Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 85-11-4 - Notice to Employees of Default Employers4.1. Upon discovery that an employer is not maintaining West Virginia workers' compensation insurance, the Commissioner shall issue a written notice to the employees of that employer. The notice shall be in the form prescribed by the Commissioner.4.2. Contents of notice. -- The notice shall inform the employees of the default of their employer and the effective date thereof. The notice shall also inform the employees of the legal consequences, as it affects the employees, of the default or termination of their employer. The notice shall also contain the following statement which shall be printed in conspicuous type: "Any person who shall, prior to the reinstatement to good standing of the said employer, as hereinbefore provided for, or prior to sixty (60) days after the posting of this notice, whichever shall first occur, remove, deface, or render illegible this notice, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000.00)."4.3. Posting the notice. -- The Commissioner shall arrange for the posting of the notice as described in this section in a conspicuous place at the chief works of the employer, as the same appears in the records of the Commissioner, or such other location(s) as may be deemed to provide adequate notice to employees of the employer. If the chief works of the employer cannot be found or identified, then the notice as described in this section shall be posted at the front door of the courthouse of the county in which the chief works are located, according to the Commissioner's records. A copy of the notice shall also be sent to the office of the secretary of state for publication in the State Register.4.4. The Commissioner may require any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or other official of the state of West Virginia, who may be authorized to serve civil process, to post the notice as described in this section and to make return thereof of the fact of such posting to the Commissioner, and any failure to post any notice within ten (10) days after he or she receives the same from the Commissioner, without just cause or excuse, shall constitute a willful failure or refusal to perform a duty required of him or her by law within the meaning of W. Va. Code § 61-5-28.4.5. Fee for posting. -- Any official posting the notice as described in this section shall be entitled to the same fee as is now or may hereafter be provided for the service of process in suits instituted in courts of record in the state of West Virginia, which fee shall be paid by the Commissioner out of any funds at his or her disposal, but shall be charged by him or her against the account of the employer to whose default such notice relates.