General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2007>Labor and Employment


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Labor and Employment

Passed

P HB 2334

Child labor; certain employment prohibited; farm wineries. Allows a child under the age of 18 years to work at a licensed Virginia farm winery provided the child does not serve or dispense in any manner alcoholic beverages.
Patron - Gilbert

P HB 2738

Minimum wage; definition of employee. Repeals the existing exclusion for persons who have reached age 65 from the definition of an employee under the Virginia Minimum Wage Act. This bill is identical to SB 758.
Patron - Englin

P HB 2783

Child labor offenses; civil penalties. Increases the civil penalty that may be assessed against a person who employs, procures or permits a child to be employed, or issues an employment certificate, in violation of child labor laws, when the violation results in the employment of a child who is seriously injured or who dies in the course of that employment, from $1,000 to $10,000. For violations not involving the death or serious injury of a child, the maximum civil penalty remains $1,000.
Patron - Morgan

P HB 3132

Employment; leave for crime victims to attend criminal proceedings. Requires employers to allow an employee who is a victim of a crime to leave work, without compensation, to exercise his right to be present at criminal proceedings relating to the crime. An employer may limit the leave if it creates an undue hardship. Employers are prohibited from dismissing or otherwise discriminating against an employee who is a victim of a crime because he exercises the right to leave work.
Patron - Moran

P SB 758

Minimum wage; definition of employee. Repeals the existing exclusion for persons who have reached age 65 from the definition of an employee under the Virginia Minimum Wage Act. This bill is identical to HB 2738.
Patron - Stosch

Failed

F HB 1634

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage for persons age 19 or older from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.00 per hour effective July 1, 2007, to $6.45 per hour effective July 1, 2008, and to $7.00 per hour effective July 1, 2009, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Patron - Marshall, D.W.

F HB 1651

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective July 1, 2007, and to $7.15 per hour effective July 1, 2008, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Patron - Eisenberg

F HB 1654

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.25 per hour effective July 1, 2007, and to $7.00 per hour effective July 1, 2008, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Patron - Toscano

F HB 1906

Unfair employment practices; discharging employees when unauthorized aliens are employed. States that it is an unfair employment practice for an employer to discharge any United States citizen or legally authorized worker if the employer, on the date of the discharge, employed an unauthorized alien within the Commonwealth. Employers that are enrolled and participate in the federal Basic Pilot Program, or are exempt from compliance with federal employment verification procedures under federal law, are not subject to this measure. Someone discharged in violation of this unfair employment practice is entitled to recover treble damages, including lost wages from the date of the discharge until the date the employee has procured new employment, or 120 days, whichever occurs earlier, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. This bill was incorporated into HB 2687.
Patron - Albo

F HB 1947

Hospital-Emergency Treatment Reimbursement Fund. Requires employers to withhold from wages payable to employees who are not covered by a health insurance policy an amount equal to five percent of their wages. The withheld moneys are to be remitted to the State Corporation Commission, which will allocate the funds among the licensed hospitals that have provided emergency care for which they have not been paid, based on the ratio of each hospital's unpaid costs to the statewide total. The Health Commissioner is required to collect information from licensed hospitals regarding the amount of their unpaid emergency care. Only hospitals that provide the requested data are eligible to receive distributions from the Fund.
Patron - Purkey

F HB 2004

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective July 1, 2007; to $7.15 per hour effective July 1, 2008; and to $8.15 per hour effective July 1, 2009. For subsequent years, the minimum wage will be adjusted annually on July 1 to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for the preceding calendar year, as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry.
Patron - Callahan

F HB 2217

Commissioner of Labor and Industry; reporting suspected employment misclassification and fraud. Requires the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number and make available paper forms and on-line electronic forms that may be used by persons to report suspected instances of misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The hotline and forms are also to be used to report suspected instances of workers' compensation insurance fraud and unemployment tax fraud. The Commissioner is required to forward reports of suspected instances of misclassification or fraud to the Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit of the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Employment Commission, or both, as appropriate, for their investigation.
Patron - Amundson

F HB 2328

Verification of employment eligibility through Basic Pilot Program; penalty. Makes it unlawful for an employer to fail to confirm, through the Basic Pilot Program of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the employment eligibility of a job applicant. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron - Gilbert

F HB 2508

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour effective July 1, 2007, to $6.55 per hour effective July 1, 2008, and to $7.25 per hour effective July 1, 2009, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

F HB 2605

Document verification for employment of illegal immigrants; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to falsely represent that an alien worker has documentation indicating that he is legally eligible for employment. The measure amends the existing prohibition on employing such aliens to provide that it is unlawful to continue employing such person who cannot provide the required documentation of eligibility. Each day of continued unlawful employment of each alien constitutes a separate civil offense punishable by a $100 civil penalty.
Patron - Watts

F HB 2687

Unfair employment practices; discharging employees when unauthorized aliens are employed. States that it is an unfair employment practice for an employer to knowingly employ any unauthorized alien within the Commonwealth. An employee who is replaced by his employer with an unauthorized alien shall have a cause of action against his employer on or after July 1, 2007. Employers that are enrolled and participate in the federal Basic Pilot Program, are exempt from compliance with federal employment verification procedures under federal law, or have obtained certain employment eligibility verification documentation, are not subject to this measure. Someone discharged in violation of this unfair employment practice is entitled to recover treble damages, including lost wages from the date of the discharge until the date the employee has procured new employment, or 120 days, whichever occurs earlier, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. This bill incorporates HB 1906.
Patron - Reid

F HB 2725

Occupational safety and health program for public employees. Authorizes the Safety and Health Codes Board to establish regulations and procedures for enforcing the occupational health and safety program that the Commissioner of Labor and Industry establishes for employees of the Commonwealth or any public body. Currently, only the Commissioner is authorized to establish procedures for enforcing the program. The measure also provides that the regulations and procedures shall include provisions addressing penalties to be assessed for violations.
Patron - McClellan

F HB 2849

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective July 1, 2007, and to $7.25 per hour effective July 1, 2008, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Patron - Moran

F HB 2873

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour effective July 1, 2007, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Patron - McEachin

F HB 3054

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective July 1, 2007, and to $7.25 per hour effective July 1, 2008, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The measure also repeals the existing exclusion for persons who have reached age 65 from the definition of an employee under the Virginia Minimum Wage Act.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

F SB 766

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective July 1, 2007, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. This bill was incorporated into SB 1327.
Patron - Locke

F SB 1073

Occupational health and safety; penalty for violations. Requires that an employer cited for a serious violation of the occupational safety or health provisions of Title 40.1 shall be assessed a civil penalty of $25,000, if the violation is determined to have caused or contributed to the death an employee.
Patron - Miller

F SB 1277

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour effective July 1, 2007, and to $7.25 per hour effective July 1, 2008, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. This bill was incorporated into SB 1327.
Patron - Whipple

F SB 1327

Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $5.15 per hour to $6.50 per hour effective July 1, 2007, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The act will expire at such time as the federal minimum wage equals or exceeds $6.50 per hour. This bill incorporates SB 766 and SB 1277.
Patron - Colgan

F SB 1354

Occupational safety and health; civil penalties. Prevents the Commissioner of Labor and Industry from assessing civil penalties on an employer for a cited violation of occupational safety and health standards until (i) the Safety and Health Codes Board has designated the occupation as a hazardous occupation and (ii) the employer has received written notice of the designation. Any designation of an occupation as hazardous shall be based upon the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration's determinations of the highest hazard industries.
Patron - Wagner

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