AN ACT Relating to employment agencies; and amending RCW 19.31.020 and 19.31.245.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 2, chapter 228, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 82, chapter 158, Laws of 1979 and RCW 19.31.020 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context, the following words and phrases, as hereinafter used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Employment agency" is synonymous with "agency" and shall mean any business in which any part of the business gross or net income is derived from a fee received from applicants, and in which any of the following activities are engaged in:

(a) The offering, promising, procuring, or attempting to procure employment for applicants; or

(b) The giving of information regarding where and from whom employment may be obtained.

In addition the term "employment agency" shall mean and include any person, bureau, employment listing or employment referral service, organization, or school which for profit, by advertisement or otherwise, offers, as one of its main objects or purposes, to procure employment for any person who pays for its services, or which collects tuition, or charges for service of any nature, where the main object of the person paying the same is to secure employment. It also includes any business that provides a resume to an individual and provides that person with a list of names to whom the resume may be sent or provides that person with preaddressed envelopes to be mailed by the individual or by the business itself. The term "employment agency" shall not include labor union organizations, temporary service contractors, proprietary schools, theatrical agencies, farm labor contractors, or the Washington state employment agency.

(2) "Temporary service contractors" shall mean any person, firm, association, or corporation conducting a business which consists of employing individuals directly for the purpose of furnishing such individuals on a part time or temporary help basis to others.

(3) "Theatrical agency" means any person who, for a fee or commission, procures or attempts to procure on behalf of an individual or individuals, employment or engagements for circus, vaudeville, the variety field, the legitimate theater, motion pictures, radio, television, phonograph recordings, transcriptions, opera, concert, ballet, modeling, or other entertainments, exhibitions, or performances.

(4) "Farm labor contractor" means any person, or his agent, who, for a fee, employs workers to render personal services in connection with the production of any farm products, to, for, or under the direction of an employer engaged in the growing, producing, or harvesting of farm products, or who recruits, solicits, supplies, or hires workers on behalf of an employer engaged in the growing, producing, or harvesting of farm products or who provides in connection with recruiting, soliciting, supplying, or hiring workers engaged in the growing, producing, or harvesting of farm products, one or more of the following services: Furnishes board, lodging, or transportation for such workers, supervises, times, checks, counts, sizes, or otherwise directs or measures their work; or disburses wage payments to such persons.

(5) "Employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association employing or seeking to enter into an arrangement to employ a person through the medium or service of an employment agency.

(6) "Applicant", except when used to describe an applicant for an employment agency license, means any person, whether employed or unemployed, seeking or entering into any arrangement for his employment or change of his employment through the medium or service of an employment agency.

(7) "Person" includes any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association, company, society, manager, contractor, subcontractor, bureau, agency, service, office, or an agent or employee of any of the foregoing.

(8) "Director" shall mean the director of licensing.

(9) "Resume" means a document of the applicant's employment history that is approved, received, and paid for by the applicant.

(10) "Fee" means anything of value. The term includes money or other valuable consideration or services or the promise of money or other valuable consideration or services, received directly or indirectly by an employment agency from a person seeking employment, in payment for the service.

Sec. 2. Section 10, chapter 51, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. and RCW 19.31.245 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) No employment agency may bring or maintain a cause of action in any court of this state for compensation for, or seeking equitable relief in regard to, services rendered employers and applicants, unless such agency shall allege and prove that at the time of rendering the services in question, or making the contract therefor, it was the holder of a valid license issued under this chapter.

(2) Any person who shall give consideration of any kind to any employment agency for the performance of employment services in this state when said employment agency shall not be the holder of a valid license issued under this chapter shall have a cause of action against the employment agency. Any court having jurisdiction may enter judgment therein for treble the amount of such consideration so paid, plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

(3) A person performing the services of an employment agency or employment listing or employment referral service without holding a valid license shall cease operations or immediately apply for and obtain a valid license. If the person continues to operate in violation of this chapter the director or the attorney general has a cause of action in any court having jurisdiction for the return of any consideration paid by any person to the agency. The court may enter judgment in the action for treble the amount of the consideration so paid, plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs.