610
OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Joe Uwm%hik, Comraiaaioaer
Burew OS Lybar statistltis
fastin, Taxa
Dear sir;
Zion preecsn?ml ta
on the above %ubj%
raonrlal samlae mp5rt-
meatof n* 86 in your letor, the
b‘r~tQ)r66Of&6biY66Of
ome with u% %n& I&?.Collln%
qh6 parsennel :iarvlo% Dep%rtment a% #ndueted by ths
~0~ton ~,mse has been in the nature or nn adjunot to the an-
-&,ayasntwcrat-sddofwm of the cla%%lil%d edrartlafng seation
or said paper, and h%% been wder th% %up%rvi%ion of I&i%%LO-
mater, who hes notod aa lntemmdlery brtween phOlpeCtiTs aa-
plO$W% 6nd hXll~h~~6B. Persam ~seeking employment it.tteP-rlaw
MISS Lemaerterwho au&o% a TeoordCI the personal
qualifiaatloo%,
feferemes, age, habit%, et%, %$ the applicraat.F'ora %h%rg%
Honorable Joe X'uusahik,page 2
of Two ($2.00)'Dollars, the appliaant,is entitled to a fitteen
word advertisement for aeven aonseautive lnaertlone in the
WWork wanted" bolumn of the classified advertisement seation
of the newspaper. The regular advertising rate f'orsuoh an
insertion is Two Dollar% and Seventy Cents (Q2.70), the Two
(?\2.00)Dollar rate being a speaial oonaeselon for employment
applicant%. The advertisement doe% not state the name, ad-
dress or telephone number of the a,?plicantbut the prospective
employer is direoted to contact Miss Lemaeter so that ahe may
submit to him a aeleated list of appllaants whose qualifloa-
tions she believes to be peculiarly %uited~to the partloular
I;~sition. TM% Work wanted" aolumg contains the $ollaw~g
caption:
"BBLOYERS, Call .thepress psrsoxUlel
Servioe Department When you require the
services of trained office workers, teoh- I
nicians, meahanios, mafds, yard-men.,etci
You can oho%%s.from over three thou%and ap-
plication%. Just phone Us% ~ema%t8mr,.t ~~., _'
F. lllli and ~atate~your requirem%nt.% ,'~
We are &tber advised that'in the oase'6i partiaular-
ly worthy but idpeouuious~Job, applioents their advertiisements
vii11be inserted withogt'oharge a% well as the~reoomendations
and services'of Hisa &ema%ter. ,,. ': .
It would appear that the Fersonnel Servioe.Department
or the zou%ton.~res% differs from the ouatomary conduat of 8m-
ployment Want-ad% only in the additional,service rendered by .'
Miss LemaSt8r to~~boththe prospeotlv8 emplopeers~
and employers.
In view of the liberel~z&ado&ed by .the Texas Courts
in construing the implied and incidental powers of corporation%,
we are not prepared to state that the'Houst,onI;ress,
Company may
not under the above quoted purpose clause of its ohorter conduct
a wP8rSonnel SerViOe Departmentv in aonjunction with its classl-
fied ,r
advertisement%. ~8 stated in 12 Texas R8VieW 102;
"In Texss the rule is more often stated
that implied powers embrace those that are
usual and customary in the particular business.
Recognizing this rule~the Commission.of Appeals
said: *iThatia the usual and customary method
of operating the business is essentially a ques-
tion of fact, for,such custom and usage change
\ with time.* Kascb v. Farmers Gin Company, '3S.W.
(2d) 72..
Eonoroble Joe Eunschik, page 3
It is to be noted that krtiole 1302 RSvised Civil
Statutes -of Tpxas, whioh contains en enumeration of the varl-
ous purposes tor which corporations may be ohhrtered in Texas,
contains no provision authorizing a oorporation to be organized
for the purpose of conducting an euployaent ag+vuOy. Such ao-
tivity Woonductad by a corporation flustbe by way or Incidental
ar collateral business is conjuuotlon with its primry oorporate
FUpO8e.
The business ofconductim employment agenOie8 in
Texas are regulated by Chapter l.3,Title G5,.Artieles 5208
through 5221, Revised Civil statutes of Texas, 1925, and by
Chapter 7, Titls 18, srticle 15B16:th~ougl.l593,Fezal Code of
*Texas,iY25. krticle 5208, Revised Civil Statutee, and Artiole
1584,.FenalCode define the tern *employnent agent* in the fol-
lowing identical language;
**tiploysxentagaat* meana everp person, firm,
cartnership or association of yersonseagaged in
the business'ot ~~~istiug employers to seoure m-
ployees and permms to secure employiacnt..oE'.of
collecting ikformation regarding ern_oloyersseek-
ing emp%oyee8 end persons soe&ing es$oyment.
The tom *employptlntotSice@ tneansevery plaae or
office rhere.the business of giving iutolligenoe _
or Wormation where eaqloyztentor help may be
obtained or where the bua:nees of an~eqloy;nent
agent 18 oarried cm,*
while the above dsrlnition of "en.qloylr.ent
agsnta doe8
not use the Wrd floor~oratiou*we call attention to the statu-
tory rule of ~construotlanof the word *person- announced by
drticle 23, Revised Civil 3tatatco of Texss, which reads in
part aa follows:
*The following meaning shall be given
to eaoh of the following worda, unless a
different meaning is apparent from t~he
corAe~~:
". . .
w2. Qersont in~cludeaI=.
oar~oration.W
\:fhen a- tb,?t.
wo further consid...,. tb.ereasons which
must have prompted the enactment of the statutes regulating
employment agents, I. 8. the ,votection of the public, apply
..
z:onorableJoe Kunachik, Page 4
with equal force to individuals and to corporations, we reach
tiieconcluslaa that a corporation, when donducting an employ-
.?entagency a8 an incident to its prltiry corporate purpoae,
is Itxcenable to the regulation and is required to obtain a
license, in the sane mauner'as an employzientagency operated
by fm individual or 81partnership. This construction is
fcrther fOrtItled by the fact that the exoeptiona provided
iiithe aOt, hereafter quoted and diSQus8ed expressly refer to
cor~orationsi .It Vrouldhave heen unnecessary to mention
corporations in the exceptions, had th8y not been intended to
be embraoed in the sooptiof the act.
Artiole 5209, Revised Civil Statutes, and Vtiole
1555,.Penal Code, set out the exceptions ta,the amployment
axency law in the following language:
WThe provisions of this chapter shall not
apply to agents who oharge a'fee of'not more
than ,twedoU.ars for'.registrationonly for pro-
curi.3.g employment for echoal teachers; nor to
any department or bureau maintained by this
Sate, the wited states Government, or any
aunici~al government of this state, nor to
any person, firm, partnership, association
of person8 or oorporatlon or any offioer, or
empJ.oyaethereof engaged in obtaining or
soliciting help from him,~them or it when
no feesare,charged directly or indirectly
the applioant for help or the applicant for
employm&at;-nor to Iarmers enn~d stockraisers
acting jointly or severally in securing
laborers for their own use where no fee is
collected or charged directly or indlreotly,
nor to any assoclstion or corporation charter-
ed under the laws of TeXa8 conducting a free
employment bureau or agencp.n
Fe do not believe thot the business carried on by
~:.iss"&3aateras tbe Fersonnel !zerviaeaenartment of the Bouston
i-ressfalls within any of the exoertione contained in tb.e fore-
article. me exception for reagentsv2-.o
g.oinc, oharge a fee of
rrot3ore than Two (@.CO) Dollars for registration only for pro-
cur&; emylogment of school teachersn would clcerly not ar;ply
to agents who are SngaFed In 0btainin.qemployment for r;ersonS
other than school teachers. Ihe fact that the applicant for
ercpL,g!zent
to the leraonnel~ Service ‘jepartmentis required to
. [
i*
:’
! 614
‘---..
/-
? ::onorablsJoe kunschik, Fege 3
cay Two ($2.00) Dollars ior the insertion of M advertl5ement
in the Iioufxton
Press as a prerequisite to the service offered
by said department (In the absence of showing of absolute in-
Ybility to pay such Two ($12.00)Dollar oharge) constitutel4,
KB believe, a fee for the service of the Yer~onnel.3errice De-
r;?rtmentso'thet t&s exaeptlon provided %%en no fees are charg-
od directly or indirectlya oould not be applicable to the situa-
tion here under consideration. #e are persuaded that the Houston
Zress Company has been aattmted by salutary and benevalent mo-
tives in establishing the Personnel service Department under
the super~lsion~of ?biseLamaster in order to be of real servloe
:nd benefit to both employees~aeeking employment and~employers
seeking pereona to fill vaaanoiea in their businesses, but
nevertheless such Personnel Bervlae Department does aonstitute
m employment agency within the terms ,of the statutes and oon-
sequently must-be required to aonforxato the provisions of the
regulatory laws.
], :I
It ia therefore our 0 inion that the Boustoa Preae , .:
Company should be required to '0ii
tain a liaewze as an employ-
.nantagent as oontemplated by the above mentioned statutes.
Yours very truly
ATl'GRlwyGESBRALOPTEXA3
i7f:eaw
APPROVED= 21, 1941