HF 216

1st Engrossment - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to employment; modifying recruiting 
  1.3             provisions; requiring the commissioner of labor and 
  1.4             industry to submit a report to the legislature; 
  1.5             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
  1.6             sections 181.635, subdivisions 1, 2, and 6; and 181.64.
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 181.635, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] The definitions in this 
  1.11  subdivision apply to this section. 
  1.12     (a) "Employer" means a person who employs another to 
  1.13  perform a service for hire.  Employer includes any agent or 
  1.14  attorney of an employer who, for money or other valuable 
  1.15  consideration paid or promised to be paid, performs any 
  1.16  recruiting.  
  1.17     (b) "Person" means a corporation, partnership, limited 
  1.18  liability company, limited liability partnership, association, 
  1.19  individual, or group of persons. 
  1.20     (c) "Recruits" means to induce an individual, directly or 
  1.21  through an agent, to relocate to Minnesota to work in food 
  1.22  processing by an offer of employment. 
  1.23     (d) "Food processing" means canning, packing, or otherwise 
  1.24  processing poultry or meat for consumption. 
  1.25     (e) "Terms and conditions of employment" means the 
  1.26  following: 
  2.1      (1) nature of the work to be performed; 
  2.2      (2) wage rate, nature and amount of deductions for tools, 
  2.3   clothing, supplies, or other items; 
  2.4      (3) anticipated hours of work per week, including overtime; 
  2.5      (4) anticipated slow-down slowdown or shutdown or if hours 
  2.6   of work per week vary more than 25 percent from clause (3); 
  2.7      (5) duration of the work; 
  2.8      (6) workers' compensation coverage and name, address, and 
  2.9   telephone number of insurer and department of labor and 
  2.10  industry; 
  2.11     (7) employee benefits available, including any health 
  2.12  plans, sick leave, or paid vacation; 
  2.13     (8) transportation and relocation arrangements with 
  2.14  allocation of costs between employer and employee; 
  2.15     (9) availability and description of housing and any costs 
  2.16  to employee associated with housing; and 
  2.17     (10) any other item of value offered, and allocation of 
  2.18  costs of item between employer and employee. 
  2.19     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 181.635, 
  2.20  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.21     Subd. 2.  [RECRUITING; REQUIRED DISCLOSURE.] An employer 
  2.22  employing or recruiting three or more persons with a common 
  2.23  predominant language other than English or five or more persons 
  2.24  with a predominant language other than English shall provide 
  2.25  written disclosure of the terms and conditions of employment to 
  2.26  a person at the time it recruits the person to relocate to work 
  2.27  in the food processing industry.  The disclosure requirement 
  2.28  does not apply to a person to be paid wages at a rate of at 
  2.29  least two times the minimum wage set by section 177.24 or an 
  2.30  exempt employee as defined in United States Code, title 29, 
  2.31  section 213(a)(1).  The disclosure must be written in English 
  2.32  and Spanish in the person's predominant language, dated and 
  2.33  signed by the employer and the person recruited, and maintained 
  2.34  by the employer for two years.  A copy of the signed and 
  2.35  completed disclosure must be delivered immediately to the 
  2.36  recruited person.  The disclosure may not be construed as an 
  3.1   employment contract.  A request by an employer for a person's 
  3.2   predominant language is not an unfair employment practice under 
  3.3   section 363.03. 
  3.4      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 181.635, 
  3.5   subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  3.6      Subd. 6.  [STANDARD DISCLOSURE FORM.] The department of 
  3.7   labor and industry shall provide a standard form for use at the 
  3.8   employer's option in making the disclosure required in 
  3.9   subdivision 2.  The form shall be available in English and 
  3.10  Spanish in the person's predominant language. 
  3.11     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 181.64, is 
  3.12  amended to read: 
  3.13     181.64 [FALSE STATEMENTS AS INDUCEMENT TO ENTERING 
  3.14  EMPLOYMENT.] 
  3.15     It shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, company, 
  3.16  corporation, association, or organization of any kind, doing 
  3.17  business in this state, directly or through any agent or 
  3.18  attorney, to induce, influence, persuade, or engage any person 
  3.19  to change from one place to another in this state, or to change 
  3.20  from any place in any state, territory, or country to any place 
  3.21  in this state, to work in any branch of labor through or by 
  3.22  means of knowingly false representations, whether spoken, 
  3.23  written, or advertised in printed form, concerning the kind or 
  3.24  character of such work, the compensation therefor, the sanitary 
  3.25  conditions relating to or surrounding it, or failure to state in 
  3.26  any advertisement, proposal, or contract for the employment that 
  3.27  there is a strike or lockout at the place of the proposed 
  3.28  employment, when in fact such strike or lockout then actually 
  3.29  exists in such employment at such place.  Any such unlawful acts 
  3.30  shall be deemed a false advertisement or misrepresentation for 
  3.31  the purposes of this section and section 181.65. 
  3.32     Sec. 5.  [APPROPRIATIONS; REPORT TO LEGISLATURE.] 
  3.33     Subdivision 1.  [STANDARD DISCLOSURE FORM.] $....... is 
  3.34  appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of labor 
  3.35  and industry for development and translation into ten languages 
  3.36  of the standard disclosure form required in section 3.  The 
  4.1   appropriation is available until June 30, 1999. 
  4.2      Subd. 2.  [PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN; REPORT TO 
  4.3   LEGISLATURE.] $....... is appropriated from the general fund to 
  4.4   the commissioner of labor and industry to work in consultation 
  4.5   with the councils created under Minnesota Statutes, sections 
  4.6   3.922, 3.9223, 3.9225, and 3.9226 to develop and implement a 
  4.7   public awareness campaign to educate employees and employers on 
  4.8   their rights and duties under Minnesota Statutes, section 
  4.9   181.635.  The appropriation is available until June 30, 1999.  
  4.10  The commissioner shall report to the legislature by January 15, 
  4.11  1999, on the results of the campaign.