Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 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 ORS 285C.220. Such an election affects all applicable
provisions under ORS 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
