‹ Back  |   Print

§21-1-1. Creation, control and management of department.
There shall be a state department of labor, which shall be under the control and management of a state commissioner of labor.

§21-1-2. Appointment of Commissioner of Labor; qualifications; term of office; salary.
The state Commissioner of Labor shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. He or she shall be a competent person, who is identified with the labor interests of the state. The Commissioner of Labor in office on the effective date of this section shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until his or her term expires and his or her successor has been appointed and has qualified. On or before the first day of April, one thousand nine hundred forty-one, and on or before the first day of April of each fourth year thereafter, the Governor shall appoint a Commissioner of Labor to serve for a term of four years, commencing on said first day of April. The commissioner shall receive an annual salary as provided in section two-a, article seven, chapter six of this code.

§21-1-3. Inspections by commissioner; duties and records of employers; commissioner may appoint assistants.
The commissioner of labor and his authorized representatives shall have the power and authority in the discharge of their duties, to enter any place of employment or public institution, for the purpose of collecting facts and statistics relating to the employment of workers and of making inspections for the proper enforcement of all labor laws of the state. No employer or owner shall refuse to admit the commissioner of labor or his authorized representative when they so seek admission to his place of employment, public building or place of public assembly.

The commissioner or his authorized representative shall, at least once each year, visit and inspect the principal factories and workshops of the state, and shall, upon complaint and request of any three or more reputable citizens, visit and inspect any place where labor is employed and make true report of the result of his inspection.

Every employer and owner shall furnish to the department of labor all information which the commissioner of labor or his representative is authorized to require, and shall make true and specific answers to all questions submitted by the department of labor, orally or in writing as required by the said department. Every employer shall keep a true and accurate record of the name, address, and occupation of each person employed by him, and of the daily and weekly hours worked by each such person, and of the wages paid each pay period to each such person. Such records shall be kept on file for at least one year after the date of the record. No employer shall make or cause to be made any false entries in any such record.

In addition to such other powers and duties as may be conferred upon the commissioner of labor by law, the said commissioner of labor shall have the power, duty, jurisdiction and authority to employ, promote and remove deputies, inspectors, clerks, and other assistants, as needed, and to fix their compensation, with regard to existing laws applicable to the employment and compensation of officers and employees of the state of West Virginia, and to assign to them their duties; to make or cause to be made all necessary inspections, to see that all laws and lawful orders which the department has the duty, power, and authority to enforce, are promptly and effectively carried out.

§21-1-4. Annual report to governor; collection of statistical information.
It shall be the duty of the commissioner of labor to collect, compile and present to the governor, on or before the first day of December of each year, an annual report, with statistical details relating to all departments of labor and the industrial interests of the state, especially in relation to the financial, social, educational and sanitary condition of the laboring classes, and all other statistical information that may tend to increase the prosperity of the productive industries of the state. He shall also make such suggestions as he may deem advisable as to legislation tending to promote and increase the prosperity of the industrial establishments of the state, and to protect the lives and health and promote the prosperity of the persons employed therein. All state, county, district and city officers shall furnish the commissioner of labor, upon request, all statistical information relating to labor which may be in their possession as such officers.

§21-1-5.
Repealed.

Acts, 2010 Reg. Sess., Ch. 32. Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session