MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Labor; Appropriations

By: Representative Evans

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, TO TRANSFER THE DISPLACED WORKERS UNIT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TO SET FORTH AND PRESCRIBE THE FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT; TO PROVIDE FOR THE STATEWIDE ELECTION OF THE COMMISSIONER OF LABOR; TO AMEND SECTION 71-5-101, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION SHALL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE OFFICE OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY IN THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 71-5-103, 71-5-105 AND 71-5-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE FOR MEETINGS AND COMPENSATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION; TO AMEND SECTION 71-1-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EMPOWER THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO REGULATE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS AND ENFORCE ALL LABOR LAWS IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; TO AMEND SECTIONS 71-1-25 AND 71-1-27, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EMPOWER THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO ENFORCE CHILD LABOR LAWS; TO EMPOWER THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO ADMINISTER AND COORDINATE CERTAIN FEDERAL AND STATE-FUNDED JOB TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT-RELATED EDUCATION PROGRAMS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 7-1-351, 7-1-355, 7-1-357, 7-1-361, 7-1-363 AND 7-1-365, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; TO PRESCRIBE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE OF INDUSTRY SERVICE AND INDUSTRY START-UP TRAINING, THE OFFICE OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND JOB DISCRIMINATION AND THE OFFICE OF DISABLED EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 25-3-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO SET THE ANNUAL SALARY OF THE COMMISSIONER OF LABOR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The following terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein, unless the context shall otherwise require:

(a) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Labor.

(b) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Labor.

(c) "Director" means the administrative head of an office.

(d) "Office" means an administrative subdivision of the department.

SECTION 2. (1) There is created the Mississippi Department of Labor for the following purposes:

(a) To coordinate employer-employee services and relations;

(b) To establish and oversee an effective and efficient work force development system in Mississippi to enable residents to acquire skills necessary to maximize their economic self-sufficiency; and

(c) To provide Mississippi employers with the work force they need to effectively compete in the changing world economy.

(2) The department shall be composed of the following offices:

(a) The Office of Employment Security;

(b) The Office of Workplace Safety and Health;

(c) The Office of Job Development and Training;

(d) The Office of Industry Service and Industry Start-up Training;

(e) The Office of Employee Relations and Job Discrimination; and

(f) The Office of Disabled Employee Assistance.

SECTION 3. The Department of Labor shall provide the labor-management services authorized by law and by the rules, regulations and policies of the department to every individual determined to be eligible therefor, and in carrying out the purposes of this act, the department is authorized:

(a) To expend funds received either by appropriation or directly from federal or private sources;

(b) To cooperate with other departments, agencies and institutions, both public and private, in providing the services authorized by this act to individuals, in studying the problems involved therein, and in establishing, developing and providing in conformity with the purposes of this act, such programs, facilities and services as may be necessary or desirable;

(c) To enter into reciprocal agreements with other states to provide for the services authorized by this act to residents of the states concerned;

(d) To conduct research and compile statistics relating to the provision of services to or the need of services by individuals;

(e) To enter into contractual arrangements with the federal government and with other authorized public agencies or persons for performance of services related to labor-management;

(f) To take such action as may be necessary to enable the department to apply for, accept and receive for the state and its residents the full benefits available under any federal legislation or program having as its purpose the providing of, improvement or extension of, labor-management services.

SECTION 4. (1) The chief officer of the department shall be denominated the Commissioner of Labor who shall be elected at the general election as other state officers. His term of office shall be for four (4) years as that of other state officials. The commissioner shall receive a compensation to be fixed by law. The commissioner shall be responsible for the proper administration of the programs of labor-management relations provided under this act and shall be responsible for appointing directors of offices and any necessary supervisors, assistants and employees. The salary and compensation of such employees shall be subject to the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the State Personnel Board as created under Section 25-9-101 et seq.

(2) In carrying out his duties under this act, the Commissioner of Labor:

(a) Shall promulgate regulations governing personnel standards, the protection of records and confidential information, the manner and form of filing applications, eligibility and investigation and determination therefor, for labor-management services, procedures for fair hearings and such other regulations as he finds necessary to carry out the purposes of this act and in conformity with federal law;

(b) Shall establish appropriate subordinate administrative units within the department;

(c) Shall prepare and submit to the Legislature annual reports of activities and expenditures and, before each regular session of the Legislature, coordinate budget requests required for carrying out this act and estimates of the amounts to be made available for this purpose from all sources;

(d) Shall be empowered to exercise executive and administrative supervision over all institutions, offices, programs and services now existing or hereafter acquired or created under the jurisdiction of the department;

(e) Shall make certification for disbursement, in accordance with regulations, of funds available, for implementing the purposes of this act;

(f) Shall take such other action as he deems necessary or appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this act;

(g) May delegate to any officer or employee of the department such of his powers and duties as he finds necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

SECTION 5. Section 71-5-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

71-5-101. From and after the effective date of this act, the duties and powers of the Mississippi Employment Security Commission shall be transferred to the Office of Employment Security in the Mississippi Department of Labor created in House Bill , 1999 Regular Session. From and after the effective date of this act, the Mississippi Employment Security Commission shall be abolished. Any reference in this chapter to "Mississippi Employment Security Commission" or "commission" means the Office of Employment Security within the Mississippi Department of Labor created in this act.

SECTION 6. Sections 71-5-103, 71-5-105 and 71-5-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide for meetings and compensation of the Mississippi Employment Security Commission, are repealed.

SECTION 7. Section 71-1-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

71-1-1. (1) The Office of Workplace Safety and Health of the Department of Labor is authorized to establish an occupational health and safety program and is empowered:

(a) To employ such qualified personnel as staff to carry out the duties and responsibilities set forth herein;

(b) To develop and make available upon request to all employers of the state, including public employers, information, consultation and assistance related to safety and health laws, regulations, measures and standards; to participate and assist with training and educational programs, directed toward employee safety and disease prevention;

(c) To employ such personnel and procure such equipment as necessary to provide on-site consultive services related to assistance, information, education or training of employers and employees toward compliance with safety and health standards and toward the establishment of safety and health programs to prevent work-connected disabilities;

(d) To collect, compile and report statistics related to work-connected disabilities in Mississippi; such statistical work shall be performed in cooperation with other statistic-gathering agencies with the federal and state governments. Such statistical reports as may be available shall be made known to employers and employees.

(e) To receive such federal or state grants and appropriations as available to further the education, training and assistance to the employers and employees of Mississippi in preventing work-connected disabilities.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the State Board of Health to administer or enforce in any way the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, known as OSHA.

(2) In addition to such other duties and powers as may be conferred by law, the Office of Workplace Safety and Health of the Department of Labor shall have the power, jurisdiction and authority:

(a) To superintend the enforcement of all labor laws in the State of Mississippi, the enforcement of which is not otherwise specifically provided for, and all rules and regulations made pursuant thereto;

(b) To make or cause to be made all necessary inspections to see that all laws and rules made pursuant thereto which the division has the duty, power and authority to enforce, are promptly and effectively carried out;

(c) To make investigations, collect and compile statistical information and report upon the conditions of labor generally, and upon all matters relating to the enforcement and effect of the provisions of this section and of the rules issued thereunder;

(d) To make and promulgate such rules, or changes in rules, as it may deem advisable for the prevention of accidents or the prevention of industrial or occupational diseases in every employment or place of employment, and such rules, or changes in rules, for the construction, repair and maintenance of places of employment, places of public assembly and public buildings as it may deem advisable to render them safe. The division may appoint committees composed of employers, employees and experts to suggest rules or changes therein;

(e) To order such reasonable changes in the construction, maintenance and repair of places of employment as shall render them safe; and

(f) To require the performance of any act necessary for the protection of life, health and safety of employees.

SECTION 8. Section 71-1-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

71-1-25. (1) It shall be the duty of the Office of Workplace Safety and Health of the Department of Labor to inspect employers under its jurisdiction for compliance with the child labor provisions of the Mississippi Code of 1972.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Office of Workplace Safety and Health to visit, without notice of its intention to do so, all mills, canneries, workshops, factories, or manufacturing establishments employing child labor at least twice each year, or oftener if requested by the sheriff, and to promptly report to the sheriff any unsanitary condition of the premises, any child or children afflicted with infectious, contagious or communicable diseases, or whose physical condition renders such child or children incapacitated to perform the work required of them. The sheriff shall promptly remove such child or children from such mill, cannery, workshop, factory or manufacturing establishment, and order the premises put in sanitary condition. The judgment of the Office of Workplace Safety and Health as to the physical condition of the children and the sanitary condition of the premises shall be final and conclusive.

(3) Every employer shall furnish employment which shall be reasonably safe for the employees therein and shall furnish and use safety devices and safeguards and shall adopt and use methods and processes reasonably adequate to render such an employment and place of employment safe and shall do every other thing reasonably necessary to protect the life, health, safety and welfare of such employees; provided that, as used in this chapter, the term "safe" or "safety" as applied to any employment or place of employment shall include conditions and methods of sanitation and hygiene reasonably necessary for the protection of the life, health, safety and welfare of employees.

(4) Every employer and every owner of a place of employment, place of public assembly or public building, now or hereafter constructed, shall so construct, repair and maintain the same as to render it reasonably safe.

SECTION 9. Section 71-1-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

71-1-27. Any officer, manager, or superintendent of any mill, cannery, workshop, factory or manufacturing establishment in which child labor is employed who shall fail or refuse to give true and correct information demanded of him by any officer who is directed under this chapter to inspect such mill, cannery, workshop, factory or manufacturing establishment, or who shall fail or refuse to obey any lawful order of the Office of Workplace Safety and Health or the sheriff of the county in which the mill, cannery, workshop, factory or manufacturing establishment is located for carrying out the purpose of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than Ten Dollars ($10.00) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

SECTION 10. The Office of Job Development and Training of the Mississippi Department of Labor shall administer and coordinate as necessary the following federally and state-funded employment, training and employment-related education programs: (a) training and employment-related education programs sponsored by the federal Job Training Partnership Act; (b) employment programs under the Wagner-Peyser Act; (c) employment, training and education programs for welfare recipients funded by the federal JOBS and Basic Skills Training Program within the Family Support Act; and (d) the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973.

SECTION 11. Section 7-1-351, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-1-351. The Office of Job Development and Training of the Department of Labor shall be the Division of Job Development and Training and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law to the Division of Job Development and Training and wherever the term "Division of Job Development and Training" shall appear in any law it shall mean the Department of Labor. The Commissioner of Labor may assign to appropriate divisions powers and duties as deemed appropriate to carry out the lawful functions of the department.

SECTION 12. Section 7-1-355, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-1-355. The Office of Job Development and Training, Department of Labor, is designated as the sole administrator of all programs for which the state is the prime sponsor under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended (29 USCA 801 et seq.), and the regulations promulgated thereunder, and is hereby authorized to take all necessary action to secure to this state the benefits of such legislation. Such office is empowered to receive and disburse funds for such programs which become available to it from any source.

SECTION 13. Section 7-1-357, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-1-357. The Office of Job Development and Training, Department of Labor, is authorized to cooperate with or enter into agreements with any agency, official, educational institution or political subdivision of this state, any agency or official of the government of the United States of America or any private person, firm, partnership or corporation in order to carry out the provisions of Sections 7-1-351 through 7-1-371.

SECTION 14. Section 7-1-361, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-1-361. The Office of Job Development and Training, Department of Labor, is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of Sections 7-1-351 through 7-1-371.

SECTION 15. Section 7-1-363, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-1-363. To the maximum extent practicable, the Department of Labor shall contract with the Division of Vocational-Technical Education of the State Department of Education all programs embracing an institutional training component. Such programs shall be contracted to the Division of Vocational-Technical Education of the State Department of Education, except those programs funded by the Governor's special grant, shall be coordinated with and complementary to the existing state public educational systems and shall not be duplicative or competitive in nature to such systems.

SECTION 16. Section 7-1-365, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

7-1-365. The State Department of Education, Vocational-Technical Division, the board of trustees of any junior college district, the board of trustees of any school district, the Mississippi Employment Security Commission, and the Office of Job Development and Training, Department of Labor, shall cooperate in carrying out the provisions of Sections 7-1-351 through 7-1-371.

SECTION 17. The Office of Industry Service and Industry Start-up Training in the Mississippi Department of Labor shall contract with the State Board of Community/Junior Colleges, and the Division of Vocational-Technical Education of the State Department of Education to provide (a) all programs embracing an existing industry or a new industrial training component, and (b) all employment-related community/junior college or employment-related secondary education programs.

SECTION 18. The Office of Employee Relations and Job Discrimination in the Mississippi Department of Labor shall do all in its power to promote the voluntary arbitration, mediation and conciliation of disputes between employers and employees and to avoid strikes, picketing, lockouts, boycotts, black list, discriminations and legal proceedings in matters of employment. In pursuance of this duty, the office may appoint temporary boards of arbitration, provide necessary expenses of such boards, order reasonable compensation for each member engaged in such arbitration, prescribe rules for such arbitration boards, conduct investigations and hearings, publish reports and advertisements, and may do all things convenient and necessary to accomplish the purpose. The office may designate a mediator and may detail employees or persons not in the office from time to time for the purpose of executing such provisions. Nothing in this section shall be construed to in anywise prohibit or limit employees' right to bargain collectively.

SECTION 19. The Office of Disabled Employee Assistance of the Mississippi Department of Labor shall function as an information clearinghouse and referral service for employees and employers regarding any aspect of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination in all terms and conditions of employment regarding private and public employers.

SECTION 20. Section 25-3-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-3-31. The annual salaries of the following elected state and district officers are fixed as follows:

Governor $83,160.00

Attorney General 90,800.00

Secretary of State 75,000.00

Commissioner of Insurance 75,000.00

State Treasurer 75,000.00

State Auditor of Public Accounts 75,000.00

Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce 75,000.00

Transportation Commissioners 65,000.00

Public Service Commissioners 65,000.00

The salary of the Governor fixed below for January 1, 2000, shall be the reference amount utilized in computing average compensation and earned compensation pursuant to Section 25-11-103(f) and Section 25-11-103(k), and to related sections which require such computations.

25-3-31. The annual salaries of the following elected state and district officers are fixed as follows:

Governor $101,800.00

Attorney General 90,800.00

Secretary of State 75,000.00

Commissioner of Insurance 75,000.00

State Treasurer 75,000.00

State Auditor of Public Accounts 75,000.00

Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce 75,000.00

Transportation Commissioners 65,000.00

Public Service Commissioners 65,000.00

The above fixed salary of the Governor shall be the reference amount utilized in computing average compensation and earned compensation pursuant to Section 25-11-103(f) and Section 25-11-103(k) and to related sections which require such computations.

SECTION 21. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 22. If this act is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, then this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the general election in 1999, or the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, whichever is the later date.