Section 50-7-904 - Participation - Approval criteria(a) An employer wishing to participate in a shared work program shall submit a signed written shared work benefits plan to the administrator for approval.(b) The administrator shall approve a shared work benefits plan only if the following criteria are met: (1) The plan: (A) Applies to and identifies the specified affected group; and(B) Includes an estimate of the number of layoffs that might occur absent participation in the shared work program;(2) The employees in the affected group or groups are identified by name, social security number, and other information required by the administrator;(3) The usual weekly hours of work for employees in the affected group or groups are reduced by not less than ten percent (10%) and not more than forty percent (40%);(4) Health benefits and retirement benefits under defined benefit pension plans, as defined in the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)(29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.), and other fringe benefits will continue to be provided to employees in the affected group or groups as though their work weeks had not been reduced. However, if the employer reduces the level of benefits under this subdivision (b)(4) for employees who are not in the shared work group, then the level of benefits may be reduced by a like amount for the employer's shared work employees;(5) The plan certifies that the aggregate reduction in work hours is in lieu of all layoffs that would have affected at least ten percent (10%) of the employees in the affected group or groups to which the plan applies and that would have resulted in an equivalent reduction in work hours;(6) During the previous four (4) months, the workforce in the affected group has not been reduced by temporary layoffs of more than ten percent (10%) of the workers;(7)(A) The plan applies to at least ten percent (10%) of the employees in the affected group; and(B)(i) If the plan applies to all employees in the affected group, then the plan provides equal treatment to all employees of the group; and(ii) If the affected group is divided into subgroups, then the plan provides equal treatment to employees within each subgroup;(8) In the case of employees represented by an exclusive bargaining representative: (A) The plan is approved in writing by the collective bargaining agent. If the certification of an exclusive bargaining representative has been appealed, then the bargaining representative is considered to be the exclusive bargaining representative for work sharing plan purposes;(B) The plan must contain a certification by the employer that the employer has made the proposed plan available to: (i) Each employee in the affected group for inspection; or(ii) If applicable, to the exclusive bargaining representative; and(C) The plan must include: (i) A description of how the plan was made available; and(ii) If advance notice of the plan was not feasible, an explanation of why advance notice was not feasible;(9) The plan includes a certified statement by the employer that the terms and implementation of the shared work plan are consistent with obligations the employer has under applicable federal and state laws. An employee who joins an affected group after the approval of the shared work plan is automatically covered under the previously approved plan, effective the week that the administrator receives written notice from the shared work employer that the employee has joined;(10) On the most recent computation date preceding the date of submission of the shared work plan for approval, the total of all contributions paid on the employing unit's own behalf and credited to its account for all previous periods equaled or exceeded the regular benefits charged to its account for all previous periods;(11) The plan does not serve as a subsidy of seasonal employment during the off-season nor as a subsidy of temporary part-time employment or intermittent employment; and(12) The employer agrees to: (A) Furnish reports relating to the proper conduct of the plan;(B) Allow the administrator or the administrator's authorized representatives access to all records necessary to verify the plan before approval; and(C) Allow the administrator to monitor and evaluate application of the plan after approval.Added by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1086, s 1, eff. 12/1/2023.