Senate Bill No. 372
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Buckalew
By Request of the Executive)
____________
[Introduced March 19, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections fifteen, sixteen and
seventeen, article one-a, chapter twenty-one-a of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended;
to amend article six of said chapter by adding
thereto a new section, designated section seventeen; and to
amend and reenact sections eleven and nineteen, article ten
of said chapter, all relating generally to unemployment
compensation; clarifying definitions of employer and
employment; providing that agricultural labor if performed
by certain aliens is not employment; authorizing food stamp
overissuance intercept of unemployment benefits; codifying
reporting requirements and required information; providing
exemptions to confidentiality requirements; and allowing use
of information and clarifying that breach of confidentiality provisions are criminal violations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections fifteen, sixteen and seventeen, article one-a,
chapter twenty-one-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted;
that article six of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a
new section, designated section seventeen; and that sections
eleven and nineteen, article ten of said chapter be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1A. DEFINITIONS.
§21A-1A-15. Employer.
"Employer" means:
(1) Any employing unit which for some portion of a day, not
necessarily simultaneously, in each of twenty different calendar
weeks, which weeks need not be consecutive, within either the
current calendar year, or the preceding calendar year, has had in
employment four or more individuals irrespective of whether the
same individuals were or were not employed on each of such days;
(2) (1) Any employing unit which is or becomes a liable
employer under any federal unemployment tax act;
(3) (2) Any employing unit which has acquired or acquires
the organization, trade or business, or substantially all the
assets thereof, of an employing unit which at the time of such acquisition was an employer subject to this chapter;
(4) Any employing unit which, in any one calendar quarter,
in any calendar year, has in employment four or more individuals
and has paid wages for employment in the total sum of five
thousand dollars or more, or which, after such date, has paid
wages for employment in any calendar year in the sum total of
twenty thousand dollars or more;
(5) Any employing unit which, in any three-week period, in
any calendar year, has in employment ten or more individuals;
(6) (3) For the effective period of its election pursuant to
section three, article five of this chapter, any employing unit
which has elected to become subject to this chapter;
(7) (4) Any employing unit which: (A) In any calendar
quarter in either the current or preceding calendar year paid for
service in employment wages of one thousand five hundred dollars
or more; or (B) for some portion of a day in each of twenty
different calendar weeks, whether or not
such the weeks were
consecutive, in either the current or the preceding calendar year
had in employment at least one individual (irrespective of
whether the same individual was in employment in each
such day)
except as provided in subdivisions
(10) and (11) (7) and (8) of
this section;
(8) (5) Any employing unit for which service in employment,
as defined in subdivision (9),
section sixteen of this article, of the definition of "employment" in this article is performed;
(9) (6) Any employing unit for which service in employment,
as defined in subdivision (10),
section sixteen of this article,
of the definition of "employment" in this article is performed;
(10) (7) Any employing unit for which agricultural labor, as
defined in subdivision (12),
section sixteen of this article, of
the definition of "employment", is performed; or
(11) (8) Any employing unit for which domestic service in
employment, as defined in subdivision (13),
section sixteen of
this article, of the definition of "employment", is performed.
§ 21A-1A-16. Employment.
"Employment", subject to the other provisions of this
article, means:
(1) Service, including service in interstate commerce,
performed for wages or under any contract of hire, written or
oral, express or implied;
(2) Any service performed by an employee, as defined in
Section 3306(i) of the federal Unemployment Tax Act, including
service in interstate commerce;
(3) Any service performed, including service in interstate
commerce, by any officer of a corporation;
(4) An individual's entire service, performed within or both
within and without this state if: (A) The service is localized in this state; or (B) the service is not localized in any state
but some of the service is performed in this state and: (i) The
base of operations, or, if there is no base of operations, then
the place from which
such the service is directed or controlled,
is in this state; or (ii) the base of operations or place from
which
such the service is directed or controlled is not in any
state in which some part of the service is performed but the
individual's residence is in this state;
(5) Service not covered under subdivision (4) of this
section and performed entirely without this state with respect to
no part of which contributions are required and paid under an
unemployment compensation law of any other state or of the
federal government, is employment subject to this chapter if the
individual performing
such the services is a resident of this
state and the commissioner approves the election of the employing
unit for whom
such the services are performed that the entire
service of
such the individual is employment subject to this
chapter;
(6) Service is localized within a state, if: (A) The
service is performed entirely within
such the state; or (B) the
service is performed both within and without
such the state, but
the service performed without
such the state is incidental to the
individual's service within this state, as, for example, is
temporary or transitory in nature or consists of isolated transactions;
(7) Services performed by an individual for wages are
employment subject to this chapter unless and until it is shown
to the satisfaction of the commissioner that: (A)
Such The
individual has been and will continue to be free from control or
direction over the performance of
such the services, both under
his or her contract of service and in fact; and (B)
such the
service is either outside the usual course of the business for
which
such the service is performed or that such service is
performed outside of all the places of business of the enterprise
for which such service is performed; and (C)
such the individual
is customarily engaged in an independently established trade,
occupation, profession or business;
(8) All service performed by an officer or member of the
crew of an American vessel (as defined in Section 305 of an act
of Congress entitled Social Security Act Amendment of 1946,
approved the tenth day of August, one thousand nine hundred
forty-six), on or in connection with
such the vessel, provided
that the operating office, from which the operations of
such the
vessel operating on navigable waters within and without the
United States is ordinarily and regularly supervised, managed,
directed and controlled, is within this state;
(9) (A) Service performed by an individual in the employ of
this state or any of its instrumentalities (or in the employ of this state and one or more other states or their
instrumentalities) for a hospital or institution of higher
education located in this state:
Provided, That
such the service
is excluded from "employment" as defined in the federal
Unemployment Tax Act solely by reason of Section 3306(c)(7) of
that act and is not excluded from "employment" under subdivision
(11) (9), section seventeen of this article;
(B) Service performed in the employ of this state or any of
its instrumentalities or political subdivisions thereof or any of
its instrumentalities or any instrumentality of more than one of
the foregoing or any instrumentality of any foregoing and one or
more other states or political subdivisions:
Provided, That
such
the service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the
federal Unemployment Tax Act by Section 3306(c)(7) of that act
and is not excluded from "employment" under subdivision
(15)
(13), section seventeen of this article; and
(C) Service performed in the employ of a nonprofit
educational institution which is not an institution of higher
education;
(10) Service performed by an individual in the employ of a
religious, charitable, educational or other organization but only
if the following conditions are met:
(A) The service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the federal Unemployment Tax Act solely by reason of Section
3306(c)(8) of that act; and
(B) The organization had four or more individuals in
employment for some portion of a day in each of twenty different
weeks, whether or not
such the weeks were consecutive, within
either the current or preceding calendar year, regardless of
whether they were employed at the same moment of time;
(11) Service of an individual who is a citizen of the United
States, performed outside the United States after the thirty- first day of December, one thousand nine hundred seventy-one,
(except in Canada and in the case of the Virgin Islands after the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred seventy- one, and before the first day of January, the year following the
year in which the secretary of labor approves for the first time
an unemployment insurance law submitted to him or her by the
Virgin Islands for approval) in the employ of an American
employer (other than service which is considered "employment"
under the provisions of subdivision (4), (5) or (6) of this
section or the parallel provisions of another state's law) if:
(A) The employer's principal place of business in the United
States is located in this state; or
(B) The employer has no place of business in the United
States, but: (i) The employer is an individual who is a resident
of this state; or (ii) the employer is a corporation which is organized under the laws of this state; or (iii) the employer is
a partnership or a trust and the number of the partners or
trustees who are residents of this state is greater than the
number who are residents of any one other state; or
(C) None of the criteria of paragraphs (A) and (B) of this
subdivision is met but the employer has elected coverage in this
state or, the employer having failed to elect coverage in any
state, the individual has filed a claim for benefits, based on
such the service, under the law of this state.
(D) An "American employer", for purposes of this
subdivision, means a person who is: (i) An individual who is a
resident of the United States; or (ii) a partnership if two
thirds or more of the partners are residents of the United
States; or (iii) a trust, if all of the trustees are residents of
the United States; or (iv) a corporation organized under the laws
of the United States or of any state;
(12) Service performed by an individual in agricultural
labor as defined in subdivision
(5) (3), section seventeen of
this article when:
(A)
Such The service is performed for a person who: (i)
During any calendar quarter in either the current or the
preceding calendar year paid remuneration in cash of twenty
thousand dollars or more to individuals employed in agricultural
labor including labor performed by an alien referred to in paragraph (B) of this subdivision; or (ii) for some portion of a
day in each of twenty different calendar weeks, whether or not
such the weeks were consecutive, in either the current or the
preceding calendar year, employed in agricultural labor,
including labor performed by an alien referred to in paragraph
(B) of this subdivision, ten or more individuals, regardless of
whether they were employed at the same moment of time;
(B)
Such The service is not performed in agricultural labor
if performed
before the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, by an individual who is an alien admitted to
the United States to perform service in agricultural labor
pursuant to Sections 214(c) and 101(a)(15)(H) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act;
(C) For the purposes of the definition of employment, any
individual who is a member of a crew furnished by a crew leader
to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person
shall be treated as an employee of
such the crew leader: (i) If
such the crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration
under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection
Act; or substantially all the members of
such the crew operate or
maintain tractors, mechanized harvesting or crop-dusting
equipment, or any other mechanized equipment, which is provided
by
such the crew leader; and (ii) if
such the individual is not
an employee of
such other another person within the meaning of subdivision (7) of the definition of employer;
(D) For the purposes of this subdivision, in the case of any
individual who is furnished by a crew leader to perform service
in agricultural labor for any other person and who is not treated
as an employee of
such the crew leader under paragraph (C) of
this subdivision: (i)
Such the other person and not the crew
leader shall be treated as the employer of
such the individual;
and (ii)
such the other person shall be treated as having paid
cash remuneration to
such the individual in an amount equal to
the amount of cash remuneration paid to
such the individual by
the crew leader (either on his or her own behalf or on behalf of
such other another person) for the service in agricultural labor
performed for
such the other person; and
(E) For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "crew
leader" means an individual who: (i) Furnishes individuals to
perform service in agricultural labor for any other person; (ii)
pays (either on his or her own behalf or on behalf of
such the
other person) the individuals so furnished by him or her for the
service in agricultural labor performed by them; and (iii) has
not entered into a written agreement with
such the other person
under which
such the individual is designated as an employee of
such the other person;
(13)(A) The term "employment" includes domestic service in
a private home, local college club or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority performed for a person who paid cash
remuneration of one thousand dollars or more in any calendar
quarter in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar
year to individuals employed in
such domestic service.
(B) Notwithstanding the foregoing definition of
"employment", if the services performed during one half or more
of any pay period by an employee for the person employing him or
her constitute employment, all the services of
such the employee
for
such the period are employment; but if the services performed
during more than one half of any such pay period by an employee
for the person employing him or her do not constitute employment,
then none of the services of
such the employee for
such the
period are employment.
§ 21A-1A-17. Employment does not include.
The term "employment" does not include:
(1) Service performed in the employ of this state or any
political subdivision thereof, or any instrumentality of this
state or its subdivisions, except as otherwise provided herein;
(2) Service performed directly in the employ of another
state, or its political subdivisions, except as otherwise
provided in paragraph (A), subdivision (9) of the definition of
"employment";
(3) (1) Service performed in the employ of the United States or any instrumentality of the United States exempt under the
constitution of the United States from the payments imposed by
this law, except that to the extent that the Congress of
the United States shall permit states to require any
instrumentalities of the United States to make payments into an
unemployment fund under a state unemployment compensation law,
all of the provisions of this law shall be applicable to
such the
instrumentalities and to service performed for
such the
instrumentalities in the same manner, to the same extent and on
the same terms as to all other employers, employing units,
individuals and services:
Provided, That if this state is not
certified for any year by the secretary of labor under Section
1603(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, the payments
required of
such the instrumentalities with respect to
such the
year shall be refunded by the commissioner from the fund in the
same manner and within the same period as is provided in section
nineteen, article five of this chapter, with respect to payments
erroneously collected;
(4) (2) Service performed with respect to which unemployment
compensation is payable under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance
Act and service with respect to which unemployment benefits are
payable under an unemployment compensation system for maritime
employees established by an act of Congress. The commissioner may enter into agreements with the proper agency established
under
such an act of Congress to provide reciprocal treatment to
individuals who, after acquiring potential rights to unemployment
compensation under an act of Congress, or who have, after
acquiring potential rights to unemployment compensation under an
act of Congress, acquired rights to benefit under this chapter.
Such agreement shall become effective ten days after
such the
publications which shall comply with the general rules of the
department;
(5) (3) Service performed by an individual in agricultural
labor, except as provided in subdivision (12)
under this section,
of the definition of "employment".
in this article For purposes
of this subdivision, the term "agricultural labor" includes all
services performed:
(A) On a farm, in the employ of any person, in connection
with cultivating the soil, or in connection with raising or
harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including
the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training and
management of livestock, bees, poultry and fur-bearing animals
and wildlife;
(B) In the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator
of a farm, in connection with the operation, management,
conservation, improvement or maintenance of
such the farm and its
tools and equipment, or in salvaging timber or clearing land of brush and other debris left by a hurricane, if the major part of
such the service is performed on a farm;
(C) In connection with the production or harvesting of any
commodity defined as an agricultural commodity in section fifteen
(g) of the Agricultural Marketing Act, as amended, or in
connection with the ginning of cotton, or in connection with the
operation or maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs or
waterways, not owned or operated for profit, used exclusively for
supplying and storing water for farming purposes;
(D) (i) In the employ of the operator of a farm in handling,
planting, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing,
grading, storing or delivering to storage or to market or to a
carrier for transportation to market, in its unmanufactured
state, any agricultural or horticultural commodity; but only if
such the operator produced more than one half of the commodity
with respect to which
such the service is performed; or (ii) in
the employ of a group of operators of farms (or a cooperative
organization of which
such the operators are members) in the
performance of service described in subparagraph (i) of this
paragraph, but only if
such the operators produced more than one
half of the commodity with respect to which
such the service is
performed; but the provisions of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of
this paragraph are not applicable with respect to service
performed in connection with commercial canning or commercial freezing or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural
commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for
distribution for consumption;
(E) On a farm operated for profit if
such the service is not
in the course of the employer's trade or business or is domestic
service in a private home of the employer. As used in this
subdivision, the term "farm" includes stock, dairy, poultry,
fruit, fur-bearing animals, truck farms, plantations, ranches,
greenhouses, ranges and nurseries, or other similar land areas or
structures used primarily for the raising of any agricultural or
horticultural commodities;
(6) (4) Domestic service in a private home except as
provided in subdivision (13),
section sixteen of the article, of
the definition of "employment";
in this article
(7) (5) Service performed by an individual in the employ of
his or her son, daughter or spouse;
(8) (6) Service performed by a child under the age of
eighteen years in the employ of his or her father or mother;
(9) (7) Service as an officer or member of a crew of an
American vessel, performed on or in connection with
such the
vessel, if the operating office, from which the operations of the
vessel operating on navigable waters within or without the United
States are ordinarily and regularly supervised, managed, directed
and controlled, is without this state;
(10) (8) Service performed by agents of mutual fund broker-
dealers or insurance companies, exclusive of industrial insurance
agents, or by agents of investment companies, who are compensated
wholly on a commission basis;
(11) (9) Service performed: (A) In the employ of a church
or convention or association of churches, or an organization
which is operated primarily for religious purposes and which is
operated, supervised, controlled or principally supported by a
church or convention or association of churches; or (B) by a duly
ordained, commissioned or licensed minister of a church in the
exercise of his or her ministry or by a member of a religious
order in the exercise of duties required by
such the order; or
(C) in a facility conducted for the purpose of carrying out a
program of rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity
is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury or
providing remunerative work for individuals who because of their
impaired physical or mental capacity cannot be readily absorbed
in the competitive labor market by an individual receiving
such
the rehabilitation or remunerative work; or (D) as part of an
unemployment work-relief or work-training program assisted or
financed, in whole or in part, by any federal agency or an agency
of a state or political subdivision thereof, by an individual
receiving
such work relief or work training; or (E) by an inmate
of a custodial or penal institution;
(12) (10) Service performed in the employ of a school,
college or university, if
such the service is performed: (A) By
a student who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes at
such the school, college or university; or (B) by the spouse of
such a student, if
such the spouse is advised, at the time
such
the spouse commences to perform
such the service, that: (i) The
employment of
such the spouse to perform
such the service is
provided under a program to provide financial assistance to
such
the student by
such the school, college or university; and (ii)
such the employment will not be covered by any program of
unemployment insurance;
(13) (11) Service performed by an individual who is enrolled
at a nonprofit or public educational institution which normally
maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and normally has a
regularly organized body of students in attendance at the place
where its educational activities are carried on as a student in
a full-time program, taken for credit at
such the institution,
which combines academic instruction with work experience, if
such
the service is an integral part of
such the program, and
such the
institution has so certified to the employer, except that this
subdivision does not apply to service performed in a program
established for or on behalf of an employer or group of
employers;
(14) (12) Service performed in the employ of a hospital, if
such the service is performed by a patient of the hospital, as
defined in this article; and
(15) (13) Service in the employ of a governmental entity
referred to in subdivision (9),
section sixteen of this article,
of the definition of "employment"
in this article if
such the
service is performed by an individual in the exercise of duties:
(A) As an elected official; (B) as a member of a legislative
body, or a member of the judiciary, of a state or political
subdivision; (C) as a member of the state national guard or air
national guard; (D) as an employee serving on a temporary basis
in case of fire, storm, snow, earthquake, flood or similar
emergency; (E) in a position which, under or pursuant to the laws
of this state, is designated as: (i) A major nontenured
policymaking or advisory position; or (ii) a policymaking or
advisory position the performance of the duties of which
ordinarily does not require more than eight hours per week.
Notwithstanding the foregoing exclusions from the definition
of "employment", services, except agricultural labor and domestic
service in a private home, are in employment if with respect to
such the services a tax is required to be paid under any federal
law imposing a tax against which credit may be taken for
contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment
compensation fund, or which as a condition for full tax credit
against the tax imposed by the federal Unemployment Tax Act are required to be covered under this chapter.
ARTICLE 6. EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY; BENEFITS.
§21A-6-17. Food stamp overissuance intercept of unemployment benefits.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section two, article
ten of this chapter, the commissioner shall deduct and withhold
from any unemployment compensation payable to an individual that
owes an uncollected overissuance of food stamp coupons, as
defined under subsection (f):
(1) The amount, if any, determined pursuant to a written
agreement between the individual and the department of health and
human resources under section 13(c)(3)(A) of the Food Stamp Act
of 1977, as codified in 7 U.S.C. 2022(c)(3)(A), and submitted to
the commissioner; or
(2) Any amount otherwise required to be deducted and
withheld from such unemployment compensation pursuant to legal
process, as that term is used in section 13(c)(3)(B) of the Food
Stamp Act of 1977, as codified in 7 U.S.C. 2022(c)(3)(B) properly
served upon the commissioner.
(b) Any amount deducted and withheld under subsection (a) of
this section shall be paid by the commissioner to the department
of health and human resources.
(c) Any amount deducted and withheld under subsection (a) of this section shall for all purposes be treated as if it were paid
to the individual as unemployment compensation and paid by the
individual to the department of health and human resources in
satisfaction of the individual's uncollected overissuance.
(d) For purposes of this section, the term "unemployment
compensation" means any compensation payable under this chapter,
including amounts payable by the commissioner pursuant to an
agreement under any federal law providing for compensation,
assistance or allowances with respect to unemployment.
(e) This section applies only if appropriate arrangements
have been made for reimbursement by the department of health and
human resources for the administrative costs incurred by the
commissioner under this section which are attributable to
uncollected overissuance being enforced by the state or
department of health and human resources.
(f) The term "uncollected overissuance" means, for purposes
of this section, obligations which are being enforced pursuant to
a plan described in section 13(c)(1) of the Food Stamp Act of
1977, as codified in 7 U.S.C. 2022(c)(1).
ARTICLE 10. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§21A-10-11. Reporting requirements and required information; use of information; libel and slander actions prohibited.
(a) The commissioner may require an employing unit to
provide sworn or unsworn reports concerning:
(1) The number of individuals in its employ.
(2) Individually their hours of labor.
(3) Individually the rate and amount of wages.
(a) Each employer, including labor organizations as defined
in subsection (i), shall, quarterly, submit certified reports on
or before the last day of the month next following the calendar
quarter, on forms to be prescribed by the commissioner. The
reports shall contain:
(1) The employer's assigned unemployment compensation
registration number, the employer's name and the address at
which the employer's payroll records are maintained;
(2) Each employee's social security account number, name,
and the gross wages paid to each employee, which shall include
the first eight thousand dollars of remuneration and all amounts
in excess of such amount, notwithstanding subdivision (1),
subsection (b), section twenty-eight, article one-a of this
chapter;
(3) The total gross wages paid within the quarter for
employment, which includes money wages and the cash value of
other remuneration, and shall include the first eight thousand
dollars of remuneration paid to each employee and all amounts in
excess of such amount, notwithstanding subdivision (1), subsection (b), section twenty-eight, article one-a of this
chapter; and
(4)
Such Other information as is reasonably connected with
the administration of this chapter.
(b) Information thus obtained
shall may not be published or
be open to public inspection so as to reveal the identity of the
employing unit or the individual.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, the commissioner may provide information thus obtained
to the following governmental entities for purposes consistent
with state and federal laws:
(1) The United States department of agriculture;
(2) The state agency responsible for enforcement of the
medicaid program under Title XIX of the Social Security Act;
(3) The United States department of health and human
services or any state or federal program operating and approved
under Title I, Title II, Title X, Title XIV or Title XVI of the
Social Security Act;
(4) Those agencies of state government responsible for
economic and community development; secondary, post-secondary
and vocational education; vocational rehabilitation, employment
and training, including, but not limited to, the administration
of the Perkins Act and the Job Training and Partnership Act;
(5) The tax division, but only for the purposes of collection and enforcement;
(6) The division of labor for purposes of enforcing the wage
bond
and the contractor licensing provisions of chapter twenty-
one of this code;
(7) Any agency of this or any other state, or any federal
agency, charged with the administration of an unemployment
compensation law or the maintenance of a system of public
employment offices;
(8) Any claimant for benefits or any other interested party
to the extent necessary for the proper presentation or defense of
a claim; and
(9) The division of workers' compensation for purposes of
collection and enforcement:
Provided, That the division of
workers' compensation shall provide similar information to the
other divisions of the bureau of employment programs.
(d) The agencies or organizations which receive information
under subsection (c)
of this section shall agree that
such the
information shall remain confidential so as not to reveal the
identity of the employing unit or the individual consistent with
the provisions of this chapter.
(e) The commissioner may, before furnishing any information
permitted under this section, require that those who request the
information shall reimburse the
division bureau of employment
security programs for any cost associated therewith.
(f) The commissioner may refuse to provide any information
requested under this section if the agency or organization making
the request does not certify that it will comply with the state
and federal law protecting the confidentiality of
such the
information.
(g) A person who violates the
confidentiality provisions of
this section
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty dollars
nor more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned not longer than
ninety days, or both.
(h) No action for slander or libel, either criminal or
civil, shall be predicated upon information furnished by any
employer or any employee to the commissioner in connection with
the administration of any of the provisions of this chapter.
(i) For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, the
term "labor organization" means any organization of any kind, or
any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which
employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole
or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances,
labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or
conditions of work. It includes any entity, also known as a
hiring hall, which is used by the organization and an employer to
carry out requirements described in section 158(f)(3) of title 29 of the United States Code, of an agreement between the
organization and the employer.
§ 21A-10-19. Disclosure of information to child support
agencies.
(1) (a) The bureau of employment programs shall disclose,
upon request, to officers or employees of any state or local
child support enforcement agency,
and to employees of the
federal
secretary of health and human services, any wage and benefit
information with respect to
an identified individual individuals
which is contained in its records.
The term "state or local child support enforcement agency"
means any agency of a state or political subdivision thereof
operating pursuant to a plan described in
sections section 453,
and 453a or 454 of the Social Security Act, which has been
approved by the secretary of health and human services under Part
D, Title IV of the Social Security Act.
(2) (b) The requesting agency shall agree that
such the
information is to be used only for the purpose of establishing
and collecting child support obligations from, and locating,
individuals owing
such the obligations which are being enforced
pursuant to a plan described in
sections section 453,
and 453a or
454 of the Social Security Act which has been approved by the
secretary of health and human services under Part D, Title IV of the Social Security Act.
(3) (c) The information
shall may not be released unless
the requesting agency agrees to reimburse the costs involved for
furnishing
such the information.
(4) (d) In addition to the requirements of this section,
all other requirements with respect to confidentiality of
information obtained in the administration of this chapter and
the sanctions imposed on improper disclosure shall apply to the
use of
such the information by officers, and employees of child
support
enforcement agencies.
A state or local child support
enforcement agency may disclose to any agent of the agency that
is under contract with the agency to carry out the purposes
described in subsection (b) of this section, wage information
that is disclosed to an officer or employee of the agency under
subsection (a). Any agent of a state or local child support
agency that receives wage information under this paragraph shall
comply with the safeguards established to keep the information
confidential and is subject to the criminal provisions of
subsection (g), section eleven of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make changes in West
Virginia's Unemployment Compensation law to conform it to
recently passed federal legislation. It also makes some
clarifying changes in the definitions of employer and employment.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates language that
would be added.
§21A-6-17 is new; therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.