HB1379_S_Subst_1_for_Cmte_Amend

SECTION 1. Title. This act shall be known as "The Mississippi Employment Protection Act of 2007."

SECTION 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act only:

(a) The term "employee" means an individual who provides services or labor in the State of Mississippi for an employer for wages or other remuneration but does not mean independent contractors or those engaged in casual domestic employment.

(b) The term "employer" means a person or entity, including an agent or anyone acting directly or indirectly in the interest thereof, who engages the services or labor of any employee to be performed in the State of Mississippi for wages or other remuneration. In the case of an independent contractor or contract labor or services, the term employer shall mean the independent contractor or contractor and not the person or entity using the contract labor.

(c) The term "independent contractor" includes individuals or entities in the State of Mississippi who carry on independent business, contract to do a piece of work according to their own means and methods, and are subject to control only as to results. Whether an individual or entity is an independent contractor, regardless of what the individual or entity calls itself, will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Factors to be considered in that determination include, but are not limited to, whether the individual or entity: supplies the tools or materials; makes services available to the general public; works for a number of clients at the same time; has an opportunity for profit or loss as a result of labor or services provided; invests in the facilities for work; directs the order or sequence in which the work is to be done and determines the hours during which the work is to be done.

(d) The term "refer for a fee" means the act of sending or directing a person or transmitting documentation or information to another, directly or indirectly, with the intent of obtaining employment in the State of Mississippi for such person, for remuneration whether on a retainer or a contingency basis; however, this term does not include union hiring halls that refer union members or nonunion individuals who pay union membership dues.

(e) The term "recruit for a fee" means the act of soliciting a person, directly or indirectly, and referring that person to another with the intent of obtaining employment in the State of Mississippi for that person, for remuneration whether on a retainer or contingency basis; however, this term does not include union hiring halls that refer union members or nonunion individuals who pay union membership dues.

(f) All other terms in this act shall be defined in accordance with the definitions found in Title 8 of the United States Code, Section 1324a and Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 274a.1 through 274a.11.

SECTION 3. Employee verification. Any employer in the State of Mississippi and/or any individual or entity who refers or recruits an employee or employees for a fee in the State of Mississippi shall follow the verification of employment eligibility procedures specified in 8 CFR Sections 274a.1 through 274a.11.

SECTION 4. Penalties. Whenever the government of the United States, acting through an agency charged with administering the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 USC Section 1101 et seq.) or exercising its judicial powers under same, issues a final order determining that an employer or recruiter or referrer for a fee in the State of Mississippi has violated the provisions of 8 USC Section 1324a(a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) and the employer or recruiter or referrer for a fee is subject to the penalties found in 8 USC Section 1324a(e)(4) or (f), then the following supplemental penalties shall apply:

(a) If the employer or recruiter or referrer for a fee is a contractor with the State of Mississippi, then the state agency or agencies with which the employer has formerly contracted shall debar the employer or recruiter or referrer for a fee from receiving future state contracts for the period of one (1) year from the date the government of the United States issues a final order determining that a violation has been committed; and

(b) Any state or local government agency or agencies may withdraw any or all grants, tax incentives, tax exemptions and/or tax waivers for the period of one (1) year from the date the government of the United States issues a final order determining that a violation has been committed.

SECTION 5. Relationship to other laws. (1) Nothing in this act shall alter, suspend, limit, supersede, supplement or repeal the provisions of the Mississippi Anti-Human Trafficking Act, codified at Sections 97-3-54 through 97-3-54.4, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(2) Nothing in this act shall alter, suspend, limit, supersede, supplement or repeal the provisions of Section 57-1-371 or Section 57-1-373, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(3) Any individual employee who presents any fictitious, fraudulently altered or fraudulently obtained Mississippi driver's license for the purposes of securing authorization for employment in the State of Mississippi shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 63-1-60, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 6. Mississippi Employment Protection Task Force. (1) There is created the Mississippi Employment Protection Task Force, which shall be composed of thirteen (13) members as follows:

(a) Five (5) members appointed by the Governor, three (3) who shall represent the interest of business, labor and the general public and two (2) members to serve from the state at large;

(b) Three (3) members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, each who shall represent the interest of business, labor and the general public;

(c) Three (3) members appointed by the Speaker of the House, each who shall represent the interest of business, labor and the general public;

(d) One (1) representative from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security; and

(e) One (1) representative from the Office of the Attorney General.

(2) All members of the task force shall be designated or appointed in accordance with Section 1 above and shall be so designated or appointed in sufficient time so as to allow for all members of the task force to be identified prior to the first meeting of the task force.

(3) The first meeting of the task force shall take place no later than July 1, 2007, on the call of the Governor at a place designated by him. At the first meeting of the task force, the members shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman from its membership. Following the election of the chairman and the vice chairman, the task force shall adopt rules for transacting its business and keeping records. Members of the task force other than agency representatives shall receive reimbursement for travel expenses incurred while engaged in official business of the task force in accordance with Section 25-3-41 of the Mississippi Code. Payment of such expenses set forth herein shall be from funds made available therefor by the Legislature or from any other public or private source.

(4) The duties of the task force shall be to:

(a) Conduct a study of the status of the federal immigration and nationality laws, acts and policies to determine the implementation of state law;

(b) Review and determine the potential penalties, judicial process and enforcement provisions applicable under state law;

(d) Make appropriate findings and recommendations regarding the matters considered above in accordance with the necessity for state laws regarding employment protection.

(5) Before June 30, 2008, the task force shall develop and make a report presenting such findings and recommendations to the Governor and to all members of the Legislature for consideration during the 2009 Regular Session.

(6) The Mississippi Department of Employment Security shall provide appropriate staff support and shall designate an appropriate employee to act as a point of contact for the provision of staff support to the task force. All other agencies, departments, offices and institutions of the state, including all state universities and community and junior colleges, shall cooperate with the task force and provide such assistance as requested by the task force.

(7) Upon presentation of its report, the task force shall be dissolved.

SECTION 7. Effective date and repealer. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2007, and shall stand repealed on July 1, 2009.