Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 24 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR › Sub-Agency 010 - ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION › Chapter 013 - NOTICE OF POTENTIAL LAYOFFS ACT RULES › Section 24 010 013 - NOTICE OF POTENTIAL LAYOFFS ACT RULES

Current through June, 2024
Rule No.1 Authority to Adopt Rules
These rules are adopted pursuant to
				21 V.S.A. §
											416(a).
Rule No.2 Scope
These rules pertain to the notice, administrative hearing, and
				penalty provisions of the Notice of Potential Layoffs Act (Act), 21 V.S.A.
				chapter 5, subchapter 3A.
Rule
			 No.3 Definitions
As used in these rules:
(1) "Affected employees" means employees who
			 may be expected to experience an employment loss as a consequence of a proposed
			 or actual business closing or mass layoff by their employer. The term "affected
			 employees" also includes employees who will likely lose their jobs because of
			 bumping rights or other factors, to the extent that the individual employees
			 can be reasonably identified at the time notice is required to be given. The
			 term "affected employee" includes a managerial and supervisory employee, but
			 does not include an officer, director, shareholder, or business partner, or a
			 consultant or contract employee who has a separate employment relationship with
			 another employer and is paid by that employer, or an individual who is
			 self-employed.
(2) "Business
			 closing" means:
(A) the permanent shutdown of
			 a facility;
(B) the permanent
			 cessation of operations at one or more worksites in the State that results in
			 the layoff of 50 or more employees over a 90-day period; or
(C) the cessation of work or operations not
			 scheduled to resume within 90 days that affects 50 or more employees.
(3) "Commissioner" means the
			 Commissioner of Labor, or designee.
(4) "Date of termination" means the last day
			 an employee is eligible or permitted to work for his or her employer. The fact
			 that an employer continues to pay an employee after the date of termination
			 does not change the employee's employment status for the purpose of this rule.
			 Payments to an employee subsequent to the date of termination, whether
			 continuing to pay an employee's normal weekly wage, or for severance pay,
			 vacation pay, personal leave, or other similar benefits, shall not extend the
			 employee's date of termination.
(4)
			 "Department" means the Department of Labor.
(5) "Employee representative" means an
			 exclusive bargaining agent legally recognized under State or Federal Labor
			 laws.
(6)
(A) "Employer" means any person that employs:
(i) 50 or more full-time employees;
(ii) 50 or more part-time employees who work
			 at least 1,040 hours per employee per year; or
(iii) a combination of 50 or more full-time
			 employees and part-time employees who work at least 1,040 hours per employee
			 per year.
(B) The
			 calculation of total hours shall include overtime hours.
(C) Subsidiaries that are wholly or partially
			 owned by a parent company may be treated by the Commissioner as a separate
			 employer depending on the degree of independence from the parent. The factors
			 to be considered in making this determination include:
(1) common ownership;
(2) common directors or officers;
(3) de facto exercise of control; and
(4) unity of personnel policies
			 emanating from a common source.
(D) "Employer" includes a receiver, trustee,
			 debtor-in-possession, or other fiduciary under the provisions the U.S.
			 Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) or any other provision of
			 federal or state law where a party is responsible for the continued operation
			 of a business entity.
(E) An
			 employer may have one or more sites of employment under common ownership or
			 control.
(F) "Employer" shall not
			 include the federal government. However, private or not-for-profit businesses
			 contracting with the federal government may be considered an
			 employer.
(7)
			 "Employment loss" means the termination of employment that is the direct result
			 of a business closing or mass layoff. An employee will not have suffered an
			 employment loss if the employee is offered a transfer to a different site of
			 employment within 35 miles, or if prior to receiving the layoff notice the
			 employee voluntarily separates or retires from employment or is separated by
			 the employer for unsatisfactory performance or misconduct.
(8) "Mass layoff means a permanent employment
			 loss of at least 50 employees at one or more worksites in Vermont during any
			 90-day period. In determining whether a mass layoff has occurred or will occur,
			 employment losses for two or more groups of employees, each of which is below
			 the threshold but which in the aggregate exceed the threshold and which occur
			 within any 90-day period shall be considered to be a mass layoff unless the
			 employer demonstrates that the employment losses are the result of separate and
			 distinct actions and causes.
(9)
			 "Secretary" means the Secretary of Commerce and Community
			 Development.