Section 21-501
* § 21-501 Definitions. Whenever used in this chapter the following
words shall have the following meanings:
a. "Affiliated organization" shall mean a local government agency or
community-based organization that is affiliated with a sponsoring
organization and employs certified individuals.
b. "Case management" shall mean the provision and coordination of
services to participants to ensure their success in the transitional
jobs program, and enhance their chances of securing permanent employment
after their participation in such program. Such services shall include,
but shall not be limited to, providing education and training, career
counseling, and childcare. Such services shall also include assisting
participants in obtaining all federal, state and local government
benefits that they are otherwise entitled to, including, but not limited
to, child care expenses, training-related expenses, food stamps, and
medicaid or transitional medicaid.
c. "Certified individual" shall mean an individual certified by the
commissioner to participate in the transitional jobs program.
d. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of the department of
employment or the commissioner or head of any other department or agency
that the mayor designates to administer the transitional jobs program.
e. "Community-based organization" shall mean a non-profit organization
providing services to, or operating for the benefit of, a particular
community. Community-based organizations may also include a trade union
that offers apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship programs.
f. "Department" shall mean the department of employment, or any other
department or agency that the mayor designates to administer the
transitional jobs program.
g. "Participant" shall mean an individual employed by a sponsoring or
affiliated organization in the transitional jobs program following
eligibility determination and certification by the commissioner.
h. "Sponsoring organization" shall mean a local government agency or
community-based organization selected by the commissioner to employ or
facilitate the employment of certified individuals, and to provide case
management to participants, provided, however, that nothing shall
preclude a sponsoring organization from being a public, non-profit
corporation created pursuant to applicable New York state law.
i. "Transitional jobs program" shall mean a program designed to create
temporary employment in the public sector and in community-based
organizations, and to provide the participants of such program with
education and training, career counseling, and related services, to
enhance their ability to secure permanent employment after their
participation in such program.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-502
* § 21-502 Transitional jobs program.
a. The mayor shall direct the commissioner to establish a transitional
jobs program, which shall consist of a total of two thousand five
hundred temporary jobs in the public sector and in community-based
organizations, at least two-thirds of which shall be created within
local government agencies in the public sector. Such total number of two
thousand five hundred temporary jobs shall exist for a period of
thirty-six months, commencing on January first, two thousand one;
provided, however, that each participant in the transitional jobs
program shall only be employed by a sponsoring or affiliated
organization for a period not to exceed twelve months, and that each
specific job created pursuant to the transitional jobs program shall be
retained for at least twelve months. An initial group of two thousand
five hundred participants shall commence employment on January first,
two thousand one. A second group of two thousand five hundred
participants shall commence employment on January first, two thousand
two, and a final group of two thousand five hundred participants shall
commence employment on January first, two thousand three.
b. The jobs created in local government agencies pursuant to this
chapter shall, consistent with applicable collective bargaining laws and
agreements, be accreted to appropriate existing collective bargaining
units.
c. In implementing the transitional jobs program, the mayor shall
direct the commissioner to select which local government agencies shall
be sponsoring organizations. In making such determination, the
commissioner may work in cooperation with the commissioners of other
local government agencies and may, consistent with obligations under
collective bargaining laws and agreements, consult with the heads of
collective bargaining organizations, and may consider each prospective
agency's prior experience hiring welfare recipients and the unemployed,
its prior experience assisting such individuals in finding jobs, its
prior experience providing education and training, career counseling,
and related services to its employees, its plans to address or fulfill
the needs of communities throughout the city of New York, its plans to
employ or facilitate the employment of certified individuals, its plans
to provide case management to participants, and its plans to assist in
the permanent placement of participants following their participation in
the transitional jobs program.
d. In meeting the goal of placing participants in community based
organizations pursuant to this chapter, the mayor may direct the
commissioner to issue a request for proposals or to utilize any other
procurement method that he or she deems necessary to select
community-based organizations to become sponsoring organizations. To
determine which community-based organizations shall become sponsoring
organizations, the commissioner may consider an organization's prior
experience hiring welfare recipients and the unemployed, its prior
experience assisting such individuals in finding jobs, its prior
experience providing education and training, career counseling, and
related services to its employees, its plans to address or fulfill the
needs of communities throughout the city of New York, its plans to
employ or facilitate the employment of certified individuals, its plans
to provide case management to participants, and its plans to assist in
the permanent placement of participants following their participation in
the transitional jobs program. Where the employees of a community-based
organization that has been selected to become a sponsoring or affiliated
organization are members of a collective bargaining unit, such
collective bargaining unit shall, consistent with applicable collective
bargaining laws and agreements, have the opportunity to comment on such
selection. The commissioner shall respond to such comments within
fifteen days of their receipt.
e. Each sponsoring or affiliated organization may employ any certified
individual, and employment with a sponsoring or affiliated organization
shall be for a period not to exceed twelve months.
f. The sponsoring organizations shall provide each participant with
the necessary case management to enable the participant to succeed in
the transitional jobs program, build his or her job skills, and enhance
his or her chances of securing permanent employment after participating
in the transitional jobs program.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-503
* § 21-503 Powers and duties of the commissioner. Except as otherwise
provided by law, the commissioner shall have the power and it shall be
the commissioner's duty to perform the following functions and duties
relating to the transitional jobs program:
1. To ensure that at least sixty percent of all participants were
receiving family assistance at the time of their certification, and that
at least forty percent of all participants were either receiving safety
net assistance, were unemployed for at least six months or had exhausted
their unemployment insurance at the time of their certification. The
commissioner shall also ensure that at least fifty percent of all
participants faced serious barriers to employment or were participating
in the work experience program at the time of their certification.
Serious barriers to employment shall include, but not be limited to, a
lack of basic work-related skills, a high school diploma or English
proficiency. In addition, any person who is either a teen parent, a
former substance user, disabled, homeless or a victim of domestic
violence, or any person who has a criminal record, HIV/AIDS or an
HIV/AIDS-related illness or any other life-threatening illness shall be
presumed to face serious barriers to employment;
2. To establish an application procedure for those individuals seeking
to participate in the transitional jobs program;
3. To request that community-based organizations and all local
government agencies, including private industry councils, social
services intake centers and unemployment offices, publicize the
existence of the transitional jobs program to those individuals who may
be eligible to participate in such program;
4. To notify recipients of family assistance and safety net assistance
of their right to apply for participation in the transitional jobs
program;
5. To certify eligible individuals for participation in the
transitional jobs program, to promptly notify such certified individuals
of their certification in writing, and to establish a list of all
certified individuals for use by the sponsoring organizations;
6. To develop an assessment formula to evaluate the job skills, the
prior work and educational experience and the case management needs of
each certified individual, and to provide such information to the
appropriate sponsoring organization;
7. To ensure that the sponsoring organizations provide each
participant with the necessary case management to help the participant
to succeed in the transitional jobs program, build his or her job
skills, and enhance his or her chances of securing permanent employment
after participating in the transitional jobs program;
8. To ensure that participants are informed of their eligibility to
receive state and federal earned income tax credit and are offered
assistance in applying for advance payment of such credit;
9. To ensure that each community-based organization is in compliance
with section 21-505(g) of this chapter, and to further ensure that a
community-based organization that submits false information under
section 21-505(g) of this chapter shall not be permitted to be a
sponsoring or affiliated organization in the transitional jobs program;
and
10. To ensure that the powers and duties of the commissioner as set
forth in this section are carried out by public employees.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-504
* § 21-504 Eligibility criteria. A certified individual must be
eighteen years of age or older and must either (i) be receiving family
assistance or safety net assistance; (ii) have lost his or her aid to
families with dependent children, home relief, family assistance or
safety net assistance as a result of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 or state implementing law;
or (iii) have been unemployed for a period of at least six months or
have either been denied unemployment insurance or exhausted his or her
unemployment insurance benefits.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-505
* § 21-505 Duties of the sponsoring and affiliated organization.
a. The sponsoring organization shall create positions for participants
that are comparable to the positions of other employees in such
organization. In creating such positions, the sponsoring organization
shall consider the responsibilities associated with a particular
position and the participant's training and prior work experience.
b. In those cases where the sponsoring organization is unable to
provide a certified individual with an appropriate position, such
sponsoring organization shall facilitate employment with an affiliated
organization in a position comparable to the positions of other
employees in such affiliated organization. In providing such a position,
the affiliated organization shall consider the responsibility associated
with a particular position and such certified individual's training and
work experience.
c. The sponsoring organization shall provide case management to
participants employed by such organization or by such organization's
affiliated organization. The affiliated organization shall not be
responsible for providing case management to the participant.
d. Neither a sponsoring nor an affiliated organization may place a
certified individual in a position with a for-profit employer.
e. A community-based organization that is a trade union may only place
certified individuals in apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs
that are offered by such trade unions.
f. A community-based organization shall certify to the commissioner
that such organization has not, in the past five years, been convicted
of a felony or a misdemeanor the underlying basis of which involved
workplace safety and health or labor standards. Such community-based
organization shall also certify to the commissioner as to all violations
issued by the New York state department of labor. A community-based
organization that submits false information under this subdivision shall
not be permitted to be a sponsoring or affiliated organization in the
transitional jobs program.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-506
* § 21-506 Participants.
a. Participation in the transitional jobs program shall be for a
period not to exceed twelve months.
b. A participant who is not a member of a collective bargaining unit
shall receive a salary of not less than fifty percent of the Lower
Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL), as established annually by the
United States department of labor and adjusted by the New York state
department of labor for the New York city area using the New York city
area LLSIL hourly rate based on a thirty-hour workweek in full-year
employment for a family of three. Notwithstanding such minimum salary
requirement, a participant may not be compensated at a rate of pay that
is less than that of other employees of the sponsoring or affiliated
organization employing such participant, who are performing the same or
comparable work.
c. A participant who is not a member of a collective bargaining unit
shall be entitled to the same paid holidays and benefits permissible by
law as other employees of the sponsoring or affiliated organization
employing such participant, who are performing the same or comparable
work.
d. A participant who is a member of a collective bargaining unit
shall, consistent with collective bargaining laws and agreements,
receive, at a minimum, the salary and benefits provided for in
subdivisions b, c and e of this section, provided however, that such
subdivisions shall not be construed to limit the collective bargaining
unit's right to negotiate more favorable wages and/or any other terms
and conditions of employment.
e. A participant shall work the standard work hours required by the
sponsoring or affiliated organization which employs such participant,
except that in no instance shall a participant be required to work more
than forty hours per week. A participant shall be excused, when
necessary, for up to an average of eight hours per week from their
scheduled work hours to participate in adult education, job training,
and job readiness or placement services. The sponsoring organization
shall prepare the participant's work schedule and may allocate
additional hours during any work week to be spent on adult education,
job training, and job readiness or placement services, so long as over
the course of the participant's employment, no more than an average of
eight hour per week is allocated to these activities. A participant
shall be compensated as set forth in subdivision b of this section when
such participant engages in adult education, job training, or job
readiness and placement services as provided for in this subdivision.
f. A participant shall be considered an employee for purposes of the
city's human rights and collective bargaining laws and any other
applicable local laws, unless otherwise prohibited by law; provided,
however, that nothing herein shall limit the participant's rights under
an applicable federal or state law. In implementing the transitional
jobs program, the mayor or his or her designee, shall take any necessary
and/or appropriate actions to classify participants employed by local
government agencies in accordance with all applicable civil service laws
and consistent with the purposes of this chapter.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-507
* § 21-507 Grievance procedure. The commissioner shall establish and
maintain a grievance procedure for the filing and resolution of
complaints by participants who are not members of a collective
bargaining unit. Such grievance procedure shall provide for a hearing
within twenty business days after the filing of a participant's
complaint. The commissioner shall notify the participant of the date,
time, and place of the hearing within five business days after the
filing of such complaint. The commissioner may attempt to informally
resolve any complaint prior to the hearing, but any such attempt shall
not delay the date of the hearing, unless a participant specifically
consents in writing to a postponement of such hearing. A written
decision shall be issued within ten business days after the hearing.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the right of any
participant, including a participant who is a member of a collective
bargaining unit or a participant represented by a designated employee
spokesperson, from pursuing other available remedies under any
applicable collective bargaining agreement, or any federal, state or
local law.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-508
* § 21-508 Reports to the mayor and city council. On April first of
the years two thousand two, two thousand three, and two thousand four,
the commissioner shall issue a report to the mayor and the city council
evaluating the program. The report shall include, but not be limited to:
1. The name and description of each sponsoring and affiliated
organization, and a summary of each organization's accomplishments;
2. The total number of certified individuals and participants in the
transitional jobs program;
3. An analysis of the impact of the transitional jobs program on the
permanent workforce within each sponsoring or affiliated organization,
including, but not limited to, a change in the number of non-participant
employees, the number of hours worked by non-participant employees, the
amount of overtime required of non-participant employees, the number of
promotions awarded to non-participant employees and the amount of wages
earned by non-participant employees;
4. The average length of time a participant is employed;
5. A summary of the education and training, career counseling and
related services provided to participants;
6. The number and percentage of participants who were able to secure
permanent employment after their participation in the transitional jobs
program, and their wage and benefit levels;
7. The estimated dollar value of the jobs created by the transitional
jobs program;
8. The estimated local economic impact of the jobs created by the
transitional jobs program;
9. The estimated savings by federal, state and local governments as a
result of reductions in social services and public assistance benefits
that would otherwise have been provided to a participant and his or her
family were it not for his or her participation in the transitional jobs
program;
10. The estimated tax revenues received by federal, state and local
governments from participants;
11. The estimated state and federal earned income tax credit received
by participants;
12. An analysis of the impact of the transitional jobs program on the
overall welfare of participants and their families;
13. The amount of funds appropriated and expended on the
administration of the transitional jobs program;
14. Whether the transitional jobs program has met the criteria
established by the United States health and human services department
for participation in the welfare bonuses program in order to receive
bonus funding available to selected states that successfully place
welfare recipients in jobs as provided for by the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-509
* § 21-509 Displacement of employees.
a. A certified individual may be employed by a sponsoring or
affiliated organization only if:
1. such employment would not result in (i) the displacement of any
currently employed worker or the loss of a position (including partial
displacement such as reduction in the hours of non-overtime work, wages
or employment benefits) or the impairment of existing contracts for
services or collective bargaining agreements; (ii) any infringement of
the promotional opportunities of any current employees; (iii) the
performance, by such certified individual, of a substantial portion of
the work ordinarily and actually performed by regular employees; or (iv)
the loss of a bargaining unit position as a result of a participant
performing, in part or in whole, the work normally performed by a
regular employee;
2. such employment is not at any work site at which regular employees
are on a legal strike or are being subjected to lock out by the
sponsoring or affiliated organization;
3. no other regular employee is available for reinstatement, recall or
reemployment following an approved leave of absence, furlough, layoff or
suspension from the same or substantially equivalent job; or
4. the sponsoring or affiliated organization has not terminated the
employment of any regular employee or otherwise reduced its workforce
with the effect of filling the vacancy or vacancies so created with
certified individuals.
b. Community-based organizations who are awarded contracts to become a
sponsoring organization shall at the time of award provide written
notification to its employees' collective bargaining representatives, if
any, regarding such plan. The notice shall include, at a minimum, the
participants' expected work locations, job duties, approximate salaries,
and the approximate number of hours to be worked.
c. Local government agencies planning to enter into an agreement with
the department to become a sponsoring organization shall provide written
notification to its employees' collective bargaining representatives, if
any, regarding such plan. The notice shall include, at a minimum, the
participants' expected work locations, job duties, approximate salaries,
and the approximate number of hours to be worked.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-510
* § 21-510 Rules. The commissioner shall make and promulgate such
rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of
this chapter.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003
Section 21-511
* § 21-511 Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any reason, declared
unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by any court of
competent jurisdiction such portion shall be deemed severable, and such
unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this law, which remaining portions shall continue
in full force and effect.
* NB Declared invalid by NYS Supreme Court 5/9/2003