Calendar No. 407

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1969

A BILL

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining

purposes.of employment dislocation, and for otherNotification Act to minimize the adverse effects

APRIL 11, 1994

Read the second time and placed on the calendar
II

Calendar No. 407

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1969

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to minimize the adverse effects of employment dislocation, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 24 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994

Mr. METZENBAUM (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. SIMON, Ms. MIKULSKI,

Mr. PELL, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. RIEGLE, and Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following bill; which was read the first time

APRIL 11, 1994

Read the second time and placed on the calendar

A BILL

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to minimize the adverse effects of employment

dislocation, 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 AND REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Amend6 ments Act’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Except as specifically provided

2 otherwise, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal

3 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of,

4 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid5 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the

6 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29

7 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.).

8 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

9 (a) EMPLOYER, PLANT CLOSING, AND MASS LAY10 OFF.—Paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 2(a) (29

11 U.S.C. 2101(a)(1)-(3)) are amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘employer’ means any business

13 enterprise that employs 50 or more employees;

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘plant closing’ means—

15 ‘‘(A) the permanent or temporary shut16 down of a single site of employment, or of one

17 or more facilities or operating units within a

18 single site of employment, which results in an

19 employment loss at such site, during any 30-

20 day period, for 25 or more employees; or

21 ‘‘(B) the permanent or temporary shut22 down of one or more sites of employment, or of

23 one or more facilities or operating units within

24 such sites, which results in an employment loss,
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1 during any 30-day period, for 100 or more

2 employees.

3 ‘‘(3) the term ‘mass layoff’ means—

4 ‘‘(A) a reduction in force at a single site

5 of employment which results in an employment

6 loss at such site, during any 30-day period, for

7 25 or more employees; or

8 ‘‘(B) a reduction in force which results in

9 an employment loss, during any 30-day period,

10 for 100 or more employees.’’.

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

12 (1) NOTICE.—Section 3(d) (29 U.S.C. 2102(d))

13 is amended by striking out ‘‘, each of which is less

14 than the minimum number of employees specified in

15 section 2(a) (2) or (3) but which in the aggregate

16 exceed that minimum number,’’ and inserting in lieu

17 thereof ‘‘which in the aggregate exceed the minimum

18 number of employees specified in section 2(a) (2) or

19 (3)’’.

20 (2) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2(b)(1) (29 U.S.C.

21 2101(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(other than a

22 part-time employee)’’.

23 (c) SECRETARY OF LABOR.—
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1 (1) DEFINITION.—Paragraph (8) of section

2 2(a) (29 U.S.C. 2101(a)(8)) is amended to read as

3 follows:

4 ‘‘(8) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary

5 of Labor or a representative of the Secretary of

6 Labor.’’.

7 (2) REGULATIONS.—Section 8(a) (29 U.S.C.

8 2107(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘of Labor’’.

9 SEC. 3. NOTICE.

10 (a) PERIOD.—Section 3 (29 U.S.C. 2102) is amend11 ed—

12 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘a 60-day pe13 riod after’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable notice pe14 riod required after’’;

15 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘60-day pe16 riod’’ each place such term appears and inserting

17 ‘‘notice period’’;

18 (3) by redesignating subsections (b) through (d)

19 as subsections (c) through (e), respectively; and

20 (4) by inserting after subsection (a), the follow21 ing new subsection:

22 ‘‘(b) NOTICE PERIOD.—As used in this section, the

23 term ‘notice period’ means—
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1 ‘‘(1) in the case of a plant closing or mass lay2 off which results in an employment loss for at least

3 25 but not more than 49 employees, 30 days;

4 ‘‘(2) in the case of a plant closing or mass lay5 off which results in an employment loss for at least

6 50 but not more than 99 employees, 60 days; and

7 ‘‘(3) in the case of a plant closing or mass lay8 off which results in an employment loss for at least

9 100 employees, 90 days.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5(a)(1) (29

11 U.S.C. 2104(a)(1)) is amended in the matter following

12 subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘60 days’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘the applicable notice period’’.

14 (c) RECIPIENT.—Section 3(a)(1) (29 U.S.C.

15 2102(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘or, if there is no such

16 representative at that time, to each affected employee’’

17 and inserting ‘‘and to each affected employee’’.

18 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

19 (a) AMOUNT.—Section 5(a)(1) (29 U.S.C.

20 2104(a)(1)) is amended—

21 (1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘and’’

22 at the end thereof;

23 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub24 paragraph (D); and
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1 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol2 lowing new subparagraphs:

3 ‘‘(B) interest on the amount described in sub4 paragraph (A) calculated at the prevailing rate;

5 ‘‘(C) an additional amount as liquidated dam6 ages equal to the sum of the amount described in

7 subparagraph (A) and the interest described in sub8 paragraph (B); and’’.

9 (b) EXEMPTION.—Section 5(a)(4) (29 U.S.C.

10 2104(a)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘reduce the amount

11 of the liability or penalty provided for in this section’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘reduce the amount of the liability under sub13 paragraph (C) of paragraph (1) and reduce the amount

14 of the penalty provided for in paragraph (3)’’.

15 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT.—Section 5(a)(5)

16 (29 U.S.C. 2104(a)(5)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘may sue,’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘may,’’;

19 (2) by inserting after ‘‘both,’’ the following:

20 ‘‘(A) file a complaint with the Secretary alleging a

21 violation of section 3, or (B) bring suit’’; and

22 (3) by adding at the end thereof the following

23 new sentence: ‘‘A person seeking to enforce such li24 ability may use one or both of the enforcement
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1 mechanisms described in subparagraphs (A) and

2 (B).’’.

3 (d) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.—Section 5 (29

4 U.S.C. 2104) is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub6 section (d); and

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow8 ing new subsections:

9 ‘‘(b) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.—

10 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.—The Secretary

11 shall receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve

12 complaints of violations of section 3 by an employer

13 in the same manner that the Secretary receives, in14 vestigates, and attempts to resolve complaints of vio15 lations of sections 6 and 7 of the Fair Labor Stand16 ards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206 and 207).

17 ‘‘(2) SUBPOENA POWERS.—For the purposes of

18 any investigation provided for in this section, the

19 Secretary shall have the subpoena authority provided

20 for under section 9 of the Fair Labor Standards Act

21 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 209).

22 ‘‘(3) CIVIL ACTION.—The Secretary may bring

23 an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to

24 recover on behalf of an employee the back pay, inter-
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1 est, benefits, and liquidated damages described in

2 subsection (a)(1).

3 ‘‘(4) SUMS RECOVERED.—Any sums recovered

4 by the Secretary on behalf of an employee under

5 subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D) of section 5(a)(1)

6 shall be held in a special deposit account and shall

7 be paid, on order of the Secretary, directly to each

8 employee affected. Any such sums not paid to an

9 employee because of inability to do so within a pe10 riod of 3 years, and any sums recovered by the Sec11 retary under subparagraph (C) of section 5(a)(1),

12 shall be credited as an offsetting collection to the ap13 propriations account of the Secretary of Labor for

14 expenses for the administration of this Act and shall

15 remain available to the Secretary until expended.

16 ‘‘(5) ACTION TO COMPEL RELIEF BY SEC17 RETARY.—The district courts of the United States

18 shall have jurisdiction, for cause shown, over an ac19 tion brought by the Secretary to restrain the with20 holding of payment of back pay, interest, benefits, or

21 other compensation, plus interest, found by the court

22 to be due to employees under this Act.

23 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS PERIOD.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An action may be brought

25 under this section not later than 2 years after the
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1 date of the last event constituting the alleged viola2 tion for which the action is brought.

3 ‘‘(2) COMMENCEMENT.—In determining when

4 an action is commenced under this section for the

5 purposes of paragraph (1), it shall be considered to

6 be commenced on the date on which the complaint

7 is filed.’’.

8 SEC. 5. POSTING OF NOTICES; PENALTIES.

9 The Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by add10 ing at the end thereof the following new section:

11 ‘‘SEC. 11. POSTING OF NOTICES; PENALTIES.

12 ‘‘(a) POSTING OF NOTICES.—Each employer shall

13 post and keep posted in conspicuous places upon its prem14 ises where notices to employees are customarily posted a

15 notice to be prepared or approved by the Secretary of

16 Labor setting forth excerpts from, or summaries of, the

17 pertinent provisions of this chapter and information perti18 nent to the filing of a complaint.

19 ‘‘(b) PENALTIES.—A willful violation of this section

20 shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $100 for

21 each separate offense.’’.

22 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

23 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act,

24 shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.