02/24/1998 01:42 PM Senate L&C

        SB 268 - WAGE CLAIM ASSIGNMENTS TO DEPT. OF LABOR                      
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN LEMAN announced SB 268 to be up for consideration.                    
                                                                               
MR. AL DWYER, Director, Division of Labor Standards and Safety,                
said this legislation allows the Department of Labor to accept and             
pursue wage claims for straight wage and hour violations in small              
claims court up to the maximum jurisdiction of that court.  Until              
last year, the Department prosecuted claims up to $5,000 in Small              
Claims Court.  When the Small Claims jurisdiction increased to                 
$7,500, a gap was created between the statutory limits of the small            
claims and the statutory limit for the claims assigned to the                  
Department which is $5,000.  This bill will correct the deficiency             
and will avoid similar problems in the future by tying the two                 
jurisdictional limits together and setting the Department's                    
jurisdictional limit at the Small Claims limit.                                
                                                                               
SENATOR KELLY asked who represents the Department, attorneys?                  
                                                                               
MR. DWYER answered that they are represented by the Wage and Hour              
section of the Department of Labor.                                            
                                                                               
SENATOR KELLY asked if Small Claims Court requires legal                       
representation.                                                                
                                                                               
MR. DWYER answered that a claimant would call Wage and Hour and if             
it's less than $5,000, the Division would fill out the paperwork,              
go to Small Claims Court and get the money for them.  If it's over             
$5,000 he advised that they get an attorney.                                   
                                                                               
SENATOR KELLY remarked that we're back in the collection business,             
again.                                                                         
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN LEMAN asked what they charge for this service.                        
                                                                               
MR. DWYER answered that it's free.                                             
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN LEMAN said he is surprised that there isn't a phrase                  
similar to what's in the Permanent Fund that we recover, if not the            
actual cost, the incremental costs for collection.                             
                                                                               
MR. DWYER said he would check into it.                                         
                                                                               
SENATOR KELLY asked how many incidents we have on an average.                  
                                                                               
MR. DWYER answered that there are about 600 claims per year and out            
of those possibly 60 are over $5,000.                                          
                                                                               
SENATOR KELLY noted that if there was a fee, it wouldn't have to               
come from the workers.                                                         
                                                                               
MR. DWYER responded that they usually don't have a problem in                  
collections.  It's just a matter of helping the employee fill out              
the form and bringing it down to Small Claims Court where they see             
that they get the money.  There are penalties for employers who do             
this and they do pay them.                                                     
                                                                               
SENATOR MACKIE said we have been doing this for a long time and the            
only reason it's being raised is because the cost of Small Claims              
has gone up.                                                                   
                                                                               
MR. DWYER said that is correct.                                                
                                                                               
SENATOR MACKIE asked if this was just allowing them to do the same             
thing they have always done.                                                   
                                                                               
MR. DWYER said that is correct.                                                
                                                                               
MR. DWIGHT PERKINS, Special Assistant, Department of Labor, said               
this is seen as more of a housekeeping measure to keep up with what            
this legislature passed last year for Small Claims.                            
                                                                               
SENATOR KELLY asked if information on the penalty fees could be                
forwarded to the Judiciary Committee.                                          
                                                                               
CHAIRMAN LEMAN indicated he would.                                             
                                                                               
SENATOR MACKIE moved to pass SB 268 out of Committee with                      
individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note.  There            
were no objections and it was so ordered.