A bill for an act
relating to nursing homes; establishing the Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce
Standards Board; establishing duties for the board; requiring training for nursing
home workers; prohibiting retaliation against nursing home workers; providing
for enforcement; authorizing rulemaking; authorizing civil actions by nursing
home workers; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 177.27, subdivision
4; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 181.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
new text begin
This act may be cited as the Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board Act.
new text end
Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 177.27, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
The commissioner may issue an order requiring an
employer to comply with sections 177.21 to 177.435, 181.02, 181.03, 181.031, 181.032,
181.101, 181.11, 181.13, 181.14, 181.145, 181.15, 181.172, paragraph (a) or (d), new text begin181.214
to 181.217, new text end181.275, subdivision 2a, 181.722, 181.79, and 181.939 to 181.943, or with any
rule promulgated under section 177.28new text begin or 181.213new text end. The commissioner shall issue an order
requiring an employer to comply with sections 177.41 to 177.435 if the violation is repeated.
For purposes of this subdivision only, a violation is repeated if at any time during the two
years that preceded the date of violation, the commissioner issued an order to the employer
for violation of sections 177.41 to 177.435 and the order is final or the commissioner and
the employer have entered into a settlement agreement that required the employer to pay
back wages that were required by sections 177.41 to 177.435. The department shall serve
the order upon the employer or the employer's authorized representative in person or by
certified mail at the employer's place of business. An employer who wishes to contest the
order must file written notice of objection to the order with the commissioner within 15
calendar days after being served with the order. A contested case proceeding must then be
held in accordance with sections 14.57 to 14.69. If, within 15 calendar days after being
served with the order, the employer fails to file a written notice of objection with the
commissioner, the order becomes a final order of the commissioner.
Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 177.27, subdivision 7, is amended to read:
If an employer is found by the commissioner to have
violated a section identified in subdivision 4, or any rule adopted under section 177.28new text begin or
181.213new text end, and the commissioner issues an order to comply, the commissioner shall order the
employer to cease and desist from engaging in the violative practice and to take such
affirmative steps that in the judgment of the commissioner will effectuate the purposes of
the section or rule violated. The commissioner shall order the employer to pay to the
aggrieved parties back pay, gratuities, and compensatory damages, less any amount actually
paid to the employee by the employer, and for an additional equal amount as liquidated
damages. Any employer who is found by the commissioner to have repeatedly or willfully
violated a section or sections identified in subdivision 4 shall be subject to a civil penalty
of up to $1,000 for each violation for each employee. In determining the amount of a civil
penalty under this subdivision, the appropriateness of such penalty to the size of the
employer's business and the gravity of the violation shall be considered. In addition, the
commissioner may order the employer to reimburse the department and the attorney general
for all appropriate litigation and hearing costs expended in preparation for and in conducting
the contested case proceeding, unless payment of costs would impose extreme financial
hardship on the employer. If the employer is able to establish extreme financial hardship,
then the commissioner may order the employer to pay a percentage of the total costs that
will not cause extreme financial hardship. Costs include but are not limited to the costs of
services rendered by the attorney general, private attorneys if engaged by the department,
administrative law judges, court reporters, and expert witnesses as well as the cost of
transcripts. Interest shall accrue on, and be added to, the unpaid balance of a commissioner's
order from the date the order is signed by the commissioner until it is paid, at an annual rate
provided in section 549.09, subdivision 1, paragraph (c). The commissioner may establish
escrow accounts for purposes of distributing damages.
new text begin
The terms defined in this section apply to sections 181.211
to 181.217.
new text end
new text begin
"Board" means the Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce Standards
Board established under section 181.212.
new text end
new text begin
"Certified worker organization" means a
worker organization that is certified by the board to conduct nursing home worker trainings
under section 181.214.
new text end
new text begin
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of labor and industry.
new text end
new text begin
"Employer organization" means:
new text end
new text begin
(1) an organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(c)(6)
of the Internal Revenue Code and that represents nursing home employers; or
new text end
new text begin
(2) an entity that employers, who together employ a majority of nursing home workers
in Minnesota, have selected as a representative.
new text end
new text begin
"Nursing home" means a nursing home licensed under chapter
144A, or a boarding care home licensed under sections 144.50 to 144.56.
new text end
new text begin
"Nursing home employer" means an employer of
nursing home workers.
new text end
new text begin
"Nursing home worker" means any worker who provides
services in a nursing home in Minnesota, including direct care staff, administrative staff,
and contractors.
new text end
new text begin
"Retaliatory personnel action" means any form
of intimidation, threat, reprisal, harassment, discrimination, or adverse employment action,
including discipline, discharge, suspension, transfer, or reassignment to a lesser position in
terms of job classification, job security, or other condition of employment; reduction in pay
or hours or denial of additional hours; informing another employer that a nursing home
worker has engaged in activities protected under sections 181.211 to 181.217; or reporting
or threatening to report the actual or suspected citizenship or immigration status of a nursing
home worker, former nursing home worker, or family member of a nursing home worker
to a federal, state, or local agency.
new text end
new text begin
"Worker organization" means an organization that is
exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), or 501(c)(5) of
the Internal Revenue Code, that is not dominated or controlled by any nursing home employer
within the meaning of United States Code, title 29, section 158a(2), and that has at least
five years of demonstrated experience engaging with and advocating for nursing home
workers.
new text end