PRINTER'S NO. 2515
No. 1786 Session of 1990
INTRODUCED BY BELL, SEPTEMBER 26, 1990
REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1990
AN ACT
1 Requiring certain employers who relocate or terminate operations
2 to pay covered employees severance pay; imposing additional
3 powers and duties on the Department of Labor and Industry;
4 and requiring employers to give notices to affected employees
5 and municipalities.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Short title.
9 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Employee
10 Severance Payment Protection Act.
11 Section 2. Definitions.
12 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
13 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
14 context clearly indicates otherwise:
15 "Covered establishment." An industrial or commercial
16 facility or part thereof which employs, or has employed in the
17 preceding 12 months, 100 or more persons.
18 "Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
19 Commonwealth.
1 "Employer." A person who directly or indirectly owns and
2 operates a covered establishment.
3 "Physical calamity." A calamity such as fire, flood or other
4 natural disaster or the final order of any Federal, State or
5 local governmental agency, including adjudicated bankruptcy.
6 "Relocation." The removal of all or substantially all of
7 industrial or commercial operations in a covered establishment
8 to a new location 100 or more miles distant from its original
9 location.
10 "Secretary." The Secretary of Labor and Industry of the
11 Commonwealth.
12 "Termination." The substantial cessation of industrial or
13 commercial operations in a covered establishment.
14 "Week's pay." An amount equal to 1/52 of the gross wages
15 paid to an employee during the 12 months immediately prior to
16 relocation or termination.
17 Section 3. Severance pay.
18 (a) Liability.--An employer who relocates or terminates a
19 covered establishment shall be liable to his employees for
20 severance pay at the rate of one week's pay for each year of
21 employment by the employee in that establishment. The severance
22 pay to eligible employees shall be in addition to any final wage
23 payment to the employee and shall be paid within one regular pay
24 period after the employee's last full day of work.
25 (b) Exception.--There shall be no liability for severance
26 pay to an eligible employee if any of the following occurs:
27 (1) Relocation or termination of a covered establishment
28 is necessitated by a physical calamity.
29 (2) The employee is covered by an express contract
30 providing for severance pay.
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1 (3) The employee accepts employment at the new location.
2 (4) The employee has been employed by the employer for
3 less than one year.
4 Section 4. Civil actions.
5 (a) Standing.--An action to enforce liability under section
6 3 may be brought by an employee or by a labor organization on
7 behalf of its members.
8 (b) Fees and costs.--In an action under section 3, the court
9 may award attorney fees and costs.
10 (c) Secretary.--The secretary is authorized to supervise the
11 payment of the unpaid severance pay owing to any employee under
12 this act. The secretary may bring an action in a court of
13 competent jurisdiction to recover the amount of unpaid severance
14 pay. Standing to sue under subsection (a) shall terminate upon
15 the filing of a complaint by the secretary in an action under
16 this subsection unless the action is dismissed without prejudice
17 by the secretary. Money recovered by the secretary on behalf of
18 an employee under this subsection shall be held in a special
19 deposit account and shall be paid, on order of the secretary,
20 directly to the employee affected.
21 Section 5. Notices.
22 (a) To secretary.--A person proposing to relocate or
23 terminate a covered establishment shall notify the secretary in
24 writing not less than 60 days prior to the relocation.
25 (b) To employees and municipalities.--A person proposing to
26 relocate a covered establishment outside this Commonwealth shall
27 notify employees, and the municipal officers of the municipality
28 where the plant is located, in writing not less than 60 days
29 prior to the relocation.
30 (c) Penalty.--A person who violates this section is subject
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1 to a civil penalty of not more than $500. This subsection shall
2 not apply if the relocation is necessitated by a physical
3 calamity or if the failure to give notice is due to unforeseen
4 circumstances.
5 Section 6. Review of records.
6 In an investigation under this act, the secretary has the
7 authority to examine the books and records of an affected
8 employer.
9 Section 7. Effective date.
10 This act shall take effect in 180 days.
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