HB111: prohibiting employee polygraph examinations.

HB 111-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-0178

08/10

HOUSE BILL HB 111-FN

AN ACT prohibiting employee polygraph examinations.

SPONSORS: Rep. Holland, Rock 76; Rep. Palangas, Hills 52; Rep. Letourneau, Rock 77

COMMITTEE: Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services

ANALYSIS

This bill prohibits the use of polygraph examinations by employers.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-0178

08/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT prohibiting employee polygraph examinations.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Paragraph; Definition. Amend RSA 273-A:1 by inserting after paragraph VII the following new paragraph:

VII-a. "Polygraph" means any mechanical or electrical instrument or device of any type used or allegedly used to examine, test or question individuals for the purpose of determining truthfulness.

2 New Paragraph; Polygraphs Prohibited. Amend RSA 273-A:5 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph

III. No public employer shall request or require any prospective employee or any employee to submit to, or take, a polygraph examination as a condition of obtaining employment or of continuing employment with such employer or dismiss or discipline in any manner an employee for failing, refusing, or declining to submit to or take a polygraph examination.

3 New Section; Polygraphs Prohibited. Amend RSA 275 by inserting after section 14 the following new section:

275:14-a Use of Polygraph Prohibited; Penalty.

I. For the purposes of this section, "polygraph" means any mechanical or electrical instrument or device of any type used or allegedly used to examine, test, or question individuals for the purpose of determining truthfulness.

II.(a) No employer shall request or require any prospective employee, or any employee to submit to, or take, a polygraph examination as a condition of obtaining employment or of continuing employment with such employer or dismiss or discipline in any manner an employee for failing, refusing, or declining to submit to or take a polygraph examination.

(b) No employment agency and no agent for an employer shall require any person to submit to, or take, a polygraph examination for any purposes whatsoever.

III. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.

LBAO

03-0178

12/23/02

HB 111-FN - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT prohibiting employee polygraph examinations.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, and Association of Counties state this bill may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2004 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures or on state, county and local revenues.

METHODOLOGY:

The Judicial Branch states this bill prohibits the use of polygraph examinations by employers and establishes the penalty for violations of the statute as a misdemeanor. The fiscal impact of the proposal depends on how many prosecutions are brought. The Branch assumes that not many prosecutions will be brought, and the fiscal impact on the Judicial Branch will be minimal.

The Judicial Council assumes that any cases arising from the enactment of this law for which the Indigent Defense Fund may be liable, will, in the first instance be handled by the public defender or contract attorneys who accept these cases on a fixed fee basis of $250 for each misdemeanor charge. If an assigned counsel attorney must be used, the hourly rate of $60 with a fee cap of $1,000 for misdemeanor cases will apply. If a motion to exceed the fee cap is approved and/or "services other than counsel" are approved, these will also be chargeable to the Indigent Defense Fund. The Council is unable to predict the number of cases that may result from the passage of this legislation, therefore, they are unable to estimate the dollar amount of the anticipated costs of such representation.

The Association of Counties states the fiscal impact of this bill depends on the number of individuals who are sentenced to a county house of corrections as a result of this bill. The Association has estimated the average annual cost to incarcerate an individual in a county house of corrections to be $21,634.

The Department of Justice states this bill will have no fiscal impact on the department.