I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6268 

To establish a wage theft prevention grant program in the Department 

of Labor to prevent wage and hour violations and expand and improve 

cooperative efforts between enforcement agencies and members of the 

community. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. HARE (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and Ms. BERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish a wage theft prevention grant program in the 

Department of Labor to prevent wage and hour violations and expand and improve cooperative efforts between enforcement agencies and members of the community. 

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 ‘‘Wage Theft Prevention 

5 and Community Partnership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (1) Wage and hour violations are a serious and 

2 growing problem for working Americans. 

3 (2) According to a study by the Ford, Joyce, 

4 Hayne, and Russell Sage Foundations, low-wage 

5 workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay 

6 and are paid less then the minimum wage, often re7 sulting up to a 15-percent loss in pay. 

8 (3) Widespread wage and hour violations place 

9 ethical businesses at a competitive disadvantage. 

10 (4) Wage and hour violations hurt local econo11 mies. State and local governments lose vital tax rev12 enues and spending power when employers do not 

13 pay legally required wages and workers receive less 

14 than full pay. 

15 (5) Women are far more likely to suffer min16 imum wage violations than men, while minority 

17 women suffer such violations at a rate nearly triple 

18 the rate that white women suffer such violations. 

19 (6) Social service networks are further strained 

20 and poverty increases when low-wage workers receive 

21 lower wages than what is required by law. 

22 (7) The Department of Labor and State depart23 ments of labor could more adequately address wage 

24 and hour violations with a significant partnership 

25 with stakeholders in the community. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (8) The Government Accountability Office rec2 ommended that the Department of Labor identify 

3 ways to leverage its existing tools to better address 

4 wage and hour violations by improving services pro5 vided through partnerships. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

8 (1) The term ‘‘eligible partner’’ means any of 

9 the following: 

10 (A) A not-for-profit community organiza11 tion that, in whole or in part, is dedicated to 

12 combating poverty and preventing abuse of 

13 wage and hour laws. 

14 (B) A labor organization as defined in sec15 tion 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act 

16 (29 U.S.C. 152(5)). 

17 (C) A Joint Labor Management Coopera18 tive Committee established pursuant to section 

19 205A of the Labor Management Relations Act, 

20 1947 (29 U.S.C. 175a). 

21 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

22 of Labor. 

23 (3) The term ‘‘wage and hour violations’’ refers 

24 to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act or the 

25 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker ProtecVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:16 Oct 08, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6268.IH H6268

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6268 IH

1 tion Act, or any regulations issued under either such 

2 Act, or violations of any other law enforced by the 

3 Wage and Hour Division of the Department of 

4 Labor, as the Secretary may determine. 

5 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION TO CREATE A WAGE THEFT PRE6 VENTION FUND. 

7 The Secretary shall establish a Wage Theft Preven8 tion Fund, which shall provide funding for the Wage Theft 

9 Prevention and Community Partnership Grants described 

10 in section 5. The Secretary may promulgate regulations 

11 as necessary to carry out this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. WAGE THEFT GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WAGE THEFT PREVENTION

14 AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP GRANTS.—The Secretary 

15 is authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to 

16 eligible partners to— 

17 (1) prevent wage and hour violations by inform18 ing workers of their rights and the remedies avail19 able to them; and 

20 (2) expand and improve cooperative efforts be21 tween agencies charged with enforcing wage and 

22 hour requirements and employers and their employ23 ees. 

24 (b) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible partner seeking a 

25 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6268 IH

1 Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec2 retary may require. An application shall include, at a min3 imum, the following: 

4 (1) A description of the plan for preventing 

5 wage and hour violations. 

6 (2) A description of the plan for outreach, in7 cluding a plan for assisting the Department of 

8 Labor in communicating with workers. 

9 (3) A description of the eligible partner’s prior 

10 experience in raising awareness about and enforcing 

11 wage and hour laws and ensuring that worker rights 

12 are respected. 

13 (4) Evidence of the community need for this 

14 type of work, including prevalence of wage and hour 

15 violations in the eligible partner’s community or 

16 State. 

17 (5) A description of any larger working group 

18 of organizations, including Federal, State, or local 

19 government agencies, and faith-based, labor, commu20 nity, and business organizations— 

21 (A) of which the eligible partner is a mem22 ber; or 

23 (B) which the eligible partner is proposing 

24 to work with in carrying out activities funded 

25 by such grant. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (c) DURATION AND RENEWAL OF GRANTS.— 

2 (1) INITIAL GRANT PERIOD.—A Wage Theft 

3 Prevention and Community Partnerships Grant shall 

4 be awarded for an initial grant period of 1 to 3 

5 years. 

6 (2) RENEWALS.—Such grant may be renewed 

7 for 2 additional grant periods of the same duration 

8 as the initial grant period, if— 

9 (A) the Secretary determines that the 

10 funds made available to the recipient were used 

11 in a manner required under an approved appli12 cation; and 

13 (B) the recipient can demonstrate signifi14 cant progress in achieving the objectives of the 

15 initial application. 

16 (3) ADDITIONAL GRANT.—A grant recipient 

17 may apply for an additional grant under this section 

18 once the recipient’s grant renewals with respect to 

19 the initial grant have been exhausted. 

20 (d) INELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.—No grant may be 

21 awarded under this section to— 

22 (1) an entity that the Secretary determines in23 fringes upon upon the rights guaranteed by section 

24 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

25 157); or 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (2) an entity prohibited by section 427 of Pub2 lic Law 111–88 from receiving funds appropriated 

3 by that Act. 

4 (e) PERFORMANCE EVALUATION.—Each program, 

5 project, or activity funded under this section shall be sub6 ject to monitoring by the Secretary which shall include 

7 systematic identification and collection of data about ac8 tivities, accomplishments, programs, and expenditures 

9 throughout the life of the program, project, or activity. 

10 (f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For each year in which 

11 funding is provided under this section, the Secretary shall 

12 submit an annual report to the Congress on the activities 

13 carried out by grantees under this section including, at 

14 a minimum, information on the following: 

15 (1) The activities undertaken by each grantee 

16 and any other entity that partnered with the grantee 

17 to prevent wage and hour violations by informing 

18 workers of their rights and the remedies available to 

19 them. 

20 (2) The number of workers assisted by each 

21 grantee disaggregated by State, age, income, gender, 

22 and race. 

23 (3) A summary of progress by each grantee in 

24 implementing wage theft prevention outreach plans 

25 approved by the Secretary. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (g) REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING.—If 

2 the Secretary determines, as a result of the reviews re3 quired by subsections (e) and (f), or otherwise, that a 

4 grant recipient under this section is not in substantial 

5 compliance with the terms and requirements of an ap6 proved grant application submitted under subsection (b), 

7 the Secretary may revoke or suspend funding of that 

8 grant, in whole or in part. 

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec11 retary to carry out this Act, including administrative costs 

12 associated with carrying out this Act, such sums as may 

13 be necessary for fiscal years 2010 through 2014, to re14 main available until expended. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS