A bill introduced to the New Hampshire legislature would authorize the state Department of Labor to issue stop-work orders to employers that fail to secure workers’ compensation coverage or fail to pay wages that are due.

Sen. Dan Feltes

Senate Bill 151, by Dan Feltes, D-Concord, would give the department authority to order employers to stop all activities, and would establish an administrative appeals process. Employers would have 10 days to appeal a stop-work order, during which time the order would be suspended.

The Department of Labor anticipates that the bill will not increase state expenditures, and if there is any increase, the costs would be covered by assessment income the department levies on workers’ compensation carriers, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

Two Democrats and one Republican senator have signed on as co-authors of the bill. It has been assigned to the Senate Commerce Committee.