(a) It shall be unlawful for any corporation, company, firm, or person engaged in any trade or business in this state, either directly or indirectly, to issue, sell, give, or deliver to any person employed by the corporation, company, firm, or person, in payment of wages, whether the wages are earned or not, any scrip, token, draft, check, or other evidence of indebtedness payable or redeemable otherwise than in lawful money, at the next regular payday of the corporation, company, firm, or person.
(b) If the scrip, token, draft, check, or other evidence of indebtedness is issued, sold, given, or delivered to the laborer, it shall be construed, taken, and held in all courts and places to be a promise to pay the sum specified therein in lawful money by the corporation, company, firm, or person issuing, selling, giving, or delivering the same to the person named therein or the holder thereof.
(c) The corporation, company, firm, or person issuing, selling, giving, or delivering the evidence of indebtedness in violation of subsection (a) of this section shall, moreover, be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and not more than one hundred dollars ($100). At the discretion of the court trying the action, the officer or agent of the corporation, company, firm, or person issuing, selling, giving, or delivering the evidence of indebtedness may be imprisoned not less than ten (10) nor more than thirty (30) days.
(d) In any suit by any holder of the scrip, token, draft, check, or other evidence of indebtedness or in any prosecution under the provisions of this section, it shall not be required of the plaintiff in the suit or the state in the prosecution to prove that the scrip, token, draft, check, or other evidence of indebtedness was sold, given, issued, or delivered by the defendant in the suit or prosecution to any laborer or employee in payment of wages of the laborer or employee.
(e) The provisions of this section do not apply to coal mines when fewer than twenty (20) men are employed under the ground.
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