Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
As used in this division of administrative rules, especially
OAR 123-674-0100 and
123-674-4000 to
123-674-4800, in determining
business firm job levels:
(1)
Averaging based on hours worked, hour paid or the like, such as full-time
equivalency, is not permitted: rather, persons in full-time, year-round jobs
associated with relevant business operations throughout the enterprise zone,
either at a particular time or on average over a year or 12-month period, are
counted.
(2) This relates primarily
to "employees of the firm" or "employment of the firm," as used in ORS
285C.200 and
285C.210, which:
(a) Includes positions or persons who are:
(A) Employed directly by the business firm,
including but not limited to being hired or retained through lease or contract
with the person or with a third party serving such a leasing or payroll
function for the firm, provided that the firm nevertheless selected and
directly manages their work, but excluding any employee of an independent
contractor, or anyone whom the firm leases or contracts out to another
business;
(B) Engaged a majority of
their working time in eligible operations under ORS
285C.135, including but not
limited to persons who perform eligible activities as described in OAR
123-674-1100 or
123-674-1200(3) or
(4); and
(C) Assigned to an official work site inside
the enterprise zone and are performing work for operations located there in
terms of how they spend at least 75 percent of their time on the job, even if
not physically working inside the zone during that entire time, but rather in
the immediately surrounding region, such that the employee can reasonably
commute to such locations on a regular basis.
(b) Excludes positions or persons who are
employed or performing work:
(A) In temporary
or seasonal jobs;
(B) For 32 or
fewer hours per week;
(C) Solely in
the construction, modification or installation of qualified property;
(D) Regularly for operations located outside
the zone boundary;
(E) With
ineligible operations at least half of their time; or
(F) At any other business firm, including but
not limited to affiliates or commonly owned companies.
(3) Consistent with subsection (2)
of this rule, only full-time jobs with the firm that are filled indefinitely
and serve the firm's eligible operations inside the zone year-round are
normally relevant. The following are exceptions:
(a) Only employees who work for the
particular headquarter-type facility are relevant in the case of OAR
123-674-1700, irrespective of
other eligible employees described in paragraph (2)(a)(C) of this rule, and
such employees may perform professional services or other normally ineligible
activities regardless of paragraphs (2)(a)(B) and (b)(E);
(b) For the transfer of eligible operations
within 30 miles of zone boundary, further requirements described in OAR
123-674-4100(3)
and 123-674-4600(2)
also cover employees at affected sites outside the zone, irrespective of
paragraphs (2)(a)(C) and (b)(D) of this rule, but only at the start and during
the first year of any exemption period.
(c) The prohibition consistent with OAR
123-674-4200 on jobs losses in
Oregon more than 30 miles outside the zone also encompasses persons employed by
any commonly controlled company irrespective of paragraph (2)(a)(A) and (b)(F)
of this rule.
(d) Jointly owned
firms may combine their employment throughout the zone subject to section (4)
of this rule, irrespective of paragraph (2)(a)(A) and (b)(F) of this
rule.
(e) Temporary workers filling
permanent positions are acceptable in a one-off situation, irrespective of
paragraph (2)(b)(A) of this rule, if the county assessor and the local zone
manager conclude that:
(A) The qualified
business firm is making every reasonable effort to fill such positions with
permanent, regular hires; and
(B)
The temporary workers and other potentially available job applicants do not
meet reasonable, minimum standards of the firm for permanent hire, such as a
high school diploma or equivalency.
(4) Under ORS
285C.135(4),
two or more eligible business firms with 100-percent common ownership may elect
to be treated as a single firm for combining zone employment if authorized
representative(s) of the firms or a parent company formally notify the local
zone manager and county assessor to that effect before or with the initial
exemption claim under 285C.220. Such an election affects all applicable
provisions under 285C.050 to 285C.250 and this division of administrative
rules, including but not limited to rendering moot any inter-firm lease of
qualified property (which would then all be simply owned by the
Firm/applicant), but it does not carry over to any subsequent authorization
except in a terminated zone.
(5)
Only newly created jobs may satisfy required increases in employment levels, as
opposed to any employee associated with the merger or acquisition of another
business firm or of its existing operations or property, except positions
inside the zone that were vacant for 60 or more days at the time of
Application, and for whom rehiring or reemployment was otherwise unlikely (for
example, a plant had shut down and then a buyer or investor came along and
restarts operations).
(6) As used
in this rule and under ORS
285C.050:
(a) "Person" may mean two or more part-time
employees who together perform a single job involving more than 32 hours of
work per week by virtue of an established (job-sharing) arrangement.
(b) "32 hours per week" is computed by taking
the total number of hours over the course of a year, for which the person is
remunerated in the form of wage or salary inclusive of holidays, vacation and
other paid leave, and dividing by 52 (hours paid).
(c) "Temporary or seasonal jobs" are
nonpermanent positions, including but not limited to persons recruited and
receiving compensation through the firm or an outside agency on a short-term,
ad hoc or as-needed basis, or where the firm hires, leases or
contractually employs a person for a period expected to be less than 12
consecutive months, even if on a trial or probationary basis that typically
leads to the person's being offered a permanent job.
(7) There is no necessary relationship
between minimum employment requirements and the requisite First Source Hiring
Agreement, as addressed in OAR 123-070 and
123-674-7700 to
123-674-7730.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
285A.075 &
285C.060(1)
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
285C.050,
285C.135,
285C.200 &
285C.210
