To enact sections 4174.01, 4174.02, 4174.03, 4174.04, 4174.05, 4174.06, and 4174.07 of the Revised Code to require the Director of Commerce to keep a list of Ohio call centers, or facilities or operating units within a call center, that transfer or relocate to a foreign country, to prohibit call centers operating in a foreign country from receiving state funds, and to require call center employees to disclose their location to United States consumers if the call center is operating in a foreign country and transfer a consumer to a United States call center upon request.

Section 1. That sections 4174.01, 4174.02, 4174.03, 4174.04, 4174.05, 4174.06, and 4174.07 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 4174.01.  As used in this chapter:

(A) "Call center" means a facility or other operation whereby employees receive telephone calls or other electronic communication for the purpose of providing customer assistance or other service.

(B) "Consumer" means any individual within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States who is involved in a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

(C) "Customer service communication" means any telecommunication or wire communication between a consumer and a call center in furtherance of commerce.

(D) "Employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons acting in the interest of an employer that employs fifty or more full-time employees or fifty or more employees that in the aggregate work at least one thousand five hundred hours per week, excluding overtime hours, for the purpose of staffing a call center.

(E) "Facility or operating unit" means a section of a call center comprising at least thirty per cent of the call center's total operating volume of telephone calls or other electronic communications when measured against the average volume of those operations during the immediately previous twelve months.

Sec. 4174.02.  (A) An employer shall notify the director of commerce at least one hundred twenty days prior to either of the following:

(1) The relocation or transfer of a call center from this state to a foreign country;

(2) The relocation or transfer of a facility or operating unit within a call center from this state to a foreign country.

(B) After a hearing conducted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, an employer found in violation of the notification requirement of division (A) of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount that shall not exceed ten thousand dollars for each day the employer fails to provide the notification. The director may reduce the penalty or waive the penalty upon the showing of just cause.

(C) Beginning six months after the effective date of this section, and every six months thereafter, the director shall compile a list of all call center employers that relocate a call center or one or more facilities or operating units within a call center from this state to a foreign country. An employer shall remain on the list for a period not to exceed three years after each instance of relocation to a foreign country.

(D) If an employer relocates or transfers a call center, or a facility or operating unit within a call center, from this state to a foreign country, but subsequently returns that same call center, facility, or operating unit to the United States, the employer may notify the director of the return. If the employer's name is on the list required under division (C) of this section because of the relocation or transfer of the returned call center, facility, or operating unit at the time the employer notifies the director, the director shall remove the employer's name from this list.

(E) The director shall make the list required under division (C) of this section available to the public.

Sec. 4174.03.  (A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an employer that appears on the list described in division (C) of section 4174.02 of the Revised Code is ineligible to receive any direct or indirect state grant, state guaranteed loan, tax benefit, or other financial support from the state until the employer no longer appears on the list.

(B) The director of commerce, in consultation with the appropriate state agency providing any financial support described in division (A) of this section, may waive the requirement provided in division (A) of this section if the employer demonstrates to the director that the requirement would do any of the following:

(1) Threaten state or national security;

(2) Result in substantial job loss in this state;

(3) Harm the environment.

(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a department or agency of this state, in making or awarding a contract for call center services, shall grant a preference for the contract to an otherwise qualified business that is located in this state and that employs residents of this state.

Sec. 4174.04.  (A) A call center that initiates or receives a customer service communication shall require that each employee or agent of the call center participating in the communication to disclose the employee's or agent's physical location at the beginning of each customer service communication that is initiated or received except in either of the following circumstances:

(1) The employee or agent of the call center involved in the customer service communication is physically located in the United States.

(2) The consumer initiates the communication with the call center employee or agent who is physically located outside of the United States and the consumer knows or reasonably should know that the employee or agent is physically located outside of the United States.

(B) A call center that is subject to the requirements of division (A) of this section shall, at the request of a consumer, transfer the consumer to a customer service agent who is physically located inside the United States.

Sec. 4174.05.  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to permit the withholding or denial of payments, compensation, or benefits under any state law, including unemployment compensation benefits, disability benefits, or worker retraining or readjustment benefits, to employees employed by an employer that relocates a call center or transfers one or more facilities or operating units within a call center to a foreign country.

Sec. 4174.06.  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as creating, establishing, or authorizing a private cause of action by an aggrieved person against an employer who has violated, or is alleged to have violated, any provision of this chapter.

Sec. 4174.07.  The director of commerce shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as the director considers appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter.