---
type: "Bill"
title: "Providing a safe harbor for employers to correct underpayment or nonpayment of wages and benefits due to separated employees"
description: "Providing a safe harbor for employers to correct underpayment or nonpayment of wages and benefits due to separated employees"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 2646"
citation: "West Virginia HB 2646 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Labor"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Higginbotham"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 41
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-04-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/734d7b26-b896-4f1a-91ad-373f6f6c8b82"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=2646&year=2020&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "ad9294a04937aafb17eb4c863e57546c238dbc1c7acf378a4e351c3f4550e954"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia HB 2646 (2020) — Providing a safe harbor for employers to correct underpayment or nonpayment of wages and benefits due to separated employees

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2646%20SUB.htm&yr=2020&sesstype=RS&i=2646)
2. **Enrolled Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB2646%20SUB%20ENR.htm&yr=2020&sesstype=RS&i=2646)
3. **HB2646 S JUD AM _1 adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/legisdocs/chamber/2020/RS/com_amends/HB2646 S JUD AM _1 adopted.htm)
4. **HB2646 S JUD AMT _1 3-3 adopted.htm** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/legisdocs/chamber/2020/RS/com_amends/HB2646 S JUD AMT _1 3-3 adopted.htm)
5. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2646%20intr.htm&yr=2020&sesstype=RS&i=2646)

## Votes

- Passage — **28–5** (pass) · upper
- PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB — **53–45** (pass) · lower
- PASSAGE — **51–48** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Higginbotham — primary (person)
- Atkinson — cosponsor (person)
- Butler — cosponsor (person)
- Cadle — cosponsor (person)
- Foster — cosponsor (person)
- Hardy — cosponsor (person)
- Sypolt — cosponsor (person)
- Wilson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-08** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2020-01-08** To Industry and Labor then Judiciary
- **2020-01-08** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** To House Industry and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Do pass, but first to Judiciary
- **2020-02-14** To House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-20** By substitute, do pass
- **2020-02-21** On 1st reading, Special Calendar
- **2020-02-21** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-24** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2020-02-24** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-24** Amendment ruled not germane
- **2020-02-25** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2020-02-25** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-25** Passed House (Roll No. 307) `passage`
- **2020-02-25** Communicated to Senate
- **2020-02-26** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2020-02-26** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-26** To Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-03** Reported do pass, with amendment and title amendment `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-03** Immediate consideration
- **2020-03-03** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2020-03-04** On 2nd reading
- **2020-03-04** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2020-03-04** Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2020-03-05** On 3rd reading
- **2020-03-05** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-05** Passed Senate with amended title (Roll No. 446) `passage`
- **2020-03-05** Senate requests House to concur
- **2020-03-06** House received Senate message
- **2020-03-06** House concurred in Senate amendment and passed bill (Roll No. 622)
- **2020-03-06** Communicated to Senate
- **2020-03-06** Completed legislative action
- **2020-03-07** House Message received
- **2020-03-07** To Governor 3/13/20 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-07** To Governor 3/13/20 - House Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-13** To Governor 3/13/20 `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-07** Approved by Governor 3/25/20 - Senate Journal
- **2020-03-07** Approved by Governor 3/25/20 - House Journal
- **2020-03-25** Approved by Governor 3/25/20 `executive-signature`
- **2020-04-15** Chapter 204, Acts, Regular Session, 2020

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/734d7b26-b896-4f1a-91ad-373f6f6c8b82`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).