§ 531 - Employment training - Vermont Statutes

§ 531. Employment training

(a) The secretary of commerce and community development may issue grants to any employer, consortium of employers, or contract with providers of training, either individuals or organizations, as necessary, to conduct training under the following circumstances:

(1) when issuing grants to an employer or consortium of employers, the employer promises as a condition of the grant to increase employment or provide training to enhance employment stability at an existing or expanded eligible facility within the state where eligible facility is defined as in subdivision 212(6) of this title relating to Vermont economic development authority, or the employer or consortium of employers promises to open an eligible facility within the state which will employ persons, provided that for the purposes of this section, eligible facility may be broadly interpreted to include employers in sectors other than manufacturing including the fields of information technology, telecommunications, health care, and environmental technologies; and

(2) training is required for potential employees, new employees, or long-standing employees in the methods, either singularly or in combination relating to pre-employment training, on-the-job training, upgrade training and crossover training, or specialized instruction, either in-plant or through a training provider.

(b) The secretary of commerce and community development shall find in the grant or contract that:

(1) the employer's new or expanded facility will enhance employment opportunities for Vermont residents;

(2) the existing labor force within the state will probably be unable to provide the employer with sufficient numbers of employees with suitable training and experience; and

(3) the employer provides its employees with at least three of the following:

(A) health care benefits with 50 percent or more of the premium paid by the employer;

(B) dental assistance;

(C) paid vacation and holidays;

(D) child care;

(E) other extraordinary employee benefits; and

(F) retirement benefits.

(c) The employer promises as a condition of the grant to:

(1) employ new persons at a wage which, at the completion of the training program, is two times the prevailing state or federal minimum wage, whichever is greater, reduced by the value of any existing health benefit package up to a limit of 30 percent of the gross program wage, or for existing employees, to increase the wage to two times the prevailing state and federal minimum wage, whichever is greater, reduced by the value of any existing health benefit package up to a limit of 20 percent of the gross program wage, upon completion of training; provided, however, that in areas defined by the secretary of commerce and community development in which the secretary finds that the rate of unemployment is 50 percent greater than the average for the state, the wage rate under this subsection may be set by the secretary at a rate no less than one and one-half times the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is greater;

(2) employ persons who have completed the training provided for them and nominated as qualified for a reasonable period at the wages and occupations described in the contract, unless the employer reasonably finds the nominee is not qualified;

(3) provide its employees with at least three of the following:

(A) health care benefits with 50 percent or more of the premium paid by the employer;

(B) dental assistance;

(C) paid vacation and holidays;

(D) child care;

(E) other extraordinary employee benefits; and

(F) retirement benefits.

(d) In issuing a grant or entering a contract for the conduct of training under this section, the secretary of commerce and community development shall first consult with: the commissioner of education regarding vocational-technical education; the commissioner of labor regarding apprenticeship programs, on-the-job training programs, and recruiting through Vermont Job Service and available federal training funds; the commissioner for children and families regarding welfare to work priorities; and the University of Vermont and the Vermont state colleges.

(e) The secretary of commerce and community development shall administer all training programs under this section, may select and use providers of training as appropriate, and shall adopt rules and may accept services, money or property donated for the purposes of this section.

(f) Upon completion of the training program for any individual, the secretary of commerce and community development shall review the records and shall award to the trainee, if appropriate, a certificate of completion for the training.

(g) None of the criteria in subdivision (a)(1) of this section shall apply to a designated job development zone under chapter 29, subchapter 2 of this title.

(h) The secretary may designate the commissioner of economic development to carry out his or her powers and duties under this chapter. (Added 1977, No. 214 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 12, 1978; amended 1981, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.); 1985, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1989, No. 66; 1991, No. 50, § 230; 1993, No. 89, § 3, eff. June 15, 1993; 1995, No. 46, § 33; 1995, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1(b); 1997, No. 66 (Adj. Sess.), § 67a, eff. Feb. 20, 1998; No. 71 (Adj. Sess.), § 54; 1999, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2003, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 233a; 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 16; 2007, No. 46, § 3, eff. May 23, 2007.)