1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to employment; providing for a wage 
  1.3             protection program; providing penalties; appropriating 
  1.4             money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes, chapter 181. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [181.135] [EMPLOYEE WAGE PROTECTION ACT.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [TITLE.] This section may be cited as the 
  1.9   "Employee Wage Protection Act." 
  1.10     Subd. 2.  [PURPOSE.] The purpose of this section is to 
  1.11  ensure that employees who work in this state will receive wages 
  1.12  that are due and owing. 
  1.13     Subd. 3.  [DEFINITION.] For the purposes of this section, 
  1.14  "wages" means those wages that are due and owing from an 
  1.15  employer who has: 
  1.16     (1) no assets from which wages may be paid; 
  1.17     (2) filed under any bankruptcy or receivership law; or 
  1.18     (3) ceased operations within 90 days after the employee 
  1.19  left employment. 
  1.20     Subd. 4.  [WAGE PROTECTION ACCOUNT.] An employee wage 
  1.21  protection account is established as a separate account to be 
  1.22  administered by the department of economic security.  The 
  1.23  account is appropriated to ensure payment of employees' wages 
  1.24  for a maximum of four work weeks or $2,000, whichever amount is 
  1.25  less.  Payment and disbursement from the account must be made 
  2.1   from funds that are appropriated to the employee wage protection 
  2.2   account.  The commissioner of economic security may adopt rules 
  2.3   establishing application deadlines and other criteria for 
  2.4   disbursements from the account.  The department is subrogated to 
  2.5   a claim by an employee against an employer for wages in the 
  2.6   amount of the payment from the account to the employee. 
  2.7      Subd. 5.  [COLLECTION FROM EMPLOYERS.] The commissioner may 
  2.8   commence an action to recover from the employer amounts paid 
  2.9   from the employee wage protection account that are owed by the 
  2.10  employer.  The commissioner shall reasonably attempt to secure 
  2.11  and obtain priority for the claim against the employer.  In 
  2.12  addition to costs and disbursements, the commissioner is 
  2.13  entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and a penalty of 25 
  2.14  percent of all wages owed by the employer and paid from the 
  2.15  account, or $200, whichever amount is greater.  Any recovery 
  2.16  shall be paid into the employee wage protection account. 
  2.17     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.18     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  2.19  employee wage protection account for the purpose of making the 
  2.20  payments described in section 1.  The appropriation shall not 
  2.21  lapse and is available until expended. 
  2.22     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  2.23     Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 1997, and apply only 
  2.24  to wages earned after that date.