2502.
For purposes of this part, the following definitions shall apply:(a) “Change in control” means any sale, purchase, assignment, acquisition, transfer, contribution, or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets, cash on hand, or a controlling interest, including by consolidation, merger, or reorganization, of or by the incumbent grocery employer or any person who controls the incumbent grocery employer or any grocery establishment under the operation or control of either the incumbent grocery employer or any person who controls the incumbent grocery employer.
(b) “Eligible grocery worker” means any individual whose primary place of employment is at the grocery establishment subject to a change in control, and who has worked for the incumbent grocery employer for at least six months prior to the execution of the transfer document. “Eligible grocery worker” includes a separated employee. “Eligible grocery worker” does not include a managerial, supervisory, or confidential employee.
(c)“Employer” means any person, as defined in Section 18, including a proprietorship, joint venture, corporate officer, or executive, who has 300 or more employees nationwide.
(d)
(c) “Employment commencement date” means the date on which an eligible grocery worker retained by the successor grocery employer pursuant to this part commences work for the successor grocery employer in exchange for benefits and compensation under the terms and conditions established by the successor grocery employer and as required by law.
(e)
(d) “Grocery establishment” means a retail store in this state that is over 15,000 square
feet in size and that sells primarily household foodstuffs for offsite consumption, including the sale of fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, deli products, dairy products, canned foods, dry foods, beverages, baked foods, or prepared foods. Other household supplies or other products shall be secondary to the primary purpose of food sales. A distribution center owned and operated by a grocery establishment that is and used primarily to distribute goods to or from its owned stores is a “grocery establishment” shall be considered a grocery establishment, regardless of its
square footage. A grocery establishment does not include a retail store that has ceased operations for 18 months or more.
(f)
(e) “Incumbent grocery employer” means the person that owns, controls, or operates the grocery establishment at the time of the
change in control.
(g)
(f) “Person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign.
(h)
(g) “Separated employee” means an employee who was employed by the incumbent grocery employer for 6 months or more in the 12 months preceding the change in control and whose employment was terminated or suspended by the employer because of a change in control, lack of business, reduction in force, a transfer of more than 15 miles from the employee’s residence, or another economic nondisciplinary reason. There is a rebuttable presumption that any termination occurring within a year of a change in control was due to a nondisciplinary reason.
(i)
(h) “Successor grocery employer” means
the person that owns, controls, or operates the grocery establishment after the change in control. A successor grocery employer may be the same entity as an incumbent employer when a change in control occurs but the covered employer remains the same.
(j)
(i) “Transfer document” means the purchase agreement or other document effecting the change in control.