I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4855 

To establish the Work-Life Balance Award for employers that have developed 

and implemented work-life balance policies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2010 

Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California) introduced 

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

Labor 

A BILL 

To establish the Work-Life Balance Award for employers 

that have developed and implemented work-life balance 

policies. 

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 ‘‘Work-Life Balance 

5 Award Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’— 


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1 (A) means any person (as defined in sec2 tion 3(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

3 1938 (29 U.S.C. 202(a))) engaged in commerce 

4 or in any industry or activity affecting com5 merce; and 

6 (B) includes any agency of a State, or po7 litical subdivision thereof. 

8 The term does not include the Government of the 

9 United States or any agency thereof. 

10 (2) WORK-LIFE BALANCE POLICY.—The term 

11 ‘‘work-life balance policy’’ means a workplace prac12 tice designed to enable employees to achieve a satis13 factory work-life balance. 

14 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Labor. 

16 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AWARD. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De18 partment of Labor an annual award to be known as the 

19 Work-Life Balance Award (hereinafter referred to as the 

20 ‘‘Award’’) for employers that have developed and imple21 mented work-life balance policies. 

22 (b) PLAQUE.—The Award shall be evidenced by a 

23 plaque bearing the title ‘‘Work-Life Balance Award’’. 

24 (c) APPLICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employer desiring consid2 eration for an Award shall submit an application to 

3 the Work-Life Balance Advisory Board established 

4 under section 4, at such time, in such manner, and 

5 containing such information as such Board may re6 quire. 

7 (2) REAPPLICATION.—An employer may re8 apply for an Award, regardless of whether the em9 ployer has been a previous recipient of such Award. 

10 (d) DISPLAY ON WEB SITE.—The Secretary shall 

11 make publically available on its Web site the names of 

12 each recipient of the Award. 

13 (e) PRESENTATION OF AWARD.—After receiving rec14 ommendations from the Board established under section 

15 4, the Secretary (or the Secretary’s designee) shall present 

16 annually the Award to employers that meet the criteria 

17 developed under section 4(b)(1). 

18 SEC. 4. WORK-LIFE BALANCE ADVISORY BOARD. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

20 the Department of Labor a Work-Life Balance Advisory 

21 Board (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Board’’). 

22 (b) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

23 (1) subject to the approval by the Secretary, 

24 not later than 180 days after the initial meeting de25 scribed under subsection (f)(1)(B), develop criteria 


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1 to determine recipients of the Award. In developing 

2 such criteria, such Board shall— 

3 (A) identify those work-life balance poli4 cies, which if properly implemented, will permit 

5 employees to achieve a work-life balance; 

6 (B) take into consideration an employer’s 

7 record of compliance, or noncompliance, with 

8 Federal and State labor laws; and 

9 (C) seek input from all interested parties 

10 to assist in making a determination of the re11 cipients of the Award, including input from 

12 stakeholders; 

13 (2) develop a process for receiving and proc14 essing applications; 

15 (3) recommend recipients of the Award from 

16 among those applications submitted to the Board in 

17 accordance with section 3(c); 

18 (4) present to the Secretary the names of the 

19 employers that the Board recommends as recipients 

20 of the Award in accordance with the criteria devel21 oped under paragraph (1); and 

22 (5) set an annual timetable for fulfilling the du23 ties described under this subsection. 

24 (c) REVISIONS.—The Board, subject to the approval 

25 of the Secretary, may make revisions, as appropriate, to 


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1 the criteria developed under subsection (b)(1) from time 

2 to time. 

3 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 (1) NUMBERS AND APPOINTMENT.—Subject to 

5 paragraphs (2) through (5), the Board shall be com6 posed of 9 members appointed by the Secretary as 

7 follows: 

8 (A) 1 member, who shall serve as chair9 person of the Board, representing the public. 

10 (B) 1 member representing a State or local 

11 government. 

12 (C) 1 member representing a nonprofit em13 ployer. 

14 (D) 2 members representing private indus15 try or industry organizations. 

16 (E) 2 members representing labor organi17 zations. 

18 (F) 2 members representing families and 

19 children. 

20 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—In appointing any 

21 member of the Board under paragraph (1) who is 

22 not the chairperson of such Board, the Speaker and 

23 the minority leader of the House of Representatives, 

24 and the majority and minority leader of the Senate, 

25 each shall submit to the Secretary recommendations 


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1 with the names of proposed members of the Board, 

2 and from such submissions the Secretary shall ap3 point the members of the Board in accordance with 

4 such paragraph. 

5 (3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not ap6 point any Member of Congress to the Board. 

7 (4) POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—Not more than 4 

8 members of the Board appointed under paragraph 

9 (1) may be of the same political party. 

10 (5) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members of the Board 

11 shall be individuals with knowledge of and experi12 ence with work-life balance policies. 

13 (e) TERMS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

15 paragraphs (2) and (3), each member of the Board 

16 shall be appointed for 2 years and may be re17 appointed. 

18 (2) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—As des19 ignated by the Secretary at the time of appointment, 

20 of the members of the Board first appointed, 4 shall 

21 each be appointed for a 2-year term and the remain22 der shall each be appointed for a 3-year term. 

23 (3) VACANCIES.—Any member of the Board ap24 pointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expira25 tion of the term for which the member’s predecessor 


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1 was appointed shall be appointed only for the re2 mainder of that term. A member may serve after the 

3 expiration of that member’s term until a successor 

4 has taken office. 

5 (f) OPERATIONS.— 

6 (1) MEETINGS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except for the initial 

8 meeting of the Board under subparagraph (B), 

9 the Board shall meet at the call of the Chair10 person or a majority of its members. 

11 (B) INITIAL MEETING.—The Board shall 

12 conduct its first meeting not later than 90 days 

13 after the appointment of all of its members. 

14 (2) VOTING AND RULES.—A majority of mem15 bers of the Board shall constitute a quorum to con16 duct business. The Board may establish by majority 

17 vote any other rules for the conduct of the business 

18 of the Board, if such rules are not inconsistent with 

19 this section or other applicable law. 

20 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

21 The Secretary may prescribe regulations to carry out 

22 the purposes of this Act. 

Æ 


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