OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 540 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 540’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Rep. McNally
Effective Date:
Paul Luzzi, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Requires an employer that intends to relocate a call center or qualifying facilities or
operating units within a call center from Ohio to a foreign country to notify the Director
of Job and Family Services (JFS Director) at least 120 days before relocating.
 Requires the JFS Director to compile, every six months, a list of employers that have
relocated a call center or one or more qualifying facilities or operating units within a call
center from Ohio to a foreign country during the preceding six months.
 Disqualifies, unless an exception applies, an employer that has relocated a call center or
one or more qualifying facilities or operating units within a call center from receiving
certain economic incentives until five years after the relocation.
 Requires a state agency to ensure that all call center and customer service work
performed for the agency is performed entirely within Ohio.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
The bill enacts the Consumer Protection Call Center Act.1 It requires the Director of Job
and Family Services (JFS Director) to compile a list of employers that relocate a call center or
qualifying facilities or units within a call center to a foreign country. Employers on the list are
disqualified from receiving certain state economic incentives unless they are granted a waiver.
The bill also requires state agencies to ensure that all call center and customer service work
performed for the agency is performed in Ohio.
1 Section 3.
July 8, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Employers that relocate a call center to a foreign country
Notice of pending relocation
Under the bill, an employer that intends to relocate a call center or one or more
facilities or operating units within a call center comprising at least 30% of the call center’s total
volume from Ohio to a foreign country must notify the JFS Director at least 120 days before
relocating. If the employer fails to provide the notice in the required time period, the JFS
Director must inform the Attorney General. The Attorney General must then file a lawsuit
against that employer in the common pleas court of the county in which the employer’s
business is located. On finding that an employer failed to file the notice in the required time
period, the court must assess a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 against the employer for
each day the employer failed to provide the notice. The court may reduce that penalty if the
employer shows just cause for not providing notice of the relocation in the time required.2
List of employers that relocate a call center
Beginning six months after the bill’s effective date, and every six months after that, the
JFS Director must compile a list of every employer that has, during the preceding six months,
relocated from Ohio to a foreign country a call center, facility, or operating unit described
under “Notice of pending relocation” above. The JFS Director must include on the list
the employer’s name and relocation date. The JFS Director must submit the list to the Director
of Development for distribution to every state agency.3
The bill defines an “employer” as a business that employs, for the purpose of customer
service or back-office operations, 50 or more individuals, excluding individuals who work an
average of fewer than 20 hours a week or fewer than six of the 12 months preceding the date a
determination is made under the bill (“part-time employees”).4
Disqualification from incentives
Except as described under “Waiver,” below, the bill disqualifies an employer that
appears on a list compiled by the JFS Director from receiving from a state agency any grant,
guaranteed loan, tax benefit, or other economic incentive until five years after the date the
employer relocated a call center or qualifying facilities or operating units within a call center.
Additionally, the Director of Development must charge an employer that appears on that list
the unamortized value of any grant, guaranteed loan, tax benefit, or other economic incentive
the employer has received from a state agency on or after the bill’s effective date. The
employer must remit that amount to the Department of Development.5
2 R.C. 4113.88.
3 R.C. 4113.89.
4 R.C. 4113.87(A) and (C).
5 R.C. 4113.90(A).
P a g e |2 H.B. 540
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Waiver
Under the bill, the Department of Development, in consultation with the state agency
providing a loan or grant to an employer, may waive the disqualification and payment
described under “Disqualification from incentives,” above, if the employer applying for
the loan or grant demonstrates that denying the loan or grant will cause any of the following:
 Substantial job loss in Ohio;
 Harm to the environment;
 A significant economic impact to Ohio.6
Call center work for a state agency
Under the bill, a state agency must ensure that all call center and customer service work
performed for the agency is performed entirely within Ohio. A contractor who performs call
center or customer service work for the state must hire an individual to perform that work at a
location in Ohio. Beginning two years after the bill’s effective date, every individual employed
by a contractor to perform call center or customer service work for the state must perform that
work within Ohio. The bill’s requirements on contractors and state agencies apply to contracts
entered into on and after the bill’s effective date.7
Under the bill, “state agency” means every organized body, office, or agency established
by the laws of the state for the exercise of any function of state government. It does not include
the General Assembly, any legislative agency, a court, or any judicial agency.8
Effect on employee benefits
The bill specifies that it does not permit withholding or denying payments,
compensation, or benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Law, Unemployment
Compensation Law, Workforce Development Law, or any other state law to employees of
employers that relocate to a foreign country.9
6 R.C. 4113.90(B).
7 R.C. 4113.91 and Section 2.
8 R.C. 4113.87(B).
9 R.C. 4113.92.
P a g e |3 H.B. 540
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 05-15-24
ANHB0540IN-135/ts
P a g e |4 H.B. 540
As Introduced