II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2193 

To ensure that an employment relationship is not established between a 

franchisor and a franchisee if the franchisor engages in certain activities, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2021 

Mr. BRAUN (for himself and Mr. BURR) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To ensure that an employment relationship is not established 

between a franchisor and a franchisee if the franchisor 

engages in certain activities, 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 ‘‘Protections for Socially 

5 Good Activities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP.—The term 

9 ‘‘employment relationship’’ means any type of joint 


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1 employer relationship, single employer relationship, 

2 or other employment-related status or relationship 

3 under any of the laws described in section 3(b). 

4 (2) FRANCHISEE.—The term ‘‘franchisee’’ 

5 means a franchisee, as defined— 

6 (A) in section 436.1(i) of title 16, Code of 

7 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the day be8 fore the date of enactment of this Act; or 

9 (B) under an applicable State franchise 

10 law. 

11 (3) FRANCHISOR.—The term ‘‘franchisor’’ 

12 means a franchisor, as defined— 

13 (A) in section 436.1(k) of title 16, Code of 

14 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the day be15 fore the date of enactment of this Act; or 

16 (B) under an applicable State franchise 

17 law. 

18 SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of each law de20 scribed in subsection (b), none of the following may be 

21 construed, alone or in combination with any other factor, 

22 as establishing an employment relationship between a 

23 franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) and a 

24 franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee): 


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1 (1) The franchisor (or any employee of the 

2 franchisor) provides the franchisee (or any employee 

3 of the franchisee) with, or requires the franchisee 

4 (or any employee of the franchisee) to use, a hand5 book, or other training, on sexual harassment, 

6 human trafficking, workplace violence, discrimina7 tion, or opportunities for apprenticeships or scholar8 ships. 

9 (2) The franchisor (or any employee of the 

10 franchisor) requires the franchisee (or any employee 

11 of the franchisee) to adopt a policy on sexual harass12 ment, human trafficking, workplace violence, dis13 crimination, opportunities for apprenticeships or 

14 scholarships, childcare, or paid leave, including a re15 quirement for the franchisee (or any employee of the 

16 franchisee) to report to the franchisor (or any em17 ployee of the franchisor) any violations or suspected 

18 violations of such policy. 

19 (3) The franchisor (or any employee of the 

20 franchisor) requires the franchisee (or any employee 

21 of the franchisee) to adopt a policy based on the 

22 novel coronavirus (referred to in this paragraph as 

23 ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic such as the use of personal 

24 protective equipment or other policies, or the 

25 franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2193.IS S2193

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1 vides the franchisee (or any employee of the 

2 franchisee) with personal protective equipment or 

3 other material goods or compensation to help the 

4 franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) dur5 ing or due to the COVID–19 pandemic. 

6 (b) LAWS.—The laws described in this subsection are 

7 each of the following: 

8 (1) The National Labor Relations Act (29 

9 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

10 (2) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

11 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 

12 (3) The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 

13 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.). 

14 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION. 

15 Except with respect to the definitions of the terms 

16 ‘‘franchisee’’ and ‘‘franchisor’’ under section 2, this Act 

17 shall preempt any State law to the extent that such State 

18 law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


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