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ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL NO. 1844
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C 216 L 89
State of Washington 51st Legislature 1989 Regular Session
By Representatives Doty, Rasmussen, Heavey, Cole, Ballard, Leonard, Schoon, Nealey, Walker, Ferguson, May, Moyer, Brough, Miller, Bowman, Wood and Patrick
Read first time 2/8/89 and referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor. Referred 2/24/89 to Committee on Appropriations. Referred 3/1/89 to Committee on Rules.
AN ACT Relating to employment in house-to-house sales; adding new sections to chapter 49.12 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) No person under sixteen years of age may be employed in house-to-house sales unless the department grants a variance permitting specific employment under criteria adopted by department rule.
(2) No person sixteen or seventeen years of age may be employed in house-to-house sales unless the employer:
(a) Obtains and maintains a validated registration certificate issued by the department. Application for registration shall be made on a form prescribed by the director, which shall include but not be limited to:
(i) The employer's name, permanent address, and telephone number;
(ii) The employer's social security number and industrial insurance number or, in lieu of these numbers, the employer's unified business identifier account number; and
(iii) A description of the work to be performed by persons aged sixteen or seventeen and the working conditions under which the work will be performed;
(b) Provides each employee sixteen or seventeen years of age, before beginning work, an identification card in a form prescribed by the director. The card shall include, but not be limited to, a picture of the employee, the employee's name, the name and address of the employer, a statement that the employer is registered with the department of labor and industries, and the registration number. The person employed in house-to-house sales shall show the identification card to each customer or potential customer of the person;
(c) Ensures supervision by a person aged twenty-one years or over during all working hours, with each supervisor responsible for no more than five persons; and
(d) If transporting an employee sixteen or seventeen years of age to another state, obtains the express written consent of the employee's parent or legal guardian.
(3) An employer may not employ a person sixteen or seventeen years of age in house-to-house sales after the hour of nine p.m.
(4) The department shall adopt by rule procedures for the renewal, denial, or revocation of registrations required by this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) Any person advertising to employ a person in house-to-house sales with an advertisement specifically prescribing a minimum age requirement that is under the age of twenty-one shall:
(a) Register with the department as provided in section 1(2)(a) of this act; and
(b) Include the following information in any advertisement:
(i) The registration number required by subsection (1)(a) of this section;
(ii) The specific nature of the employment and the product or services to be sold; and
(iii) The average monthly compensation paid in the previous six months to new employees, taking into account any deductions made pursuant to the employment contract.
(2) Advertising to recruit or employ a person in house-to-house sales shall not be false, misleading, or deceptive.
(3) A violation of this section is an unfair act or practice in violation of the consumer protection act, chapter 19.86 RCW. The remedies and sanctions provided under chapter 19.86 RCW shall not preclude application of other available remedies and sanctions.
(4) No publisher, radio broadcast licensee, advertising agency, or agency or medium for the dissemination of an advertisement may be subject to penalties by reason of dissemination of any false, misleading, or deceptive advertisement, or for an advertisement that fails to meet the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, unless he or she has refused on the request of the director to furnish the name and address of the person purchasing the advertising.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. For the purposes of sections 1 and 2 of this act:
(1) "Employ" includes to engage, suffer, or permit to work, but does not include voluntary or donated services performed for no compensation, or without expectation or contemplation of compensation as the adequate consideration for the services performed, for an educational, charitable, religious, state or local government body or agency, or nonprofit organization, or services performed by a newspaper vendor or a person in the employ of his or her parent or stepparent.
(2) "House-to-house sales" includes a sale or other transaction in consumer goods, the demonstration of products or equipment, the obtaining of orders for consumer goods, or the obtaining of contracts for services, in which the employee personally solicits the sale or transaction at a place other than the place of business of the employer.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department shall adopt rules to implement sections 1 through 3 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 49.12 RCW.