I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1763 

To provide for labor recruiter accountability, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2007 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide for labor recruiter accountability, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Indentured Servitude 

5 Abolition Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS RECRUITED ABROAD. 

7 (a) BASIC REQUIREMENTS.—(1) Each employer and 

8 foreign labor contractor who engages in foreign labor con9 tracting activity shall ascertain and disclose to each such 

10 worker who is recruited for employment the following in11 formation at the time of the worker’s recruitment: 

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1 (A) The place of employment. 

2 (B) The compensation for the employment. 

3 (C) A description of employment activities. 

4 (D) The period of employment. 

5 (E) The transportation, housing, and any other 

6 employee benefit to be provided and any costs to be 

7 charged for each benefit. 

8 (F) The existence of any labor organizing ef9 fort, strike, lockout, or other labor dispute at the 

10 place of employment. 

11 (G) The existence of any arrangements with 

12 any owner or agent of any establishment in the area 

13 of employment under which the contractor or em14 ployer is to receive a commission or any other ben15 efit resulting from any sales (including the provision 

16 of services) by such establishment to the workers. 

17 (H) Whether and the extent to which workers 

18 will be compensated through workers’ compensation, 

19 private insurance, or otherwise for injuries or death, 

20 including work related injuries and death, during the 

21 period of employment and, if so, the name of the 

22 State workers’ compensation insurance carrier or the 

23 name of the policyholder of the private insurance, 

24 the name and the telephone number of each person 

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1 who must be notified of an injury or death, and the 

2 time period within which such notice must be given. 

3 (I) Any education or training to be provided or 

4 made available, including the nature and cost of 

5 such training, who will pay such costs, and whether 

6 the training is a condition of employment, continued 

7 employment, or future employment. 

8 (J) A statement, approved by the Secretary of 

9 Labor, describing the protections of this Act for 

10 workers recruited abroad. 

11 (2) No foreign labor contractor or employer shall 

12 knowingly provide false or misleading information to any 

13 worker concerning any matter required to be disclosed in 

14 paragraph (1). 

15 (3) The information required to be disclosed by para16 graph (1) to workers shall be provided in written form. 

17 Such information shall be provided in English or, as nec18 essary and reasonable, in the language of the worker being 

19 recruited. The Department of Labor shall make forms 

20 available in English, Spanish, and other languages, as nec21 essary, which may be used in providing workers with infor22 mation required under this section. 

23 (4) No fees may be charged to a worker for recruit24 ment. 

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1 (5) No employer or foreign labor contractor shall, 

2 without justification, violate the terms of any working ar3 rangement made by that contractor or employer. 

4 (6) The employer shall pay the transportation costs, 

5 including subsistence costs during the period of travel, for 

6 the worker from the place of recruitment to the place of 

7 employment and from the place of employment to such 

8 worker’s place of permanent residence. 

9 (7)(A) It shall be unlawful for an employer or a for10 eign labor contractor to fail or refuse to hire or to dis11 charge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against 

12 an individual with respect to compensation, terms, condi13 tions, or privileges of employment because such individ14 ual’s race, color, creed, sex, national origin, religion, age, 

15 or disability. 

16 (B) For the purposes of determining the existence of 

17 unlawful discrimination under subclause (A)— 

18 (i) in the case of a claim of discrimination 

19 based on race, color, creed, sex, national origin, or 

20 religion, the same legal standards shall apply as are 

21 applicable under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

22 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); 

23 (ii) in the case of a claim of discrimination 

24 based on unlawful discrimination based on age, the 

25 same legal standards shall apply as are applicable 

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1 under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 

2 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.); and 

3 (iii) in the case of a claim of discrimination 

4 based on disability, the same legal standards shall 

5 apply as are applicable under title I of the Ameri6 cans With Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 

7 seq.). 

8 (b) OTHER WORKER PROTECTIONS.—(1) Each em9 ployer shall notify the Secretary of the identity of any for10 eign labor contractor involved in any foreign labor con11 tractor activity for or on behalf of the employer. The em12 ployer shall be subject to the civil remedies of this Act 

13 for violations committed by such foreign labor contractor 

14 to the same extent as if the employer had committed the 

15 violation. The employer shall notify the Secretary of the 

16 identity of such a foreign labor contractor whose activities 

17 do not comply with this Act. 

18 (2) The Secretary shall maintain a list of all foreign 

19 labor contractors whom the Secretary knows or believes 

20 have been involved in violations of this Act, and make that 

21 list publicly available. The Secretary shall provide a proce22 dure by which an employer, a foreign labor contractor, or 

23 someone acting on behalf of such contractor may seek to 

24 have a foreign labor contractor’s name removed from such 

25 list by demonstrating to the Secretary’s satisfaction that 

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1 the foreign labor contractor has not violated this Act in 

2 the previous five years. 

3 (3) No foreign labor contractor shall violate, without 

4 justification, the terms of any written agreements made 

5 with an employer pertaining to any contracting activity or 

6 worker protection under this Act. 

7 (c) DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED AGAINST WORK8 ERS SEEKING RELIEF UNDER THIS ACT.—No person 

9 shall intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce, blacklist, dis10 charge, or in any manner discriminate against any worker 

11 because such worker has, with just cause, filed any com12 plaint or instituted, or caused to be instituted, any pro13 ceeding under or related to this Act, or has testified or 

14 is about to testify in any such proceedings, or because of 

15 the exercise, with just cause, by such worker on behalf 

16 of himself or others of any right or protection afforded 

17 by this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS. 

19 (a) CRIMINAL SANCTIONS.—Whoever knowingly vio20 lates this Act shall be fined under title 18, United States 

21 Code, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. 

22 Upon conviction, after a first conviction under this section, 

23 for a second or subsequent violation of this Act, the de24 fendant shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, 

25 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. 

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1 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS.—(1)(A) Subject to 

2 subparagraph (B), the Secretary may assess a civil money 

3 penalty of not more than $5,000 on any person who vio4 lates this Act. 

5 (B) In determining the amount of any penalty to be 

6 assessed under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall take 

7 into account (i) the previous record of the person in terms 

8 of compliance with this Act and with comparable require9 ments of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and with 

10 regulations promulgated under such Acts, and (ii) the 

11 gravity of the violation. 

12 (2) Any employer who uses the services of a foreign 

13 labor contractor who is on the list maintained by the Sec14 retary pursuant to section 2(b)(2), shall, if the actions of 

15 such foreign labor contractor have contributed to a viola16 tion of this Act by the employer, be fined $10,000 per 

17 violation in addition to any other fines or penalties for 

18 which the employer may be liable for the violation. 

19 (c) ACTIONS BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary may 

20 take such actions, including seeking appropriate injunctive 

21 relief and specific performance of contractual obligations, 

22 as may be necessary to assure employer compliance with 

23 terms and conditions of employment under this Act and 

24 with this Act. 

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1 (d) WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—Agreements by employees 

2 purporting to waive or to modify their rights under this 

3 Act shall be void as contrary to public policy. 

4 (e) REPRESENTATION IN COURT.—Except as pro5 vided in section 518(a) of title 28, United States Code, 

6 relating to litigation before the Supreme Court, the Solic7 itor of Labor may appear for and represent the Secretary 

8 in any civil litigation brought under this Act, but all such 

9 litigation shall be subject to the direction and control of 

10 the Attorney General. 

11 SEC. 4. PROCEDURES IN ADDITION TO OTHER RIGHTS OF 

12 EMPLOYEES. 

13 The rights and remedies provided to workers by this 

14 Act are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other con15 tractual or statutory rights and remedies of the workers, 

16 and are not intended to alter or affect such rights and 

17 remedies. 

18 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE REGULATIONS. 

19 The Secretary of Labor shall prescribe such regula20 tions as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

21 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided by 

23 this Act, for purposes of this Act the terms used in this 

24 Act shall have the same meanings, respectively, as are 

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1 given those terms in section 3 of the Fair Labor Stand2 ards Act of 1938. 

3 (b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act: 

4 (1) The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the 

5 United States and includes the District of Columbia, 

6 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Common7 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the 

8 Virgin Islands of the United States. 

9 (2) The term ‘‘foreign labor contractor’’ means 

10 any person who for any money or other valuable 

11 consideration paid or promised to be paid, performs 

12 any foreign labor contracting activity. 

13 (3) The term ‘‘foreign labor contracting activ14 ity’’ means recruiting, soliciting, hiring, employing, 

15 or furnishing, an individual who resides outside of 

16 the United States to be employed in the United 

17 States. 

18 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

19 of Labor. 

20 (5) The term ‘‘worker’’ means an individual 

21 who is the subject of foreign labor contracting activ22 ity. 

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