Revision: Jan. 3, 2018, 11:56 a.m.
SB 84 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
01/03/2018 2552s
2017 SESSION
17-0850
01/03
SENATE BILL 84
SPONSORS: Sen. Soucy, Dist 18; Sen. Lasky, Dist 13; Rep. Goley, Hills. 8; Rep. Proulx, Hills. 44; Rep. DiSilvestro, Hills. 9
COMMITTEE: Commerce
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This bill authorizes payment of compensation under the workers' compensation law to be made to the injured worker by direct deposit.
This bill also deletes the requirement that an employer who pays wages by electronic fund transfer offer employees the option of being paid by check and permits an employer to pay wages with a payroll card after offering employees the option of being paid by direct deposit.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
01/03/2018 2552s 17-0850
01/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Workers' Compensation; Memorandum of Payment. Amend RSA 281-A:40 to read as follows:
281-A:40 Memorandum of Payment. An employer or the employer's insurance carrier shall make payment of compensation in the amount and manner provided by this chapter. Payment shall be made by direct deposit 6 weeks from the date of disability if the injured worker elects this payment method. The employer or the employer's insurance carrier shall notify the injured worker in writing of his or her right to payment by direct deposit. If no election is made, payment shall be made by paper check mailed to the injured worker. The employer shall file memoranda of [such] payments with the commissioner in accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner under RSA 281-A:60.
2 Payment of Wages; Weekly or Biweekly. Amend RSA 275:43, I(e) to read as follows:
(e) With checks on a financial institution convenient to the place of employment where suitable arrangements are made for the cashing of such checks by employees for the full amount of the wages due[; provided, however, that if an employer elects to pay employees as specified in subparagraphs (b), (c), or (d), the employer shall offer employees the option of being paid as specified in subparagraph (e), and further], provided that all wages in the nature of health and welfare fund or pension fund contributions required pursuant to a health and welfare fund trust agreement, pension fund trust agreement, collective bargaining agreement, or other agreement adopted for the benefit of employees and agreed to by the employer shall be paid by every such employer within 30 days of the date of demand for such payment, the payment to be made to the administrator or other designated official of the applicable health and welfare or pension trust fund.
3 Payment of Wages; Weekly or Biweekly. RSA 275:43, II(b) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
(b) Provide its employees the option of being paid by direct deposit under subparagraph I(c). If, after the employer has offered an employee direct deposit and provided the employee with the written disclosures required by subparagraph (a), the employee does not designate an account at a financial institution for direct deposit, the employer may arrange to pay the employee using a payroll card.
4 Payment of Wages; Weekly or Biweekly. Amend RSA 275:43, II(c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) Provide written notice of any change to any of the terms and conditions of the payroll card or payroll card account, including but not limited to an itemized list of all fees that may have changed[, and obtain written assent from the employee that the employee voluntarily consents to receive wages to a payroll card or payroll card account subject to the changes]. The employer shall be responsible for any increase in fees charged to the employee before the employer provides written notice of such changes to the employee.
(d) Provide the employee the option to discontinue receipt of wages by a payroll card or payroll card account at any time, without penalty to the employee and to instead receive wages by direct deposit or another method offered by the employer, if any.
I. Section 1 of this act shall take effect January 1, 2019.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.