Section 407-303-4 - Commission Review of Employee Transition PlansA. Filing Requirements 1. Prior to Filing With the Commission Prior to filing its plan with the Commission, a utility must inform its employees and their certified representatives of the provisions of the proposed plan and, in accordance with applicable law, confer with those employees or their certified representatives regarding the impact of the proposed plan on those employees and measures to minimize any resulting hardships on those employees.
2. Filing With the Commission All investor-owned utilities must file their plan no later then 60 days after the effective date of this Rule.
B. Scope of Review 1. Upon receipt of a utility's employee benefits transition plan, the Commission will provide interested persons with an opportunity to file comments regarding whether the utility's proposed plan meets the requirements of this Rule and 35-A M.R.S.A. §3216. All comments must be filed within 30 days of notice by the Commission of the receipt of the plan unless otherwise directed by the Commission.2. The Commission will review the utility's proposed plan to determine whether it is consistent with the statutory requirements of 35-A M.R.S.A. §3216 and this Rule within 90 days. (a) Any plan not consistent with Section 3216 and this Rule will be rejected and the utility will be required to refile after the necessary changes are made.(b) Any plan containing benefits in excess of those set forth in Section 3216 may be accepted under the condition that recovery of the costs of any non-mandatory benefits will not be considered under 35-A M.R.S.A. §3216(5). Cost recovery of non-mandatory benefits will be determined during an appropriate rate-making proceeding under applicable ratemaking principles.3. After the Commission has accepted a utility's proposed plan, any disagreements arising under the terms of the agreement will be addressed through labor-relations dispute resolution forums.C. Notice of Layoffs1. In addition to any filing requirements set forth above, a utility must provide notice to the Commission no less than sixty days prior to any closure, relocation, reorganization, or other action that will result in layoffs while the utility's plan is in effect.2. In the case of a new owner which lays off former employees of the regulated electric utility because of retail competition, the new owner shall, as a condition of the sale of the assets, provide the regulated electric utility with notice of any closure, relocation, reorganization, or other action that will result in layoffs at least seventy-five days prior to the event.3. The notice required by this subsection must include a description of the actions, the reasons for them, and an assessment of their effects on the utility's present or former employees.65- 407 C.M.R. ch. 303, § 4