I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 785 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require paid rest 

breaks for certain construction employees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas (for herself, Ms. PORTER, Ms. CHU, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. ALLRED, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. 

VEASEY, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. TLAIB, and Mr. 

CASAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require 

paid rest breaks for certain construction employees, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PAID REST BREAKS FOR CERTAIN CONSTRUC4 TION EMPLOYEES. 

5 (a) PAID REST BREAK.—The Fair Labor Standards 

6 Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

7 section 7 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 8. PAID REST BREAKS FOR CONSTRUCTION EMPLOY2 EES. 

3 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—An employer shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) with respect to each construction employee 

5 of such employer— 

6 ‘‘(A) provide at least one 15-minute paid 

7 rest break for every four hours of work to each 

8 such employee; and 

9 ‘‘(B) at the time of hiring, provide notice 

10 in the primary language of such employee, an 

11 explanation that— 

12 ‘‘(i) such employee is entitled to the 

13 paid rest breaks described in subparagraph 

14 (A); 

15 ‘‘(ii) retaliation by such employer 

16 against such employee for requesting or 

17 taking such paid rest breaks is prohibited; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(iii) such employee has a right to file 

20 a complaint with the Secretary for any vio21 lation of this section by such employer; and 

22 ‘‘(2) display a sign, in a conspicuous and acces23 sible location, at the place of business of such em24 ployer and at the applicable construction work site 

25 that includes, in both English and Spanish, the in26 formation described in paragraph (1)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(b) POSTED NOTICE.—The Secretary shall issue 

2 regulations with respect to the design and content of the 

3 sign referred to in subsection (a)(2). 

4 ‘‘(c) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—An employer may 

5 not take retaliatory personnel action or otherwise discrimi6 nate against a construction employee if such employee— 

7 ‘‘(1) requests or takes paid rest breaks in ac8 cordance with this section; or 

9 ‘‘(2) files a complaint with the Secretary alleg10 ing a violation of this section. 

11 ‘‘(d) INTERACTION WITH OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

12 this section shall be construed to excuse noncompliance 

13 with any Federal or State law, municipal ordinance, or 

14 collective bargaining agreement requiring longer rest 

15 breaks than those required under this section. 

16 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) The term ‘construction employee’ means 

18 an individual who is employed by an employer, or is 

19 hired as a contractor of such an employer, to per20 form general construction services. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘general construction services’ 

22 means the— 

23 ‘‘(A) erection of or preparation to erect a 

24 structure; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) remodeling, extension, repair, or dem2 olition of a structure or other improvement of 

3 real property or a structure related to real 

4 property. 

5 ‘‘(3) The term ‘rest break’ means a break from 

6 work during work hours, but does not include a reg7 ular meal break period provided to a construction 

8 employee by an employer.’’. 

9 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor 

10 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) is amended by 

11 adding after the third sentence the following: ‘‘If the Sec12 retary makes a determination that an employer has vio13 lated section 8(a) of this Act, the Secretary may assess 

14 an administrative penalty to such employer if such em15 ployer fails to correct the violation not later than 30 days 

16 after the date on which such employer receives notice from 

17 the Secretary of such determination. Any employer that 

18 violates the provisions of section 8(c) of this Act shall be 

19 liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appro20 priate, including without limitation employment, reinstate21 ment, promotion, and the payment of wages lost and an 

22 additional equal amount as liquidated damages.’’. 

Æ 


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