§ 3. Cooperation with Attorney General and Commissioners of Financial Regulation and of Taxes; memoranda of understanding

(a) The Attorney General and the Commissioner of Labor shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to establish a process for the referral of complaints received by the Commissioner of Labor to the Attorney General, the sharing of information, and the coordination of investigatory and enforcement resources in relation to the provisions of sections 346, 387, 712, and 1379 of this title. Notwithstanding any provision of 9 V.S.A. § 2460(a) to the contrary, the memorandum shall, at a minimum, provide for:

(1) notice from the Attorney General to the Commissioner of Labor regarding complaints received by the Attorney General that relate to a possible violation of the laws under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner;

(2) a procedure for the Commissioner of Labor to refer a complaint to the Attorney General if the employer complained of appears to be engaging in willful, substantial, or systemic violations of the provisions of chapter 5, subchapter 2 or 3 of this title, or chapter 9 or 17 of this title through the misclassification of employees;

(3) a requirement that the Commissioner of Labor shall, upon receiving a complaint against an employer that has been determined to have engaged in employee misclassification on two separate occasions during the past five years or is alleged to have misclassified five or more employees, refer the complaint to the Attorney General and coordinate with the Attorney General to investigate the complaint and, depending on the outcome of the investigation, seek any appropriate penalties pursuant to the provisions of this title and 9 V.S.A. §§ 2458–2461;

(4) the exchange of information and coordination of investigatory and enforcement resources between the Commissioner of Labor and the Attorney General; and

(5) compliance with the requirements of 20 C.F.R. part 603 in relation to any information disclosed pursuant to section 1314 of this title.

(b) The Commissioner of Labor shall enter into separate memoranda of understanding with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and the Commissioner of Taxes to establish a process for sharing information related to investigations of the misclassification and miscoding of workers pursuant to the laws under their jurisdiction. The memoranda shall provide, at a minimum, that any disclosure of information pursuant to section 1314 of this title shall comply with the requirements of 20 C.F.R. part 603.

(c) The Attorney General shall enter into separate memoranda of understanding with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and the Commissioner of Taxes to establish a process for sharing information related to an investigation by the Attorney General pursuant to sections 346, 387, 712, and 1379 of this title. Notwithstanding any provision of 9 V.S.A. § 2460(a) to the contrary, each memorandum shall, at a minimum, provide for the disclosure by the Attorney General of any instance in which he or she has determined that an employer has, through the misclassification of an employee, violated the provisions of chapter 5, subchapter 2 or 3 of this title or chapter 9 or 17 of this title and the basis for that determination.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the Commissioner of Labor from investigating complaints of violations of the laws under his or her jurisdiction or enforcing those laws pursuant to the applicable provisions of this title.

(e) Information shared pursuant to this section shall be exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act and shall be kept confidential. Notwithstanding 1 V.S.A. § 317(e), the Public Records Act exemption created in this section shall continue in effect and shall not be repealed through the operation of 1 V.S.A. § 317(e). (Added 2019, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. Feb. 20, 2020.)