Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 21 > Article 5 - Wage Payment and Collection

• 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.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Commission: means the occupational safety and health review commission established under this article. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-2
• commissioner: means Commissioner of Labor or his or her designated representative. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• 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.
• construction: means the furnishing of work in the fulfillment of a contract for the construction, alteration, decoration, painting, or improvement of a new or existing building, structure, roadway, or pipeline, or any part thereof, or for the alteration, improvement, or development of real property: Provided, That construction performed for the owner or lessee of a single family dwelling or a family farming enterprise is excluded. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• 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.
• deductions: includes amounts required by law to be withheld, and amounts authorized for union, labor organization, or club dues or fees, pension plans, payroll savings plans, credit unions, charities, and any form of insurance offered by an employer: Provided, That for a public employee, other than a municipal employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement with a municipality which is in effect on July 1, 2021, the term "deductions" shall not include any amount for union, labor organization, or club dues or fees. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• doing business in this state: means having employees actively engaged in the intended principal activity of the person, firm, or corporation in West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• Employee: means any public employee of the state, or any state agency. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-2
• employees: includes any person suffered or permitted to work by a person, firm, or corporation, except those classified as an independent contractor pursuant to §. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• employer: means any person, firm, or corporation employing any employee. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• firm: includes any partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, division of a corporation, the administrator or executor of the estate of a deceased individual, or the receiver, trustee, or successor of any of the same, or officer thereof, employing any person. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• fringe benefits: means any benefit provided an employee or group of employees by an employer, or which is required by law, and includes regular vacation, graduated vacation, floating vacation, holidays, sick leave, personal leave, production incentive bonuses, sickness and accident benefits, and benefits relating to medical and pension coverage. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• minerals: means clay, coal, flagstone, gravel, limestone, manganese, sand, sandstone, shale, iron ore, and any other metallurgical ore. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• 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.
• officer: shall include officers or agents in the management of a corporation or firm who knowingly permit the corporation or firm to violate the provisions of this article. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• 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: means one or more individuals. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-2
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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.
• Probate: Proving a will
• railroad company: includes any firm or corporation engaged primarily in the business of transportation by rail. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• special agreement: means an arrangement filed with and approved by the commissioner whereby a person, firm, or corporation is permitted upon a compelling showing of good cause to establish regular paydays less frequently than once in every two weeks: Provided, That in no event shall the employee be paid in full less frequently than once each calendar month on a regularly established schedule. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• wages: means compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, commission, or other basis of calculation. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1
• wages due: shall include at least all wages earned up to and including the twelfth day immediately preceding the regular payday. See West Virginia Code 21-5-1