Session of 1998
HOUSE BILL No. 2701
By Committee on Business, Commerce and Labor
1-23
9
AN ACT concerning the payment of wages;
relating to certain claims
10 therefor; amending
K.S.A. 44-317 and 44-322a and repealing the ex-
11 isting sections.
12
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
14 Section 1. K.S.A. 44-317 is
hereby amended to read as follows: 44-
15 317. Whenever any person responsible
pursuant to a contract for the
16 performance of any work has subcontracted
the performance of all or any
17 part of such work, such responsible person
shall be civilly liable to the
18 employees of the subcontractor for wages
due on account of the perform-
19 ance of work covered by the contract, but
only if and to the extent that
20 the subcontractor fails to pay such wages.
This section shall not be con-
21 strued to impose any liability on any
person other than the subcontractor
22 for the added fixed damages provided in
subsection (d) (b) of K.S.A.
23 44-315 and amendments thereto. Any
payment of wages by reason of
24 liability imposed by this section shall
result in the creation of a right in
25 the payor to recoupment from the
subcontractor or any other person
26 jointly or severally liable to the
subcontractor therefor. Any employee
27 making a claim pursuant to this section
must file such claim within three
28 months of the payday when such wages
were due.
29 Sec. 2. K.S.A. 44-322a is
hereby amended to read as follows: 44-
30 322a. (a) Whenever a claim for unpaid wages
under K.S.A. 44-313
31 through 44-326, and amendments thereto, is
filed with the secretary of
32 human resources, the secretary or the
secretary's authorized represen-
33 tative shall investigate the claim as
provided in K.S.A. 44-322 and amend-
34 ments thereto to determine if a dispute
exists between the parties to the
35 claim. If the secretary or the secretary's
authorized representative deter-
36 mines that a dispute does exist and that
the parties are unable to resolve
37 their differences, the secretary or the
secretary's authorized representa-
38 tive shall establish a time and place for a
hearing on the matter. The
39 hearing shall be conducted in accordance
with the provisions of the Kan-
40 sas administrative procedure act except
that any employee claiming wages
41 under this section must establish the
existence of an employment relation-
42 ship by clear and convincing
evidence.
43 (b) Upon the completion of
the hearing, the presiding officer shall
HB 2701
2
1 determine whether the claim for
unpaid wages is a valid claim under
2 K.S.A. 44-313 through 44-326, and
amendments thereto. If the presiding
3 officer determines the claim for
unpaid wages is valid, the amount of
4 unpaid wages owed together with any
damages which may be assessed
5 under K.S.A. 44-315 and amendments
thereto, if applicable, also shall be
6 determined by the presiding officer.
If the presiding officer determines
7 the claim for unpaid wages is valid,
the presiding officer shall order that
8 the unpaid wages and any applicable
damages be paid by the party re-
9 sponsible for their payment. Any
initial order under this section shall be
10 reviewed by the secretary or the
secretary's authorized representative in
11 accordance with K.S.A. 77-527 and
amendments thereto. The decision of
12 the secretary or the secretary's authorized
representative shall be final
13 and the amount of any unpaid wages and
applicable damages determined
14 by the secretary or the secretary's
authorized representative to be valid
15 shall be due and payable unless judicial
review is sought within the time
16 allowed by law.
17 (c) Any agency action under
this section is subject to review in ac-
18 cordance with the act for judicial review
and civil enforcement of agency
19 actions.
20 Sec. 3. K.S.A. 44-317 and
44-322a are hereby repealed.
21 Sec. 4. This act shall take
effect and be in force from and after its
22 publication in the statute book.
23