(A) No person or firm may engage in the private personnel placement service business in South Carolina unless the person or firm has a current license for the business as provided in this chapter.

(B) An application for license must be made to the Secretary for each location. If the agency is owned by:

(1) an individual, the application must be made by him;

(2) a partnership, the application must be made by all of the partners;

(3) a corporation, an association, or a society, the application must be made by the president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer and by a person owning twenty percent or more of the stock.

(C) Each application must be written and in a form prescribed by the Secretary and must contain:

(1) the name and address of the applicant;

(2) the name under which the agency is to be conducted;

(3) the street and number of the building or place where the business is to be conducted;

(4) the business or occupations engaged in by the applicant previously;

(5) whether the applicant has previously held or applied, whether granted or denied, for a private personnel placement service license within the United States or its possessions or territories;

(6) the name and address of the individual who actually will direct and operate the placement activities;

(7) the name and present address of the last employer of the individual;

(8) a verification from a newspaper of the greatest circulation in the county of the applicant's location that a public notification containing the information required in the application has been included in the newspaper on at least one occasion before the filing;

(9) a certification by a licensed member of the South Carolina Bar that all requirements of the laws of South Carolina have been met.

(D) The application must be accompanied by an application fee of two hundred dollars and a license fee of one hundred dollars and verification of a surety bond of three thousand dollars or other security equal to twenty-five thousand dollars in a form approved by the Attorney General and deposited with the Secretary. The Secretary shall issue a license after thirty days following receipt of the application unless there is a reason for the Secretary to believe on the basis of a complaint and investigation that the applicant is not in compliance with this chapter. The application for a license must be denied and the license fee refunded if the Secretary determines that the applicant is not in compliance. The application fee must not be refunded.

(E) The aggregate liability of the surety for all breaches of the bond may not exceed the sum of the bond. The surety on the bond may cancel the bond upon giving thirty days written notice to the Secretary and the Private Personnel Placement Service and is relieved of liability for a breach of condition occurring after the effective date of the cancellation. Failure to maintain a surety bond in force or have other security filed with the Secretary of twenty-five thousand dollars constitutes disqualification for retaining a license. The Secretary shall allow ten working days after notification to the licensee for requalification before revoking that license. The business may not operate until proof of surety bond, or other security of twenty-five thousand dollars, has been established with the Secretary.

(F) Licenses are issued for two years beginning January first through December thirty-first twenty-four months later unless turned in or revoked by the Secretary. Licenses must be renewed biennially.

(G) The Secretary shall mail annual license renewal forms to the last known address of each licensee by November first. If license renewal forms are not received by a licensee for any cause, the licensee shall request a license renewal form from the Secretary's office. Every licensee shall file a biennial license renewal in a form and manner suitable to the Secretary postmarked not later than the last day of December. The renewal form must be accompanied by a renewal fee of one hundred dollars. If license renewal forms are not received by the Secretary's office the first week of January, the Secretary shall notify the licensee in writing that the licensee shall pay a one hundred dollar late penalty and that the licensee has thirty days from the date of notice to comply with licensing requirements. If compliance is not met within the specified time, the Secretary shall deny license renewal, return the license fee, and notify that business to cease operation and make public notification of closure of the service in the newspaper of the greatest circulation in the county in which it is located.

(H) If a written complaint by a person to the Secretary reveals that a licensee or firm is not in compliance with Section 41-25-30, the Secretary shall notify the licensee or firm of the alleged violation in writing and allow thirty days from the date of notice for response to and compliance with this chapter. If no response is received within thirty days, the Secretary shall investigate the alleged violation, and if the licensee or firm is found to be in violation of this chapter, deny or revoke that license.

(I) All claims or suits brought against a licensee may be brought in the name of the person damaged upon the bond deposited with the Secretary and may be transferred and assigned as other claims for damages in civil suits. The amount of damages claimed by the plaintiff, and not the penalty designated in the bond, determines the jurisdiction of the court in which the action is brought. If a licensee has departed from the State with intent to defraud his creditors or to avoid the service of a summons in an action brought under this section, service must be made upon the surety. A copy of the summons must be mailed to the last known post office address of the residence of the licensee as shown by the records of the Secretary. The service is deemed to be made when not less than the number of days has intervened between the date of service and the return of the same as provided by law.

(J) No license may be granted to conduct a private personnel placement service in a residence or rooms used for living purposes, where boarders or lodgers are kept, where meals are served, where persons sleep, or, in connection with a building or premises, where intoxicating liquors are sold to be consumed on premises, except cafes and restaurants in office buildings.

However, if the licensee has maintained a South Carolina State Placement Service license for three consecutive years, or has attained the national CPC designation, including two years of service, the licensee may by licensed to operate from a private residence if desired but must be in accordance with other applicable federal, state, and local laws and zoning ordinances. In addition, a person who is handicapped or incapacitated for a period of time could be allowed a waiver for that period of time to work from a private residence.

(K) No license may be issued if the applicant has had a previous application which was denied or a license which has been revoked within the United States or its possessions or territories. No person may own, wholly or in part, nor manage a private personnel placement service who previously has been denied or had revoked his license to operate a private personnel placement service within the United States or its possessions or territories. The Secretary, depending upon the seriousness of the offense causing the denial or revocation of the license, after a suitable period of three months to one year, may allow the person, upon full compliance, to reapply for a license.

(L) If a licensee relocates its offices before filing the annual renewal notice, he shall submit a written notice of the change of address to the Secretary containing a notarized statement that the new location conforms to licensing requirements.

(M) If a licensee ceases to operate or goes out of business, he shall notify the Secretary in writing of the action and return the license to the Secretary.

(N) If a business is sold to a new owner, the previous owner shall notify the Secretary in writing of the action and return the license to the Secretary and state to whom the business is being sold. That business may not operate until the new owner has obtained a new license.

(O) Private Personnel Placement Services licenses are nontransferable absolutely and unconditionally.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 40-432; 1968 (55) 2846; 1981 Act No. 107 Section 1; 1985 Act No. 149, Section 1; 1989 Act No. 147, Section 2, eff June 8, 1989; 1992 Act No. 477, Section 1, eff June 17, 1992; 1992 Act No. 501, Part II Section 9F, eff July 1, 1992.

Effect of Amendment

The 1989 amendment in subsection (k), added ", anywhere within the United States, its possessions or territories" in the two places it appears.

The first 1992 amendment by Act 477, in subsection (j), substituted "placement business" for "placement service" in the first paragraph, and added the second paragraph.

The second 1992 amendment by Act 501, arranged the text of subsections (B) and (C) into numbered items; in (D) changed the license fee from $50 to $100; in (F) changed the license period from one year to two and changed the renewal from annually to biennially; in (G) changed the renewal period from annually to biennially and changed the renewal fee and late penalty from $50 to $100 each; in (I) consolidated the last sentence with the remainder into one paragraph; and in (K) added "within the United States or its possessions or territories" in two locations.