§ 23-2-5 — Notice to employees

Upon discovery that an employer is not maintaining West Virginia workers’ compensation insurance, the Insurance Commissioner shall issue a written notice to the employees of that employer. Notice to employees provided in this section shall be given by posting written notice that the employer is defaulted under the compensation law of West Virginia and that the defaulted employer is liable to its employees for injury or death, both in Workers’ Compensation benefits and in damages at common law or by statute. The notice shall be in the form prescribed by the Insurance Commissioner and shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the chief works of the employer, as it appears in records of the Insurance Commissioner. If the chief works of the employer cannot be found or identified, the notices shall be posted at the front door of the courthouse of the county in which the chief works are located, according to the Insurance Commissioner’s records. Any person who shall, prior to the reinstatement of the employer, as provided in this section, or prior to sixty days after the posting of the notice, whichever shall first occur, remove, deface, or render illegible the notice, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined $1,000. The notice shall state this provision upon its face. The Insurance Commissioner may require any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or other official of the State of West Virginia, authorized to serve civil process, to post the notice and to make return thereof of the fact of the posting to the Insurance Commissioner. Any failure of the officer to post any notice within 10 days after he or she has received the notice from the Insurance Commissioner, without just cause or excuse, constitutes a willful failure or refusal to perform a duty required of him or her by law within the meaning of §61-5-28 of this code. Any person actually injured by reason of the failure has an action against the official, and upon any official bond he or she may have given, for the damages as the person may actually have incurred, but not to exceed, in the case of any surety upon the bond, the amount of the penalty of the bond. Any official posting the notice as required in this section is 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. The fee shall be paid by the Insurance Commissioner out of any funds at his or her disposal.

Legislative History

2022 Reg. Sess., HB4296; 2022 Reg. Sess., SB1004; 2022 Reg. Sess., SB2013; 2003 Reg. Sess., HB2120; 1999 Reg. Sess., SB579; 1995 Reg. Sess., SB250; 1993 Reg. Sess., HB2802; 1991 Reg. Sess., SB187; 1986 Reg. Sess., HB2179; 1984 Reg. Sess., HB1962; 1974 Reg. Sess., HB821; 1970 Reg. Sess., HB526; 1947 Reg. Sess., HB322; 1939 Reg. Sess., HB157