I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6293 

To require coverage of incarcerated workers under the Fair Labor Standards 

Act of 1938, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2023 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. LEE

of California, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, and Ms. BUSH) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To require coverage of incarcerated workers under the Fair 

Labor Standards Act of 1938, 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 ‘‘Fair Wages for Incar5 cerated Workers Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF INCARCERATED WORKERS UNDER 

2 THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938. 

3 Section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

4 (29 U.S.C. 203) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (e)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

8 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

9 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(V), by 

10 striking the period at the end and inserting 

11 ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(D) any individual employed as an incar15 cerated worker by a public agency that operates 

16 the correctional facility in which such individual 

17 is incarcerated or detained.’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(6) The term ‘employee’ includes (in addition 

20 to an individual described in paragraph (2)(D)) any 

21 individual employed as an incarcerated worker by a 

22 private entity that operates, through a contract with 

23 a public agency, the correctional facility in which 

24 such individual is incarcerated or detained.’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (m)(1), by striking ‘‘any em26 ployee.’’ and inserting ‘‘any employee: Provided furVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:10 Nov 15, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6293.IH H6293

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•HR 6293 IH

1 ther, That, in the case of an employee who is an in2 carcerated worker, the cost of board, lodging, or 

3 other facilities and any amount taken from amounts 

4 paid such incarcerated worker for payment of a 

5 court-imposed fee shall not be included in the wage 

6 paid to such employee.’’; and 

7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(z)(1) ‘Incarcerated worker’ means an individual, in9 carcerated or detained in a correctional facility operated 

10 by a public agency or by a private entity through a con11 tract with a public agency, who performs work offered or 

12 required by or through the correctional facility, including 

13 work associated with prison work programs, work release 

14 programs, the UNICOR program, State prison industries, 

15 public works programs, restitution centers, correctional fa16 cility operations and maintenance, and private entities. 

17 ‘‘(2) An incarcerated worker shall be considered em18 ployed by— 

19 ‘‘(A) the public agency operating the correc20 tional facility in which the individual is incarcerated 

21 or detained; or 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of a correctional facility oper23 ated by a private entity through a contract with a 

24 public agency, such private entity. 


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1 ‘‘(aa) ‘Correctional facility’ has the meaning given 

2 such term in section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Control 

3 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 

4 ‘‘(bb)(1) ‘Court-imposed fee’ means any fee imposed 

5 by a court as a result of a criminal conviction, including 

6 any surcharge imposed for a felony or misdemeanor con7 viction, a criminal justice administrative fee, a court-ap8 pointed attorney fee, a court clerk fee, a filing clerk fee, 

9 a DNA database fee, a jury fee, a crime lab analysis fee, 

10 a late fee, an installment fee, or any other court cost. 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘court-imposed fee’ does not include 

12 any amount required by a court to be paid for child sup13 port, to a crime victim compensation fund, for a civil judg14 ment, or for a criminal fine.’’. 

Æ 


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