Chapter 133
2013 -- S 0573
Enacted 06/24/13
A N A C T
RELATING TO
LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT SECURITY--
GENERAL
PROVISIONS
Introduced
By: Senators Cool Rumsey,
Date Introduced: February 28, 2013
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 28-42-38 and 28-42-38.1 of the General
Laws in Chapter 28-42
entitled "Employment Security - General Provisions"
are hereby amended to read as follows:
28-42-38.
Records and reports -- Confidentiality of information. --
(a) Every
employer and every employing unit employing any person in
employment in this state shall keep
true and accurate employment records of all persons
employed by him or her, and of the weekly
hours worked for him or her by each, and of the weekly
wages paid by him or her to each person;
and every employer and employing unit shall keep records
containing any other information that
the director may prescribe. Those records shall at all
times be available within this state and shall
be open to inspection by the director or his or her
authorized representatives at any reasonable
time and as often as the director shall deem necessary.
(b) The director may require
from any employer, or employing unit, employing any
person in this state, any reports covering persons employed
by him or her, on employment,
wages, hours, unemployment, and related matters which the
director deems necessary to the
effective administration of chapters 42 -- 44 of this title.
(c) (1) Information
obtained, or information contained in other records of the department
obtained from any individual pursuant to the administration of
those chapters, shall be held
confidential by the director and shall not be published or be open
to public inspection in any
manner revealing the individual's or employing unit's
identity, but any claimant at a hearing
provided for in those chapters shall be supplied with
information from those records of the extent
necessary for the proper presentation of his or her claim. Any
department employee guilty of
violating this provision shall be subject to the penalties
provided in chapters 42 -- 44 of this title;
provided, that nothing contained in this subsection shall be
construed to prevent:
(i) The director, or any qualified attorney whom the
director has designated to represent
him or her in any court of this state, or the attorney
general, from making any record, report, or
other information referred to in this section, available in
any proceeding before any court of this
state in any action to which the director is a party;
(ii) The director from
making any record, report, or other information referred to in this
section, available to any agency of this state or any agency
of a political subdivision of this state
charged with the administration of public assistance within
this state, or any of its political
subdivisions;
(iii) The director from
making any record, report, or other information referred to in this
section available to the railroad retirement board or to
employees of the Internal Revenue Service
in the performance of their public duties, and the
director shall furnish, at the expense of the
railroad retirement board or the Internal Revenue Service,
copies of those records, reports, or
other information referred to in this section;
(iv)
The director from making available upon request and on a reimbursable
basis, any
record, report, or other information referred to in this
section to the federal Department of Health
and Human Services in accordance with the provisions of
United States P.L. 100-485, Family
Support Act of 1988, or to the federal Department of
Housing and Urban Development and to
authorized representatives of public housing agencies in
accordance with the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, 42
U.S.C. section 11301 et seq.;
(v) The director from
making available to the Division of Taxation upon request of the
tax administrator any record, report, or other
information referred to in Title 28, Chapter 42 for
the purposes of compiling the annual unified economic
development budget report and
performing the requirements under subsection 42-142-3(e);
enforcing the provisions of Title 28,
Chapter 42; and/or performing any of
its obligations under Title 44.
The information received by
the Division of Taxation from the department of labor and
training pursuant hereto pertaining to
an individual employer shall be held confidential and
shall not be open to public inspection.
Nothing herein shall prohibit the disclosure of
statistics and/or statistical data that do not disclose
the identity of individual employers and/or the contents
of specific returns.
(vi)
The director from making, and the director shall make, reports in the
form and
containing any information that the federal Social Security
Administration may from time to time
require, and complying with any provisions that the federal
Social Security Administration may
from time to time find necessary to assure the correctness
and verification of those reports. The
director shall make available, upon request, to any agency of
the
administration of public works or assistance through public
employment, the name, address,
ordinary occupation, and employment status of each recipient
of unemployment compensation
and a statement of that recipient's rights to further
compensation under that law;
(vii) The director from
conducting any investigations he or she deems relevant in
connection with these provisions;
(viii) The director
from conducting any investigations he or she deems relevant in
connection with the performance of his or her duties pursuant to
the administration of the
chapters 29, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37 and 41 of this title, or from
making any record, report, or other
information referred to in this section available to the Workers'
Compensation Fraud Prevention
Unit for use in the performance of its duties under
section 42-16.1-12; or
(ix)
The director from forwarding, and the director shall forward to the jury
commissioner, the names and addresses of all individuals who are
receiving unemployment
compensation on a yearly basis in accordance with section
9-9-1(e).
(x) The director from
providing data on unemployment insurance recipients or any other
data contained in departmental records that is obtained
from an individual pursuant to the
administration of chapter 42-44 of this title, to the department's
designated research partners for
the purpose of its workforce data quality and workforce
innovation fund initiatives. The provision
of these records will be done in accordance with an
approved data-sharing agreement between the
department and its designated research partners that protects
the security and confidentiality of
these records and through procedures established by
protocols, rules and/or regulations as
determined necessary by the director and appropriately
established or promulgated.
(2) The director may
publish in statistical form the results of any investigations without
disclosing the identity of the individuals involved.
28-42-38.1.
Quarterly wage reports. -- (a) (1) The department of labor and training is
designated and constituted the agency within this state charged
with the responsibility of
collecting quarterly wage information, as required by 42 U.S.C.
section 1302b-7. Each employer
shall be required to submit a detailed wage report to the
director, for all calendar quarters within
thirty (30) days after the end of each quarter in a form and
manner prescribed by the director,
listing each employee's name, social security account number,
the total amount of wages paid to
each employee, and any other information that the director
deems necessary. All reports shall be
in addition to those now required by the department.
(2) The department will
utilize the quarterly wage information that it collects from
employers to establish an individual's eligibility for
unemployment insurance benefits and to
determine the amount and duration of benefits for all new
claims filed.
(3) Notwithstanding any
provisions of chapters 42 -- 44 of this title to the contrary, the
department may utilize employee quarterly wage information
submitted by employers to measure
the progress of the state in meeting the performance
measures developed in response to United
States Public Law 105-220, the Workforce Investment
Act of 1998 (see 29 U.S.C. section 2801 et
seq.), further provided however, that the department
may verify certain employee quarterly wage
information for the local workforce investment board and provide
it with the verified data under
procedures established by rules and regulations promulgated by
the director. The director shall
also make the quarterly wage information available, upon
request, to the agencies of other states
in the performance of their public duties under the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 in that
state. This information shall be made available only to the
extent required by the Secretary of
Labor and necessary for the valid administrative needs
of the authorized agencies, and all
agencies requesting this data shall protect it from
unauthorized disclosure. The department shall
be reimbursed by the agencies requesting the information
for the costs incurred in providing the
information.
(4) Notwithstanding any
provisions of chapters 42 -- 44 of this title to the contrary, the
department may provide quarterly wage information to the United
States Census Bureau for the
purpose of participating in a joint local employment dynamics
program with the
Census Bureau and the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
(5) Notwithstanding
any provisions of chapter 42-44 of this title to the contrary, the
department may provide employee quarterly wage information to
the department's designated
research partners for the purpose of its workforce data
quality and workforce innovation fund
initiatives. The provision of these records will be done in
accordance with an approved data-
sharing agreement between the department and its designated
research partners that protects the
security and confidentiality of these records and through
procedures established by protocols,
rules and/or regulations as determined necessary by the
director and appropriately established or
promulgated.
(b) Notwithstanding any
inconsistent provisions of chapters 42 -- 44 of this title, an
employer who fails to file a detailed wage report in the
manner and at the times required by
subsection (a) of this section for any calendar quarter shall
pay a penalty of twenty-five dollars
($25.00) for each failure or refusal
to file. An additional penalty of
twenty-five dollars ($25.00)
shall be assessed for each month the report is delinquent;
provided, that this penalty shall not
exceed one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) for any one
report. This penalty shall be paid into the
employment security tardy account fund and if any employer fails
to pay the penalty, when
assessed, it shall be collected by civil action as provided in
section 28-43-18.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
=======
LC01441
=======