Senate Bill No. 269
(By Senators Wiedebusch and Schoonover)
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[Introduced January 31, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections five, seven, ten, eleven,
twelve and fourteen, article two, chapter twenty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, all relating to private employment agencies; and
transfer of regulatory jurisdiction to tax commissioner
exclusively.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections five, seven, ten, eleven, twelve and fourteen,
article two, chapter twenty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES.
§21-2-5. Rules prescribed by the tax commissioner.
The commissioner of labor tax commissioner shall prescribe
such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the
supervision of employment agents.
§21-2-7. License required; displaying license; annual tax.
No employment agent shall may engage in the business for
profit or receive any fee, charge, commission or other
compensation, directly or indirectly, for services as employment
agent, without first having obtained a license therefor from the
state tax commissioner. Such license shall not be issued until
the commissioner of labor shall have approved in writing the
application therefor, and, when issued, such This license shall
constitute constitutes a license from the state to operate as an
employment agent for compensation and shall is not be
transferable. Such license shall at all times be kept posted in
a conspicuous place at the employment agent's place of business.
of such employment agent Every employment agent shall pay the
annual license tax provided for in article twelve, chapter eleven
of this code.
§21-2-10. Revocation of license.
The state tax commissioner may revoke any license issued under the provisions of this article, with or without hearing,
and may order such the license to be returned for cancellation,
if the employment agent has violated any of the provisions of
this article or the rules and regulations issued thereunder, or
if any cause appears for which a license might have been refused.
or if the commissioner of labor shall, in writing, report to the
tax commissioner any such violation or cause
§21-2-11. Records to be kept; reports to tax commissioner.
A record of all persons directed to employment shall be kept
by every employment agent; such the records shall set forth the
name, age, nationality and material state of each applicant, and
also the name of the employer, kind of work and pay. A copy of
this record for each month shall be sent to the commissioner of
labor tax commissioner on or before the tenth day of the month
immediately succeeding the month covered by such the record.
Every employment agent shall file with the commissioner of labor
tax commissioner a copy of the schedule of all fees and such
other notices or information as the commissioner may require and
in such the form and manner as he or she may prescribe.
§21-2-12. Tax commissioner may enter offices and examine
records.
For the purpose of enforcing this article and the rules and
regulations issued thereunder, the commissioner of labor tax
commissioner, or his or her duly authorized agent, may at any
time enter any employment office, or place of business of an
employment agent or any premises occupied as an employment
office, and may inspect the registers, cards or other records of
such employment agent.
§21-2-14. Offenses; penalties; jurisdiction.
Any employment agent, as defined in this article, carrying
on the business of an employment agency, without first fully
complying with the provisions thereof, shall be deemed is guilty
of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined
not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars for
each offense, or the person, or any member of a firm, or the
officer or agent of any corporation, so acting as employment
agent may be imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than
six months, or both, at the discretion of the court; and any such
employment agent violating any other provision of this article or
any rule or regulation prescribed by the commissioner of labor
tax commissioner pursuant to the provisions of this article,
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than two
hundred dollars, or the person or any member of a firm or the
officer or agent of any corporation so violating, may be
imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both fined and
imprisoned. A justice of the peace magistrate shall have
concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court and other courts
having criminal jurisdiction for the trial of offenses under this
article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend those sections
of the employment agencies act necessary to transfer all aspects
of licensure and regulation of private employment agencies to the
state tax commissioner, who currently possesses the licensure
authority, but shares rule-making, approval and inspection
authority with the commissioner of labor.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.