to employables. These persons shall be placed with units of State, county, or municipal governments, or nonprofit public service agencies which have requested these assignments. These requests shall be addressed to the local office and shall indicate the number of persons who can be used and the character of the assignment to be performed. In order to receive an assigned recipient, the agency shall provide an assignment which would be sufficient to enable the recipient to be entitled to an additional "work bonus grant" which would be in addition to the general public assistance to employables grant. The sum of the general public assistance to employables grant and the "work bonus grant" shall equal the State standard of need according to family size as defined by the Social Services Administration. In calculating the time necessary to qualify for the grants, the rate of compensation credited to the recipient shall be the normal and usual hourly rate applicable to the type of assignments performed. In no case shall this rate be less than the applicable federal minimum wage rate. Each agency requesting assignments shall provide supervision, transportation for each person to and from the place of work or suitable reimbursement for reasonable transportation expenses, and necessary equipment. Expenses for supervision, transportation and equipment shall be payable from current appropriations of the agency.

      (b)      The recipient shall be assigned work he is able to perform provided that he will not: (i) perform any work ordinarily performed by regular employees which would displace regular employees; or (ii) perform work ordinarily performed by private employment which would displace any regular employees.

      After one month of satisfactory work in a work assignment, the recipient shall be eligible for the first job opening within his classification or work assignment.

      (c)      The time on the assignment shall be determined (1) for the basic grant, by dividing the amount of the monthly general public assistance to employables by the applicable hourly rate or the minimum wage rate, whichever is greater; (2) for the bonus grant, if applicable, by dividing the amount of the bonus grant by the applicable hourly rate or minimum wage rate, whichever is greater. No person shall be required to spend more time than would be necessary to qualify for the basic grant. The recipient may, at his option, elect to spend an additional period of time which would be sufficient to qualify him for the work bonus grant. No person shall be required to work more than 40 hours per week, or eight hours per day.

      (d)      A person may not be placed in a public job under this program until every effort has been made by the local office of employment security to secure private employment for him.

      (e)      The local social services office and the local office of employment security shall make every effort to secure permanent employment in either public or private positions for those persons employed pursuant to this section.

      (f)      Any person who does not perform the work he has been assigned shall become ineligible for general public assistance to employables.

      (g)      (1)      For the purpose of the Maryland Workers' Compensation Act, participants in the following programs shall be considered employees of the Department of Human Resources while assigned to jobs:

                  (i)      General public assistance to employables; and

                  (ii)      Work experience programs administered as part of the Department's employment initiatives project.

            (2)      The Secretary of Human Resources shall pay into the Insured Workers' Insurance Fund the premium established by the Fund as necessary to provide workers' compensation for these individuals.