OAR 123-070-1500: Waivers and Geographic Coverage of First Source Agreements

(1) Except in the case of the Strategic Investment Program, the Director may issue a waiver that does the following: (a) Relieves a Benefited Business of the requirement of entering into the First Source Agreement, entirely; or (b) Excludes professional, managerial, technical, highly skilled or seasonal positions of a Benefited Business from the First Source Agreement. (2) The Director shall make the final decision to grant the waiver, upon written recommendation by staff that explains why: (a) The Benefited Business’s small size or the technical, professional or unusual nature of its needs with respect to employees means that it will be unable to fill positions with persons referred by the Providers, either in general or for the excluded positions, and will thus receive little or no meaningful service through the First Source Agreement; or (b) The waiver will further the goals or purposes of applicable and specified state policies, whether or not such policies are directly associated with the program. (3) A Benefited Business may request a waiver by the Department under this rule at the time of application for the grant or loan assistance, or before execution of the contract for such assistance, in the case of lottery-funded programs, or at any time prior to qualifying for an enterprise zone exemption. (4) Department staff will notify the Benefited Business and the Contact Agency for the geographic area in which the Benefited Business is located of the Director’s decision and send a copy of any approved waiver. Such notice and distribution shall also include other entities as described in OAR 123-674, as applicable for an enterprise zone exemption. (5) Except for an enterprise zone exemption, the First Source Agreement entered into by a Benefited Business shall apply only to the Benefited Business’s operations at the site receiving the benefit, unless other locations are: (a) Designated by the Department; or (b) Specifically agreed to by the Benefited Business and the Contact Agency.