Section 491-11 - Home-worker's certificate(a) Every person desiring to engage in industrial homework within this Commonwealth must procure from the department a home-worker's certificate, which shall be issued without cost and which shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of its issuance, unless sooner revoked or suspended by action of the department or, under subsection (f) of this section, automatically. Application for such certificate shall be made in such form as the department may by regulation prescribe and must be remade each year. Such certificate shall be valid only for work performed by the applicant himself in his own home, and in accordance with the provisions of this act.(b) No home-worker's certificate shall be issued:--(1) To any person under the age of sixteen years; or(2) To any person known to be suffering from an infectious, contagious, or communicable disease, or known to be living in a home that is not clean, sanitary and free from infectious, contagious, or communicable diseases.(3) To any person, unless that person is unable to leave his home to work on account of: (i) his own physical handicap, if that handicap has lasted for more than thirty consecutive days; or(ii) his own illness, if that illness has lasted for more than thirty consecutive days; or(iii) the necessity of caring for a member of his family who is ill or handicapped, if that illness and/or handicap and necessity has lasted for more than thirty consecutive days.(c) It shall be the duty of each applicant for a home-worker's certificate to prove his eligibility for a certificate by presenting evidence of handicap or illness of himself or illness or handicap of a family member sufficient to prove to the department that he qualifies for a home-worker's certificate under one of the exceptions set forth in subsection (b)(3) of this section. The department shall be empowered to require any applicant for a home-worker's certificate, or any family member of any applicant for a home-worker's certificate upon whose illness an applicant is relying in order to obtain a certificate, to submit to a medical examination by a physician of the department's choosing in order to aid the department in making a decision on whether or not to issue a certificate.(d) Whenever a physical examination by a physician is necessary, in order for a person to qualify for or to retain a home-worker's certificate, if the person is working, or has been promised work on the condition that he obtain a home-worker's certificate, it shall be the duty of the employer, representative contractor, or contractor for which the person is working or by which the person has been promised work, to pay the cost of the physical examination.(e) Every certificate shall contain the following information, in addition to any information which the department shall, by regulation, require:(1) The home-worker's(iv) Social Security number,(2) The expiration date of the certificate; and(3) The basis of the home-worker's eligibility for a certificate, as set forth in subsection (b)(3) above.(f) Upon the termination of the handicap, illness, or necessity of caring for a family member who is ill or handicapped which has qualified a person for a home-worker's certificate under subsection (b)(3) of this section, that person's certificate shall automatically be revoked.(g) The department may revoke, or suspend any home-worker's certificate if it finds that the holder is performing industrial homework contrary to the conditions under which the certificate was issued, or to any provision of this act, or has permitted any person not holding a valid home-worker's certificate to assist him in performing his industrial homework or has obtained the certificate through fraud or misrepresentation.(h) The department shall keep records of the applications made and certificates issued under this section, and of all information contained thereon.(i) Notwithstanding any provisions of this act to the contrary, a special home-worker's certificate may be issued to a person who does not qualify for a certificate under subsections (b)(3) and (c) if the person meets the other qualifications of subsection (b) and if the person has been employed fulltime for a period of at least six months in the manufacture of shoes, and is unable to continue his factory employment, if the following conditions are met: (1) The special certificate holder may perform homework only for an employer which operates a factory in which shoes are manufactured, and which does not have more than five percent of its employes engaged in the manufacture of shoes in industrial homework.(2) The homework performed by the special certificate holder must be part of the manufacturing process of shoes.(3) The special certificate holder must be paid the same wages and receive the same benefits as the employer pays or affords to employes in its factory who perform similar work.(4) The employer must deliver and pick up all the materials used in or produced by homework at the home of the special certificate holder without charge to the home-worker.(5) All machinery, equipment, and materials used in the manufacture of goods by the special certificate holder must be supplied to the special certificate holder and maintained by the employer without charge to the home-worker. A certificate issued under authority of this subsection shall bear a mark indicating that it permits its holder to engage in homework only in the shoe manufacturing industry. The provisions of this act shall govern the issuance and use of a special home-worker's certificate insofar as they do not conflict with this subsection. The use of a special home-worker's certificate in violation of this act shall automatically revoke the certificate.
(j) Notwithstanding any provisions of this act to the contrary, a special home-worker's certificate may be issued to a person who does not qualify for a certificate under subsections (b)(3) and (c) if the person meets the other qualifications of subsection (b), has been employed fulltime for a period of at least one month in the manufacture of brushes, is unable to continue his factory employment, and if the following conditions are met:(1) The special certificate holder performs homework only for an employer operating a factory in which brushes are manufactured who does not have more than thirty percent of its employes engaged in the manufacture of brushes in industrial homework.(2) The homework performed by the special certificate holder is part of the process of manufacturing brushes.(3) The employer delivers and picks up all the materials used in or produced by homework at the home of the special certificate holder without charge to the home-worker.(4) All machinery, equipment, and materials used in the manufacture of goods by the special certificate holder is supplied to the special certificate holder and maintained by the employer without charge to the home-worker. A certificate issued pursuant to this subsection shall bear a mark indicating that it permits its holder to engage in homework only in the brush manufacturing industry. The provisions of this act shall govern the issuance and use of a special home-worker's certificate insofar as they do not conflict with this subsection. The use of a special home-worker's certificate in violation of this act shall automatically revoke the certificate.
1937, May 18, P.L. 665, § 11. Amended 1976, Nov. 24, P.L. 1196, No. 263, § 3.