WASHINGTON STATUTES AND CODES

28B.67.020 - Customized training program created -- Applications -- Criteria -- Rules.

Customized training program created — Applications — Criteria — Rules. (Expires July 1, 2012.)

(1) The Washington customized employment training program is hereby created to provide training assistance to employers locating or expanding in the state.

     (2)(a) Application to receive funding under this program shall be made to the board in a form and manner as specified by the board. Successful applicants shall receive a training allowance from the board to cover the costs of training at a qualified training institution. Employers may not receive an allowance for training costs which exceed the maximum annual training cost per employee, as established by the board, and are not eligible to receive an allowance or allowances of over five hundred thousand dollars per calendar year.

     (b) Allowances shall be granted for applicants who meet the following criteria:

     (i) The employer must have entered into an agreement with a qualified training institution to engage in customized training and the employer must agree to: (A) Upon completion of the training, make a payment to the employment training finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030 in an amount equal to one-quarter of the amount of the training allowance; and (B) over the subsequent eighteen months, make monthly or quarterly payments, as specified in the agreement, to the employment training finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030 in an amount equal to three-quarters of the amount of the training allowance. The payments into the employment training finance account provided for in this section do not constitute payment to the institution.

     (ii) The employer must ensure that the number of employees an employer has in the state during the calendar year following the completion of the training program will equal the number of employees the employer had in the state in the calendar year preceding the start of the training program plus seventy-five percent of the number of trainees. The agreement with the qualified training institution provided for in (b)(i) of this subsection shall specify terms for reimbursement or additional payment to the employment training finance account by the employer if the employment criterion of this subsection is not met.

     (iii) The training grant may not be used to train workers who have been hired as a result of a strike or lockout.

     (c) Preference shall be given to employers with fewer than fifty employees.

     (3) Qualified training institutions may enter into agreements with four-year institutions of higher education, as defined in RCW 28B.10.016, in accordance with the interlocal cooperation act, chapter 39.34 RCW.

     (4) The board and qualified training institutions may solicit and receive gifts, grants, funds, fees, and endowments, in trust or otherwise, from tribal, local, federal, or other governmental entities, as well as private sources, for the purpose of providing training allowances under chapter 112, Laws of 2006. All revenue thus solicited and received shall be deposited into the employment training finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030.

     (5) The board may adopt rules to implement this section.

[2006 c 112 § 3.]

RCW 28B.67.020

Customized training program created — Applications — Criteria — Rules.

(1) The Washington customized employment training program is hereby created to provide training assistance to employers locating or expanding in the state.

     (2)(a) Application to receive funding under this program shall be made to the board in a form and manner as specified by the board. Successful applicants shall receive a training allowance from the board to cover the costs of training at a qualified training institution. Employers may not receive an allowance for training costs which exceed the maximum annual training cost per employee, as established by the board, and are not eligible to receive an allowance or allowances of over five hundred thousand dollars per calendar year.

     (b) Allowances shall be granted for applicants who meet the following criteria:

     (i) The employer must have entered into an agreement with a qualified training institution to engage in customized training and the employer must agree to: (A) Upon completion of the training, make a payment to the employment training finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030 in an amount equal to one-quarter of the amount of the training allowance; and (B) over the subsequent eighteen months, make monthly or quarterly payments, as specified in the agreement, to the employment training finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030 in an amount equal to three-quarters of the amount of the training allowance. During calendar years 2009 and 2010, participants may delay payments due under this section for up to eighteen months. The payments into the employment training finance account provided for in this section do not constitute payment to the institution.

     (ii) ((The employer must ensure that the number of employees an employer has in the state during the calendar year following the completion of the training program will equal the number of employees the employer had in the state in the calendar year preceding the start of the training program plus seventy-five percent of the number of trainees.)) When hiring, the employer must make good faith efforts, as determined by the board, to hire from trainees in the participant's training program. The agreement with the qualified training institution provided for in (b)(i) of this subsection shall specify terms for reimbursement or additional payment to the employment training finance account by the employer if the ((employment criterion of this subsection is not met)) participant does not, when hiring, make good faith efforts to hire from trainees in the participant's training program.

     (iii) The training ((grant)) allowance may not be used to train workers who have been hired as a result of a strike or lockout.

     (c) Preference shall be given to employers with fewer than fifty employees.

     (d) Preference shall be given to training that leads to transferable skills that are interchangeable among different jobs, employers, or workplaces.

     (3) Qualified training institutions may enter into agreements with four-year institutions of higher education, as defined in RCW 28B.10.016, in accordance with the interlocal cooperation act, chapter 39.34 RCW.

     (4) The board and qualified training institutions may solicit and receive gifts, grants, funds, fees, and endowments, in trust or otherwise, from tribal, local, federal, or other governmental entities, as well as private sources, for the purpose of providing training allowances under chapter 112, Laws of 2006. All revenue thus solicited and received shall be deposited into the employment training finance account created in RCW 28B.67.030.

     (5) Qualified training institutions must make good faith efforts to develop training programs using trainers preferred by participants.

     (6) For employers who (a) have requested training under the job skills program created under chapter 28C.04 RCW but are not able to participate in the job skills program because the funds have all been committed, and (b) desire to become participants in the Washington customized employment training program, the board shall ensure a seamless process toward participation.

     (7) The board may adopt rules to implement this section.