Terms Used In Virginia Code > Title 40.1 > Chapter 3 - Protection of Employees

• Adjusted state hourly minimum wage: means the amount established by the Commissioner pursuant to subsection F of § Virginia Code 40.1-28.9
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Board: means the Safety and Health Codes Board. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Business establishment: means any proprietorship, firm or corporation where people are employed, permitted or suffered to work, including agricultural employment on a farm. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Carrier: means a person who operates or causes to be operated a commercial highway vehicle on any highway in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 58.1-2700
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
• Commission: means the Safety and Health Codes Board. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor and Industry. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Labor and Industry. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Department: means the Department of Motor Vehicles, acting through its officers and agents. See Virginia Code 58.1-2700
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Domestic service: means services related to the care of an individual in a private home or the maintenance of a private home or its premises, on a permanent or temporary basis, including services performed by individuals such as companions, cooks, waiters, butlers, maids, valets, and chauffeurs. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Eligible employee: means an individual who has requested that an employer provide organ donation leave and who, as of the date that the requested organ donation leave begins, will have been employed by that employer for at least (i) a 12-month period and (ii) 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.7
• Employ: shall include to permit or suffer to work. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Employee: means any person who, in consideration of wages, salaries or commissions, may be permitted, required or directed by any employer to engage in any employment directly or indirectly. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Employee: includes any individual employed by an employer. See Virginia Code 40.1-28.9
• Employee: means a home health worker who works on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.3
• Employer: means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, receiver, trustee, or trustee in bankruptcy doing business in or operating within this Commonwealth who employs another to work for wages, salaries, or on commission and shall include any similar entity acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
• Employer: includes any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or business trust or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee. See Virginia Code 40.1-28.9
• employer: includes the Commonwealth and its agencies, institutions, and political subdivisions. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.7
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Ex officio: means service by virtue of one's office and includes voting privileges for ex officio members unless otherwise provided. See Virginia Code 1-215
• Family member: means :

  1. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.3

• farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
• Federal minimum wage: means the minimum wage or, if applicable, the federal training wage prescribed by the U. See Virginia Code 40.1-28.9
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Home care provider: means an individual who provides (i) home health services, including services provided by or under the direct supervision of any health care professional under a medical plan of care in a patient's residence on a visit or hourly basis to patients who have or are at risk of injury, illness, or a disabling condition and require short-term or long-term interventions, or (ii) personal care services, including assistance in personal care to include activities of a daily living provided in an individual's residence on a visit or hourly basis to individuals who have or are at risk of an illness, injury, or disabling condition. See Virginia Code 40.1-28.9
• Home health worker: means an individual who provides personal care, respite, or companion services to an individual who receives consumer-directed services under the state plan for medical assistance services. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.3
• IFTA: means the International Fuel Tax Agreement, as entered into by the Department, and as amended by the International Fuel Tax Association, Inc. See Virginia Code 58.1-2700
• in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
• Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
• inhabitants: means with reference to any county, city, town, political subdivision of the Commonwealth or any combination thereof, the natural persons in such county, city, town, political subdivision or combination as shown by the unadjusted United States decennial census last preceding the time at which any provision dependent upon population is being applied or the time as of which it is being construed. See Virginia Code 1-235
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Licensee: means a carrier who holds an uncancelled IFTA license issued by the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 58.1-2700
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
• Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year. See Virginia Code 1-223
• Motor carrier: means every person, firm or corporation who owns or operates or causes to be operated on any highway in this Commonwealth any qualified highway vehicle. See Virginia Code 58.1-2700
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Operations: means the physical activities of all such vehicles, whether loaded or empty, whether for compensation or not for compensation, and whether owned by or leased to the motor carrier who operates them or causes them to be operated. See Virginia Code 58.1-2700
• Organ donation leave: means leave of an eligible employee for the purpose of donating one or more of such employee's human organs, including bone marrow, to be medically transplanted into the body of another individual. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.7
• Paid sick leave: means leave that is compensated at the same hourly rate and with the same benefits, including health care benefits, as an employee normally earns during hours worked and is provided by an employer to an employee for the purposes described in § Virginia Code 40.1-33.3
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real estate: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights and appurtenances thereto and interests therein, other than a chattel interest. See Virginia Code 1-219
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Tipped employee: means an employee who in the course of employment customarily and regularly receives tips totaling more than $30 each month from persons other than the employee's employer. See Virginia Code 40.1-28.9
• Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
• utility: means a public utility that is owned or operated by a locality of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 15.2-2121.1
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Wages: includes the reasonable cost to the employer of furnishing meals and lodging to an employee if such board or lodging is customarily furnished by the employer and used by the employee. See Virginia Code 40.1-28.9
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.