§ 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.)