68th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--1995 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1579
House Bill 2307
Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
Presession filed (at the request of Representative Kevin
Mannix)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Establishes farm labor contractors bond at $10,000.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to farm labor contractor bonds; amending ORS 658.415.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 658.415 is amended to read:
658.415. (1) No person shall act as a farm labor contractor
unless the person has first been licensed by the commissioner
pursuant to ORS 658.405 to 658.503 and 658.830. Any person may
file an application for a license to act as a farm labor
contractor at any office of the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
The application shall be sworn to by the applicant and shall be
written on a form prescribed by the Commissioner of the Bureau of
Labor and Industries. The form shall include, but not be limited
to, questions asking:
(a) The applicant's name, Oregon address and all other
temporary and permanent addresses the applicant uses or knows
will be used in the future.
(b) Information on all motor vehicles to be used by the
applicant in operations as a farm labor contractor including
license number and state of licensure, vehicle number and the
name and address of vehicle owner for all vehicles used.
(c) Whether or not the applicant was ever denied a license
under ORS 658.405 to 658.503 and 658.830 within the preceding
three years, or in this or any other jurisdiction had such a
license denied, revoked or suspended within the preceding three
years.
(d) The names and addresses of all persons financially
interested, whether as partners, shareholders, associates or
profit-sharers, in the applicant's proposed operations as a farm
labor contractor, together with the amount of their respective
interests, and whether or not, to the best of the applicant's
knowledge, any of these persons was ever denied a license under
ORS 658.405 to 658.503 and 658.830 within the preceding three
years, or had such a license denied, revoked or suspended within
the preceding three years in this or any other jurisdiction.
(2) Each applicant shall furnish satisfactory proof with the
application of the existence of a policy of insurance in an
amount adequate under rules issued by the Bureau of Labor and
Industries for vehicles to be used to transport workers. For the
purpose of this subsection the certificate of an insurance agent
licensed in Oregon is satisfactory evidence of adequate
insurance.
(3) Each applicant shall submit with the application and shall
continually maintain thereafter, until excused, proof of
financial ability to promptly pay the wages of employees and
other obligations specified in this section. The proof required
in this subsection shall be in the form of a corporate surety
bond of a company licensed to do such business in Oregon, an
irrevocable letter of credit issued by a commercial bank as
defined in ORS 706.005, a cash deposit or a deposit the
equivalent of cash. For the purposes of this subsection it shall
be deemed sufficient compliance if the farm labor contractor
procures a savings account at a bank or savings and loan
institution in the name of the commissioner as trustee for the
employees of the farm labor contractor and others as their
interests may appear and delivers the evidence of the account and
the ability to withdraw the funds to the commissioner under the
terms of a bond approved by the commissioner. The amount of the
bond and the security behind the bond, or of the letter of credit
shall be { + $10,000. + } { - based on the maximum number of
employees the contractor employs at any time during the year. The
bond or letter of credit shall be: - }
{ - (a) $10,000 if the contractor employs no more than 20
employees; - }
{ - (b) $30,000 if the contractor employs 21 to 50
employees; - }
{ - (c) $60,000 if the contractor employs 51 to 100
employees; and - }
{ - (d) $90,000 if the contractor employs more than 100
employees. - }
(4) In the event that a single business entity licensed as a
farm labor contractor has more than one natural person who, as an
owner or employee of the business entity, engages in activities
which require the persons to be licensed individually as farm
labor contractors, and each such person engages in such
activities solely for that business entity, the Bureau of Labor
and Industries may provide by rule for lower aggregate bonding
requirements for the business entity and its owners and
employees. If there is an unsatisfied final judgment of a court
or decision of an administrative agency against a license
applicant, the subject of which is any matter which would be
covered by the bond, letter of credit or deposit referred to in
subsection (3) of this section, the commissioner shall not issue
a license to the applicant until the judgment or decision is
satisfied. As a condition of licensing any such applicant, the
commissioner may require the applicant to submit proof of
financial ability required by subsection (3) of this section in
an amount up to three times that ordinarily required of a license
applicant.
(5) All corporate surety bonds and letters of credit filed
under this section shall be executed to cover liability for the
period for which the license is issued. During the period for
which executed no bond or letter of credit can be canceled or
otherwise terminated.
(6) Each application must be accompanied by a fee of $20.
(7) Any person who uses the services of a farm labor contractor
shall be liable as follows if the farm labor contractor has
failed to comply with any of the provisions of this section:
(a) Be personally and jointly and severally liable to any
employee so far as such employee has not been paid wages in full.
(b) Be personally liable for all penalty wages which have
occurred under ORS 652.150 for the wages due under this section.
(c) Be personally liable for court costs and disbursements and
a reasonable attorney fee at trial and on appeal to be set by the
court or judge if suit or action is commenced to enforce any of
the provisions of this section and the plaintiff prevails.
(8) Any person who suffers any loss of wages from the employer
of the person or any other loss specified in subsection (16) of
this section the person shall have a right of action in the name
of the person against the surety upon the bond, against the
letter of credit issuer or against the deposit with the
commissioner:
(a) The right of action is assignable and must be included with
an assignment of a wage claim, any other appropriate claim, or of
a judgment thereon.
(b) The right of action shall not be included in any suit or
action against the farm labor contractor but must be exercised
independently after first procuring a judgment, decree, or other
form of adequate proof of liability established by rule and
procedure under subsection (14) of this section establishing the
farm labor contractor's liability for the claim.
(9) The surety company or the commissioner shall make prompt
and periodic payments on the farm labor contractor's liability up
to the extent of the total sum of the bond, letter of credit or
deposit. Payments shall be made in the following manner:
(a) Payment shall be made based upon priority of wage claims
over advances made by the grower or producer of agricultural
commodities or the owner or lessee of land intended to be used
for the production of timber, for advances made to or on behalf
of the farm labor contractor.
(b) Payment in full of all sums due to each person who presents
adequate proof of the claim.
(c) If there are insufficient funds to pay in full the person
next entitled to payment in full such person will be paid in
part.
(10) No person shall bring any suit or action against the
surety company, the letter of credit issuer or the commissioner
on the bonding or letter of credit obligation or as trustee for
the beneficiaries of the farm labor contractor under any deposit
made pursuant to this section unless the person has first
exhausted the procedures contained in subsections (8) and (12) of
this section and contends that the surety company, the letter of
credit issuer or the commissioner still has funds which are
applicable to the person's judgment or acknowledgment.
(11) The commissioner shall not be prevented from accepting
assignments of wage claims and enforcing liability against the
surety on the bond or the letter of credit issuer or from
applying the deposit to just wage claims filed with the
commissioner.
(12) All claims against the bond, letter of credit or deposit
shall be unenforceable unless request for payment of a judgment
or other form of adequate proof of liability or a notice of the
claim has been made by certified mail to the surety or the
commissioner within six months from the end of the period for
which the bond, letter of credit or deposit was executed and
made.
(13) If the commissioner has received no notice as provided in
subsection (12) of this section within six months after a farm
labor contractor is no longer required to provide and maintain a
surety bond, letter of credit or deposit the commissioner shall
terminate and surrender any bond or any deposit under the control
of the commissioner to the person who is entitled thereto upon
receiving appropriate proof of such entitlement.
(14) The commissioner shall adopt rules reasonably necessary
for administration and enforcement of the provisions of this
section.
(15) Every farm labor contractor required by this section to
furnish a surety bond or a letter of credit, or make a deposit in
lieu thereof, shall keep conspicuously posted upon the premises
where employees working under the contractor are employed, a
notice in both English and any other language used by the farm
labor contractor to communicate with workers specifying the
contractor's compliance with the requirements of this section and
specifying the name and Oregon address of the surety on the bond
or the name and address of the letter of credit issuer or a
notice that a deposit in lieu of the bond has been made with the
commissioner together with the address of the commissioner.
(16) The bond, letter of credit or deposit referred to in
subsection (3) of this section shall be payable to the
commissioner and shall be conditioned upon:
(a) Payment in full of all sums due on wage claims of
employees.
(b) Payment by the labor contractor of all sums due to the
grower or producer of agricultural commodities or the owner or
lessee of land intended to be used for the production of timber
for advances made to or on behalf of the farm labor contractor.
(17) No license shall be issued until the applicant executes a
written statement which shall be subscribed and sworn to and
which shall contain the following declaration:
_________________________________________________________________
With regards to any action filed against me concerning my
activities as a farm labor contractor, I appoint the Commissioner
of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries as my lawful agent
to accept service of summons when I am not present in the
jurisdiction in which such action is commenced or have in any
other way become unavailable to accept service.
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