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Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.3887 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19990408 Primary Sponsor:Cato All Sponsors:Cato Drafted Document Number:l:\council\bills\bbm\9074ac99.doc Residing Body:House Current Committee:Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee 26 HLCI Subject:Wages, payment of; Employers and Employees, Labor, Licensing and Regulation Department History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ House 19990408 Introduced, read first time, 26 HLCI referred to Committee Versions of This Bill
TO AMEND CHAPTER 10, TITLE 41, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PAYMENT OF WAGES, SO AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF "WAGES" TO CLARIFY WHEN AND WHERE PAYMENT IS TO BE MADE, TO CLARIFY THE PROCEDURE FOR PAYMENT OF WAGES DUE DISCHARGED EMPLOYEES, TO DELETE THE PROVISION REQUIRING THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, LICENSING AND REGULATION TO RESOLVE CHAPTER VIOLATIONS BY MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION AND THE PROVISION REQUIRING THE DIRECTOR TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF PENALTIES ASSESSED UNDER THE CHAPTER, TO EXPAND DOCUMENTS WHICH MAY BE INSPECTED AND COPIED RELEVANT TO INVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED UNDER THIS CHAPTER, TO PROHIBIT AN EMPLOYER FROM DISMISSING OR DEMOTING AN EMPLOYEE FOR BRINGING A PROCEEDING UNDER THIS CHAPTER, AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 10, Title 41 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
Section 41-10-10. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Employer' means every person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, receiver, or other officer of a court of this State, the State or any political subdivision thereof, and any agent or officer of the above classes employing any person in this State.
(2) 'Wages' means all amounts at which labor rendered is recompensed, whether the amount is fixed or ascertained on a time, task, piece, or commission basis, or other method of calculating the amount and includes vacation, holiday, bonus, expense, and sick leave payments which are due to an employee under any employer policy or employment contract. Funds placed in pension plans or profit sharing plans are not wages subject to this chapter.
Section 41-10-30. (A) Every employer shall notify provide each employee in writing at the time of hiring of the normal hours and wages agreed upon, the time and place of payment, and the deductions which will be made from the wages, including payments to insurance programs. The employer has the option of giving written notification by posting the terms conspicuously at or near the place of work. Any changes in these terms must be made in writing at least seven calendar days before they become effective. This section does not apply to wage increases.
(B) Every employer shall keep records of names and addresses of all employees and of wages paid each payday and deductions made for three years.
(C) Every employer shall furnish each employee with an itemized statement showing his gross pay and the deductions made from his wages for each pay period.
Section 41-10-40. (A) Every employer in the State shall pay all wages due in lawful United States money or by negotiable warrant or check bearing even date with the payday at the regular time and place of payment.
(B) An employer may deposit all wages due to the employee's credit at a financial institution which is doing business in the State and is insured by an agency of the federal government. When an employee's wages are paid by deposit at a financial institution, he must be furnished a statement of earnings and withholdings. Any wage deposit plan adopted by an employer shall entitle each employee to at least one withdrawal for each deposit, free of any service charge.
(C) An employer shall not withhold or divert any portion of an employee's wages unless the employer is required or permitted to do so by state or federal law or the employer has given written notification to the employee of the amount and terms of the deductions as required by subsection (A) of Section 41-10-30.
(D) Every employer in the State shall pay all wages due at the time and place designated as required by subsection (A) of Section 41-10-30.
Section 41-10-50. When an employer separates an employee from the payroll for any reason, the employer shall pay all wages due to the employee within forty-eight hours of the time of separation or on the next regular payday which may not exceed thirty days. If the payday cannot be established, the employer shall pay all wages due within seven calendar days from the date of separation.
Section 41-10-70. Upon written complaint of any employee alleging a violation of this chapter, the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation or his designee may institute an investigation of the alleged violation. If the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation or his designee determines that a violation exists, he shall endeavor to resolve all issues by informal methods of mediation and conciliation.
Section 41-10-80. (A) Any employer who violates the provisions of Section 41-10-30 must be given a written warning by the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation or his designee for the first offense and must be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each subsequent offense.
(B) Any employer who violates the provisions of Section 41-10-40 or Section 41-10-120 must be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each violation. Each failure to pay constitutes a separate offense.
(C) In case of any failure to pay wages due to an employee as required by Section 41-10-40 or 41-10-50 the employee may recover in a civil action an amount equal to three times the full amount of the unpaid wages, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees as the court may allow. Any civil action for the recovery of wages must be commenced within three years after the wages become due.
(D) The Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation or his designee shall promulgate regulations to establish a procedure for An administrative review of any civil penalty assessed by the commissioner director must be made to the administrative law judge within thirty days of the penalty being assessed.
Section 41-10-110. The Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation or his designee, his inspectors, agents, or designees, upon proper presentation of credentials to the owner, manager, or agent of the employer, may enter at reasonable times and have the right to question either publicly or privately any employer, owner, manager, or agent and the employees of the employer and inspect, investigate, reproduce, or photograph time records or payroll records any document for the purpose of determining that the provisions of this chapter are complied with.
Section 41-10-120. (A) No employer may discharge or demote an employee because the employee has instituted or caused to be instituted, in good faith, a proceeding under this chapter or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding.
(B) An employer who violates subsection (A) is liable in a civil action for lost wages suffered by an employee as a result of the violation, and an employee discharged or demoted in violation of this section is entitled to be reinstated to his former position. The burden of proof is upon the employee.
(C) An employer has as an affirmative defense to subsection (A) the following:
(1) wilful or habitual tardiness or absence from work;
(2) being disorderly or intoxicated while at work;
(3) destruction of any of the employer's property;
(4) failure to meet established employer work standards;
(5) malingering;
(6) embezzlement or larceny of the employer's property; or
(7) violating specific written company policy for which the action is a stated remedy of the violation.
(D) The statute of limitation for actions under subsection (A) is one year."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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