ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 269

(By Senators Wiedebusch and Schoonover)

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[Originating in the Committee on Finance;

reported February 28, 1996.]

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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; rules promulgated by the tax commissioner; requiring private employment agents to be licensed; the annual license tax; revocation of licenses; required records and reports; right of entry of tax commissioner; and providing criminal penalties.

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 promulgated by the tax commissioner.

The commissioner of labor tax commissioner shall prescribe such promulgate any legislative rules and regulations in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code as may be are 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 an employment agent, without first having obtained a license therefor to operate as an employment agent 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 The 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 promulgated under this article, 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, the kind of work and the 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 promulgated under this article, 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 the 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 of this article 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 an 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 Any such employment agent violating any other provision of this article or any rule or regulation prescribed promulgated 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 shall have magistrate has concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court and other courts having criminal jurisdiction for the trial of offenses under this article.