Minnesota Session Laws - 1988, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1988 

                        CHAPTER 659-S.F.No. 1721 
           An act relating to employment; regulating employment 
          agencies; prohibiting certain action; regulating job 
          listing services; regulating fees and contracts; 
          regulating parental leave; amending Minnesota Statutes 
          1986, sections 184.21, subdivision 2, and by adding 
          subdivisions; 184.37, subdivision 1; 184.38, 
          subdivisions 3 and 5; Minnesota Statutes 1987 
          Supplement, sections 181.932, subdivision 1; and 
          181.943. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
181.943, is amended to read: 
    181.943 [RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LEAVE.] 
    The length of leave provided by this act may be reduced by 
any period of paid parental or disability leave, but not accrued 
sick leave, provided by the employer, so that the total leave 
does not exceed six weeks, unless agreed to by the employer. 
    Nothing in sections 181.940 to 181.943 prevents any 
employer from providing parental leave benefits in addition to 
those provided in sections 181.940 to 181.943 or otherwise 
affects an employee's rights with respect to any other 
employment benefit. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
181.932, subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [PROHIBITED ACTION.] An employer shall not 
discharge, discipline, threaten, otherwise discriminate against, 
or penalize an employee regarding the employee's compensation, 
terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment because:
    (a) the employee, or a person acting on behalf of an 
employee, in good faith, reports a violation or suspected 
violation of any federal or state law or rule adopted pursuant 
to law to an employer or to any governmental body or law 
enforcement official; 
    (b) the employee is requested by a public body or office to 
participate in an investigation, hearing, inquiry; or 
    (c) the employee refuses to participate in any activity an 
employer's order to perform an action that the employee, in good 
faith, believes has an objective basis in fact to believe 
violates any state or federal law or rule or regulation adopted 
pursuant to law, and the employee informs the employer that the 
order is being refused for that reason. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 184.21, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 2.  [EMPLOYMENT AGENCY.] The term "employment agency" 
means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association 
, or job listing service in this state engaged for hire or 
compensation in the business of furnishing persons seeking 
employment or changing employment with information or other 
service enabling or tending to enable such persons to procure 
employment, by or with employers, other than such employment 
agency; or furnishing any other person, firm, corporation, 
partnership, or association who may be seeking to employ or may 
be in the market for help of any kind, with information enabling 
or tending to enable such other person, firm, corporation, 
partnership, or association to procure such help.  Any party 
performing the services of an employment agency as herein 
defined, is not an employment agency if the performance of these 
services is peripheral to the primary business of that party, 
and if no part of any fees or compensation is paid by the person 
seeking employment unless that party has an employee, officer, 
department or division whose primary responsibility is providing 
employment services to clients.  The term "employment agency" 
does not include any exclusively teacher or exclusively nurse or 
exclusively medical doctor placement service, theatrical, 
booking, modeling, babysitting agency, educational or labor 
organization, resume service, newspaper, magazine, trade or 
professional journal or like publication of general circulation, 
the main purpose of which is dissemination of news, reports, 
trade, or professional information.  The term "employment agent" 
shall be synonymous with the term "employment agency". 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 184.21, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 12.  [JOB LISTING SERVICE.] "Job listing service" 
means any employment agency in the business of matching 
applicants with employment opportunities through providing a 
list of employers or list of job openings or like publications 
or lists of applicants for distribution to potential employers, 
where a fee or valuable consideration is exacted from the 
applicant.  An employment agency operating exclusively as a "job 
listing service" is not engaged in the placement of applicants. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 184.21, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 13.  [CONCURRENT FEE.] "Concurrent fee" means a fee 
charged to an applicant for providing a list of employers or 
list of job openings or like publications and the fee is not 
contingent upon actual hiring, but for the information provided 
by the agency. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 184.37, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [EMPLOYMENT AGENTS.] Every employment agent 
shall contract, in writing, with every applicant for employment 
for services to be rendered to the applicant by the employment 
agent, which contract shall contain the date, the name and 
address of the employment agency, the name of the employment 
agent, the service charge to be made to the applicant, and the 
time and method of payments, and, on either the face or back of 
the contract, shall appear the definition of "accept," "method 
of payment," "temporary position," and "charge for permanent 
position which proves to be temporary.".  Every employment agent 
engaged in the placement of applicants shall also include on 
either the face or the back of the contract the definition of 
"accept," "method of payment," "temporary position," and "charge 
for permanent position which proves to be temporary."  
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 184.38, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 3.  No fee shall be solicited or accepted as an 
application of registration fee by any employment agent for the 
purpose of being registered as an applicant for employment, nor 
shall any other moneys be solicited or accepted for any reason 
prior to the acceptance of a position actual start date, other 
than fees earned through concurrent fee arrangements in which 
the fee charged is not contingent upon actual placement of an 
applicant. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 184.38, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 5.  Every employment agent shall keep a record of all 
services rendered employers and employees.  This record shall 
contain the name and address of the employer by whom the 
services were solicited, the name and address of the employee, 
kind of position offered by the employer, kind of position 
accepted by the employee, probable duration of the employment, 
rate of wage or salary to be paid the employee, amount of the 
employment agent's service charge, dates and amounts of 
payments, date and amount of refund if any, and for what, and a 
space for remarks under which shall be recorded anything of an 
individual nature to amplify the foregoing report and as 
information in the event of any question arising concerning the 
transaction.  Every employment agent engaged in the placement of 
applicants shall also keep a record of kind of position accepted 
by the employee.  In the event the department has reason to 
question the detailed report so submitted by the employment 
agent, the department shall have authority to demand of the 
employment agent the production of these records for examination 
by it, or its agent, at such place as the department may 
designate. 
      Sec. 9.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment. 
    Approved April 26, 1988