§ 175.300 Definitions. Terms not defined in this part have the same meaning as provided in 2 CFR part 200, subpart A. As used in this part: *Abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process* means the use or threatened use of a law or legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking some action.
*Coercion* means: ( 1 ) Threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person;
( 2 ) Any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or
( 3 ) The abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.
*Commercial sex act* means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.
*Debt bondage* means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his or her personal services or of those of a person under his or her control as a security for debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined.
*Involuntary servitude* includes a condition of servitude induced by means of: ( 1 ) Any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that, if the person did not enter into or continue in such condition, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; or
( 2 ) The abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.
*Private Entity* means any entity, including for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, institutes of higher education, and hospitals. The term does not include foreign public entities, Indian Tribes, local governments, or states as defined in 2 CFR 200.1.
*Recruitment Fee* means fees of any type, including charges, costs, assessments, or other financial obligations, that are associated with the recruiting process, regardless of the time, manner, or location of imposition or collection of the fee. ( 1 ) Recruitment fees include, but are not limited to, the following fees (when they are associated with the recruiting process) for: ( i ) Advertising;
( ii ) Obtaining permanent or temporary labor certification, including any associated fees;
( iii ) Processing applications and petitions;
( iv ) Acquiring visas, including any associated fees;
( v ) Acquiring photographs and identity or immigration documents, such as passports, including any associated fees;
( vi ) Accessing the job opportunity, including required medical examinations and immunizations; background, reference, and security clearance checks and examinations; and additional certifications;
( vii ) An employer's recruiters, agents or attorneys, or other notary or legal fees;
( viii ) Language interpretation or translation, arranging for or accompanying on travel, or providing other advice to employees or potential employees;
( ix ) Government-mandated fees, such as border crossing fees, levies, or worker welfare fund;
( x ) Transportation and subsistence costs: ( A ) While in transit, including, but not limited to, airfare or costs of other modes of transportation, terminal fees, and travel taxes associated with travel from the country of origin to the country of performance and the return journey upon the end of employment; and
( B ) From the airport or disembarkation point to the worksite;
( xi ) Security deposits, bonds, and insurance; and
( xii ) Equipment charges.
( 2 ) A recruitment fee, as described in the introductory text of this definition, is a recruitment fee, regardless of whether the payment is: ( i ) Paid in property or money;
( ii ) Deducted from wages;
( iii ) Paid back in wage or benefit concessions;
( iv ) Paid back as a kickback, bribe, in-kind payment, free labor, tip, or tribute; or
( v ) Collected by an employer or a third party, whether licensed or unlicensed, including, but not limited to: ( A ) Agents;
( B ) Labor brokers;
( C ) Recruiters;
( D ) Staffing firms (including private employment and placement firms);
( E ) Subsidiaries/affiliates of the employer;
( F ) Any agent or employee of such entities; and
( G ) Subcontractors at all tiers.
*Severe forms of trafficking in persons* means: ( 1 ) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or
( 2 ) The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.
*Sex trafficking* means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.