N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 5 § 11.3

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 15, April 10, 2024

Section 11.3 - Contents of application

Application for certification of a business enterprise shall be made on a form prescribed by the commissioner, which may include, but not be limited to:

(a) Identification of applicant:

(1) name and form of business organization of applicant;

(2) taxpayer identification number;

(3) New York State unemployment insurance registration number; and

(4) names of parent, subsidiary and affiliated business organizations, if any.

(b) Description of existing business, including:

(1) list of addresses of each facility in New York State;

(2) list of goods and services produced at each facility in New York State;

(3) number of employees at each facility in New York State as of the March 31st, June 30th, September 30th or December 31st preceding the date of the application, whichever is latest; and

(4) names of the workers' compensation and disability benefits insurance carriers and policy numbers for each existing facility in New York State.

(c) Information and certification regarding compliance with laws for the protection of workers, including:

(1) all determinations by administrative agencies or courts that the applicant or any of its officers or directors violated any Federal or State law for the protection of workers within the preceding three years, including laws regulating labor standards, discrimination in employment, provision of workers' compensation or disability insurance, unemployment insurance tax liability and occupational safety and health;

(2) description of any denial of services to the applicant by the New York State Department of Labor's Employment Service within the preceding three years; and

(3) a certification by the applicant that it is not currently and, other than as indicated in the application, has not for the preceding three years, been found by an administrative agency or court to be in violation of any Federal or State law for the protection of workers.

(d) Description of business to be conducted in facility located in or planned for the empire zone, including:

(1) identification of owner;

(2) identification of operator;

(3) location of facility;

(4) list of goods and services to be produced;

(5) four-digit North American industrial classification code of business of zone facility, if code is known;

(6) total annual sales projected for zone facility;

(7) total annual retail sales of tangible personal property projected for zone facility;

(8) whether the business has previously applied for certification and been denied; and

(9) whether the business has previously received a certification which has been revoked.

(e) Description of investment to be made in the facility, including:

(1) any construction, rehabilitation or renovation;

(2) purchase or lease of equipment;

(3) estimated total cost of investment; and

(4) estimated schedule for start of any construction, rehabilitation or renovation of the facility and for completion.

(f) Existing and projected additional employment at facility, including:

(1) number of existing full-time employees and number of existing part-time employees; and

(2) projected number of additional full-time and part-time positions to be created within 12 months and within 24 months as a result of investment in the zone, for positions in which a substantial part of the work will be performed in the zone, listed by occupation, including starting wages and promotional opportunities.

(g) To be eligible for certification, a business enterprise must agree, in its application for certification, to:

(1) list, for purposes of recruitment, all openings for jobs and training programs in the empire zone, exclusive of general executive officers, with the local job service office of the New York State Department of Labor or demonstrate to the satisfaction of the commissioner and the Commissioner of Labor what other comparable methods will be used to recruit targeted individuals for such openings. For the purposes of this Part, the term targeted individual shall mean a New York resident who is:

(i) an eligible individual under the provisions of the work opportunity tax credit (Internal Revenue Code section 51, as added by P.L. 95-30 and subsequently amended);

(ii) eligible for benefits under the provisions of the Workforce Investment Act ( 29 U.S.C. section 2801 et seq., as added by P.L. 105-220 and subsequently amended) as a dislocated worker or low-income individual;

(iii) a recipient of public assistance benefits;

(iv) an individual whose income is below the most recently established poverty rate promulgated by the United States Department of Commerce, or a member of a family whose family income is below the most recently established poverty rate promulgated by the appropriate Federal agency; or

(v) an honorably discharged veteran from any branch of the Armed Forces;

(2) submit the information specified in section 11.7 of this Part to the local empire zone administrator and the State; and

(3) not shift its operations, or some portion thereof, to an empire zone from an area within New York State which has not been designated an empire zone, unless the shift in operations is entirely within a municipality and has been approved by the local government body of such municipality or in situations where it has been established, after a public hearing, that extraordinary circumstances exist which warrant the relocation of a business, in whole or in part, into an empire zone from another municipality and the municipality from which the business is relocating approves of such relocation; or where such shift in operations is from a business incubator facility operated by a municipality or by a public or private not-for-profit entity which provides space and business support services to newly established firms;

(4) authorize the Commissioner of Labor to disclose, to employees of both the New York State Departments of Labor and Economic Development, as well as the local empire zone administrative board, all records filed by the company in making unemployment insurance (U.I.) reports and contributions required by State Labor and Tax Law, including, but not limited to, all information contained in or relating to the quarterly combined withholding, wage reporting and U.I. returns, the registration for U.I., the new hire file, and all records of U.I. delinquencies. In addition, this authorization shall include all information contained in any survey reports requested by the Department of Labor on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics including, but not limited to, the current employment, occupational employment, multiple worksite, and annual refiling surveys. The use of information and records released pursuant to this authorization shall be limited to government purposes concerning the certification of this company for empire zone benefits and incentives under article 18-B of the General Municipal Law, monitoring compliance with empire zone program criteria, and reviewing the performance of empire zone programs;

(5) certify that the business enterprise, or its agent, has disclosed all violations during the three years preceding the submission of this application for certification, involving violations of the laws regulating unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, public work, child labor, employment of minorities and women, safety and health, labor standards, or other laws for the protection of workers or environmental conservation, and acknowledges that a failure to disclose this information or a failure to respond to the requests to completion, or updating, of the information requested herein, may result in a denial of certification.

(h) A business enterprise that applies for any tax, utility rate or management assistance benefits provided by the New York State Empire Zone Act shall, in its application for certification, acknowledge in writing the obligation to provide 90 days' written notice to the commissioner, the local empire zone, the local empire zone administrative board, and the employees of the business enterprise of any intent to close or partially close a facility within the zone. Upon receiving such notice, the commissioner shall immediately send copies thereof to the Commissioner of Labor and the director of the Job Training Partnership Council. For purposes of this subdivision, closing shall mean the permanent termination of operations of a business facility, and partial closing shall mean the permanent termination of a portion of the operations of a business facility that will immediately reduce the work force by 50 employees or more or will reduce the work force by at least 50 percent over a one-year period, whichever is greater.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 5 § 11.3