I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7117 

To require employers to pay essential pay to health care employees during 

public health emergencies, and to provide a tax credit for the cost 

of such pay. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2020 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. ENGEL, 

Mr. COHEN, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. GREEN of 

Texas, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require employers to pay essential pay to health care 

employees during public health emergencies, and to provide a tax credit for the cost of such pay. 

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 ‘‘Essential Pay for Es5 sential Workers Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MANDATORY ESSENTIAL PAY FOR HEALTH CARE 

2 EMPLOYEES DURING PUBLIC HEALTH EMER3 GENCIES. 

4 (a) EMPLOYER REQUIREMENT.—During an emer5 gency period, an employer of an essential employee shall 

6 pay the employee at a rate equal to the sum of the regular 

7 rate of pay of the employee and $15. 

8 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—A violation of subsection (a) 

9 shall be deemed a violation of section 7 of the Fair Labor 

10 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) and unpaid 

11 amounts shall be treated as unpaid overtime compensation 

12 for the purposes of sections 15 and 16 of such Act (29 

13 U.S.C. 215 and 216). 

14 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

15 (1) FLSA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘employer’’ and 

16 ‘‘employ’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec17 tion 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

18 U.S.C. 203). 

19 (2) ESSENTIAL.—The term ‘‘essential em20 ployee’’ means an employee identified as an essential 

21 critical infrastructure worker in the memorandum 

22 entitled, ‘‘Advisory Memorandum on Identification 

23 of Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During 

24 COVID–19 Response’’ issued by the Director of the 

25 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency on March 

26 28, 2020, or a successor memorandum. 


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1 (3) EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘emer2 gency period’’ has the meaning given such term in 

3 section 1135(g) of the Social Security Act. 

4 (4) REGULAR RATE.—The term ‘‘regular rate’’ 

5 has the meaning given the term in section 7 of the 

6 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207). 

7 SEC. 3. PAYROLL CREDIT FOR CERTAIN MANDATORY ES8 SENTIAL PAY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employer, there 

10 shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by 

11 section 3111(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for 

12 each calendar quarter an amount equal to 100 percent of 

13 the qualified essential pay wages paid by such employer 

14 with respect to such calendar quarter. 

15 (b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 

16 (1) CREDIT LIMITED TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT

17 TAXES.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) with 

18 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the 

19 tax imposed by section 3111(a) of such Code for 

20 such calendar quarter (reduced by any other credits 

21 allowed against such tax for such quarter) on the 

22 wages paid with respect to the employment of all 

23 employees of the employer. 

24 (2) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of the 

2 credit under subsection (a) exceeds the limita3 tion of paragraph (1) for any calendar quarter, 

4 such excess shall be treated as an overpayment 

5 that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) 

6 and 6413(b) of such Code. 

7 (B) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur8 poses of section 1324 of title 31, United States 

9 Code, any amounts due to an employer under 

10 this paragraph shall be treated in the same 

11 manner as a refund due from a credit provision 

12 referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section. 

13 (c) QUALIFIED ESSENTIAL PAY WAGES.—For pur14 poses of this section, the term ‘‘qualified essential pay 

15 wages’’ means wages (as defined in section 3121(a) of the 

16 Internal Revenue Code of 1986) paid by an employer 

17 which are required to be paid by reason of section 2. 

18 (d) SPECIAL RULES.— 

19 (1) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—For pur20 poses of chapter 1 of such Code, the gross income 

21 of the employer, for the taxable year which includes 

22 the last day of any calendar quarter with respect to 

23 which a credit is allowed under this section, shall be 

24 increased by the amount of such credit. 


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1 (2) ELECTION NOT TO HAVE SECTION APPLY.— 

2 This section shall not apply with respect to any em3 ployer for any calendar quarter if such employer 

4 elects (at such time and in such manner as the Sec5 retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) 

6 may prescribe) not to have this section apply. 

7 (3) CERTAIN TERMS.—Any term used in this 

8 section which is also used in chapter 21 of such 

9 Code shall have the same meaning as when used in 

10 such chapter. 

11 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

12 (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall prescribe such regula13 tions or other guidance as may be necessary to carry out 

14 the purposes of this section, including— 

15 (1) regulations or other guidance to prevent the 

16 avoidance of the purposes of the limitations under 

17 this section; 

18 (2) regulations or other guidance to minimize 

19 compliance and record-keeping burdens under this 

20 section; 

21 (3) regulations or other guidance providing for 

22 waiver of penalties for failure to deposit amounts in 

23 anticipation of the allowance of the credit allowed 

24 under this section; 


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1 (4) regulations or other guidance for recap2 turing the benefit of credits determined under this 

3 section in cases where there is a subsequent adjust4 ment to the credit determined under subsection (a); 

5 and 

6 (5) regulations or other guidance to ensure that 

7 the wages taken into account under this section con8 form with the wages required under section 2. 

9 (f) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SUR10 VIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby ap11 propriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insur12 ance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance 

13 Trust Fund established under section 201 of the Social 

14 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the reduc15 tion in revenues to the Treasury by reason of this section 

16 (without regard to this subsection). Amounts appropriated 

17 by the preceding sentence shall be transferred from the 

18 general fund at such times and in such manner as to rep19 licate to the extent possible the transfers which would have 

20 occurred to such Trust Fund had this section not been 

21 enacted. 

Æ 


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