2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 24 - Labor
Chapter 19 - Youth Transitional Employment Program
§ 616. Approval of employers programs
(a)
(1) An employer may be paid its share under Title 33, Chapter 111, section 3092, Virgin Islands Code, on behalf of an eligible enrollee employed by such employer and participating in a program of transitional employment offered by that employer only if the program is approved under this section and in accordance with such procedures as the Commissioner may by regulation prescribe.
(2) The Commissioner shall approve an employer's proposed program of employment transition unless the Commissioner determines that the application does not contain a certification and other information meeting the requirements established under this act or that withholding of approval is warranted under subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The Commissioner may not approve a program—
(1) for employment under which commissions are the primary source of income; and
(2) for employment which involves political or religious activities; and
(3) for employment outside the territory.
(c) An employer offering a program of transitional employment that the employer desires to have approved for the purposes of this act shall submit to the Commissioner a written application for such approval. Such application shall be in such form as the Commissioner shall prescribe.
(d) An application under subsection (c) of this section shall include a certification by the employer of the following:
(1) that the employer will employ the enrollees in a position for which the enrollee qualifies and that the employer expects that such position will be available on a stable and permanent basis to the enrollee for one year; and
(2) that the wages and benefits to be paid to an enrollee participating in the employer's program of transition employment will be not less than the wages and benefits normally paid to other employees in a similar or the same employment position; and
(3) that the employment of an enrollee under the program—
(I) will not result in the displacement of currently employed workers (including) partial displacement such as a reduction in the hours of non-overtime work, wages or employment benefits); and
(II) will not be in a job—
(i) while any other individual is on layoff from the same or substantially equivalent job, or
(ii) the opening for which was created as a result of the employer having terminated the employment of any regular employee or otherwise having reduced its work force with intention of hiring an enrollee in such job under this act.
(4) That each participating enrollee will be employed for not less than 20 hours per week in the agency, organization or private business.
(5) That the employer will keep adequate records to show the progress made by each enrollee participating in the program and otherwise to demonstrate compliance with the requirements established under this act.
(6) That the employer will furnish each participating enrollee, before the enrollee's entry into the position, a copy of the employer's certification under this subsection and will obtain and retain the enrollee's signed acknowledgment of having received such certification.
(7) That the program meets such other criteria as the Commissioner may determine are essential for the effective implementation of the program established by this act.
(e) A certification under subsection (d) of this section shall include—
(1) a statement indicating—
(A) the total number of hours of participation in the program of transition employment to be offered an enrollee; and
(B) the starting rate of wages to be paid to a participant in the program; and
(2) a description of the training content of the program (including any agreement the employer has entered into with an educational institution and of the objective of the training).
