Pennsylvania Act 1915-373 — BUREAU OF EMPLOYMENT ESTABLISHED

Act text

BUREAU OF EMPLOYMENT ESTABLISHED
                  Act of Jun. 4, 1915, P.L. 833, No. 373              Cl. 43
                                  AN ACT

     Establishing under the Department of Labor and Industry a system
        of regulation of employers seeking employes and of persons
        seeking employment; and prescribing, as incidental thereto,
        certain duties of employers, and of county, municipal,
        township, and school authorities, and of agencies procuring
        employes for others; and prescribing penalties.

                               DEFINITIONS.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That the term "bureau," as
     used in this act, shall mean Bureau of Employment.
        The term "commissioner" shall mean the Commissioner of Labor
     and Industry.
        The term "board" shall mean the Industrial Board of the
     Department of Labor and Industry.
        The term "local offices" shall mean local, free, public
     employment offices.

                          BUREAU OF EMPLOYMENT.

        Section 2.  (2 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                                DIRECTOR.

        Section 3.  (3 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                             QUALIFICATIONS.

        Section 4.  (4 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                             TERM OF OFFICE.

        Section 5.  (5 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                    POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.

        Section 6.  (6 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                             SUPERINTENDENT.

        Section 7.  (7 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                          OFFICERS AND EMPLOYES.

        Section 8.  (8 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                                  TESTS.

        Section 9.  (9 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                         DISTRICT BRANCH OFFICES.

        Section 10.  (10 repealed June 7, 1923, P.L.498, No.274)

                 LOCAL, FREE, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES.

        Section 11.  (11 repealed Apr. 6, 1949, P.L.399, No.46)

                POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE INDUSTRIAL BOARD.

        Section 12.  The board shall,--
        (a)  Devise plans and take steps toward the regularization of
     employment in the industries and seasonal trades of the State.
        (b)  Investigate the feasibility of, and induce the State,
     counties, cities, boroughs, towns, and townships to undertake,
     public improvements during the periods of unemployment.
        (c)  Co-operate with any persons, employer, official,
     association, or organ of the press whatsoever, for the
     accomplishment of the aforesaid purposes; appoint sub-committees
     for juveniles, farm laborers, and for other purposes; and the
     membership of these sub-committees may be enlarged to include
     persons outside the board, but each sub-committee must be
     presided over by a member of the board.

                         REPRESENTATIVE COUNCILS.

        Section 13.  Each district and local office shall have a
     representative council, appointed by the commissioner. The
     council shall consist of six members, one of whom shall be a
     woman, and all of whom are citizens of the United States and of
     the State, and residents of the district where the council is to
     serve. One member shall be an employer, not a member of any
     employers' association; two members shall be representatives of
     employers' organizations; one member shall be a working person,
     not a member of any organization of working people, and two
     shall be representatives of organizations of working people. The
     commissioner shall designate one from the employers and one from
     the employes, to serve for a period of two years; one from each
     group, to serve for a period of four years; and one from each
     group, to serve for a period of six years. Upon the expiration
     of said terms, the term of office of each member thereafter
     appointed shall be for a term of six years, except that any
     member appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the unexpired
     term thereof.
        The commissioner and the director shall be ex officio members
     of each council. The superintendent in charge of a district
     shall be chairman of the council for his district, and in case
     of his inability to be present at any meeting the director or
     the commissioner may act as chairman.
        The actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred by
     members of district representative councils, while engaged in
     the performance of their duties, shall be paid by the State.

        Compiler's Note:  Section 9(c) of Act 173 of 1978 provided
            that section 13 is repealed insofar as it is inconsistent
            with 1 Pa.C.S. § 2301(c) (relating to equality of rights
            based on sex).

                           DUTIES OF COUNCILS.

        Section 14.  The council in each district shall,--
        (a)  Devise methods and take steps toward the regularization
     of employment in the various industries and seasonal trades of
     the district.
        (b)  Devise plans and take steps to promote public
     improvements by municipalities within the district, during
     seasons of unemployment.
        (c)  Co-operate with any person, employer, association, or
     organ of the press in accomplishing the aforesaid purposes.
        (d)  Appoint sub-committees to deal specially with any
     subject which the council has power to investigate or act upon,
     but each sub-committee shall be presided over by a member of the
     council.
        (e)  Hold meetings at least once each month, or oftener if
     required, for the accomplishment of the aforesaid purposes; such
     meetings to be called by the chairman of the council, or to be
     fixed at any regular meeting of the council.
        (f)  Keep minutes of all meetings; submit a copy of all
     minutes, records, and decisions; and report in full on all
     actions or proceedings to the director. No rule shall be
     prescribed or action taken by the council inconsistent with the
     action of the board.

                              FREE SERVICES.

        Section 15.  The bureau shall neither charge nor receive
     fees, directly or indirectly, for any service or benefit
     rendered to those availing themselves of advantages provided. No
     official, employe, or person associated with the bureau in the
     performance of its duties shall charge, demand, accept, or
     receive, directly or indirectly, any fee, compensation,
     contribution, or gratuity for any service or duty performed as
     an official or employe of the bureau.

                 INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES, STRIKES, LOCK-OUTS,
                                ET CETERA.

        Section 16.  Each person applying for employes at any public
     employment office shall file, in such form and manner as the
     director may require, a signed statement affirming or denying
     the existence of an industrial dispute, strike, or lockout at or
     in connection with the business or place of business for which
     such person is applying for help. Any citizen or employe may
     file at any public employment office a signed statement with
     regard to the existence of an industrial dispute, strike, or
     lockout affecting any business or trade. Each statement filed
     shall be exhibited in the public employment office, but not
     until it has been communicated to the employes affected if filed
     by employers, or to the employers affected if filed by citizen
     or employes. In case a reply to such a statement is received, it
     shall be exhibited, together with the original statement, in the
     public employment office; but no statement or reply thereto
     shall be so exhibited until it has been ascertained, upon
     investigation, that an industrial dispute, strike, or lockout
     does exist at or in connection with the business or place of
     business in question. No official of the bureau shall assist, in
     any manner whatsoever, any person, firm, association, or
     corporation who is a party to an industrial dispute, strike, or
     lockout. Each person applying to any public employment office
     for help or employment shall give such information as the
     director may require.

                            FULL INFORMATION.

        Section 17.  It shall be the duty of the officer in charge of
     each public employment office, and of his assistants, to give
     full and complete information with regard to any position
     offered, and the terms and conditions relative thereto, to any
     person applying for such position; and to call the attention of
     such applicant to any statement, or reply thereto, with
     reference to the existence of any industrial dispute, strike, or
     lockout affecting the business or trade in which the position is
     offered.

                             DISCRIMINATION.

        Section 18.  No applicant for employment shall suffer any
     disqualification, or be otherwise prejudiced, at any public
     employment office on account of refusing to accept employment
     offered. The reliability and fitness of an applicant for the
     particular position which he is to fill shall always be taken
     into consideration in referring him to an employer. No applicant
     procuring employment with any employer other than the State,
     through the medium of the bureau or its officials, shall be
     regarded in any sense as an employe or official of the State.

                                JUVENILES.

        Section 19.  In case bureaus for vocational training and
     placement, or other similar bureaus, are established by local
     school authorities, the director shall co-operate with such
     bureaus in dealing with the employment of children between the
     ages of fourteen and eighteen years, in such manner as may be
     advisable. The director shall use all reasonable means to
     promote the establishment of bureaus for vocational training and
     placement, in connection with vocational education by public
     school authorities throughout the State. Until bureaus for
     vocational training and placement, or other similar bureaus,
     have been established by local public school authorities, for
     the purposes of directing, advising, and assisting children in
     the selection of suitable vocations, the director shall provide
     school principals and all public employment offices with special
     blank forms for the registration of all children having
     employment certificates, as required by law, and leaving school
     lawfully in search of employment. Each child applying for
     employment may register at a public or other approved school
     with the principal of such school; and the principals of public
     or other approved schools are hereby authorized and required to
     register such applications for employment, to assist and advise
     each applicant in the selection of a vocation, in such manner as
     may be necessary, and to transmit immediately to the
     superintendent of the district branch office all applications
     for employment registered. The superintendent of each public
     employment office shall co-operate with the school principals in
     his district in endeavoring to secure suitable positions for
     children leaving school lawfully to enter a vocation, and shall
     guide and induce minors to enter promising vocations; and each
     principal shall acquaint the teachers and pupils of his school
     with the purpose and functions of the public employment office
     in placing juveniles.

                   PERMIT FOR FREE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES.

        Section 20.  No provision of any section of this act shall be
     construed as applying to agents procuring employment for school
     teachers exclusively; nor to registries of any incorporated
     association of nurses; nor to departments or bureaus maintained
     by persons, firms, or corporations or associations, for the
     purpose of obtaining help for themselves, where no fee is
     charged the applicant for employment.

                            UNTRUE STATEMENTS.

        Section 21.  Any person wilfully making any untrue statement
     in applying to any public employment office shall be guilty of a
     misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a
     fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment
     not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of the
     court.

                                PENALTIES.

        Section 22.  Except as herein provided otherwise, any person
     who violates any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty
     of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by
     a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment
     not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the court.