II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2101 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Portal-to-Portal 

Act of 1947 to prevent wage theft and assist in the recovery of stolen 

wages, to authorize the Secretary of Labor to administer grants to 

prevent wage and hour violations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

MURPHY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. SMITH, Ms. 

STABENOW, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the 

Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 to prevent wage theft and 

assist in the recovery of stolen wages, to authorize the 

Secretary of Labor to administer grants to prevent wage 

and hour violations, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wage Theft Prevention 

3 and Wage Recovery Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Wage theft occurs when an employer does 

7 not pay an employee for work that the employee has 

8 performed, depriving the worker of wages and earn9 ings to which the worker is legally entitled. This 

10 theft occurs in many forms, including by employers 

11 violating minimum wage requirements, failing to pay 

12 overtime compensation, requiring off-the-clock work, 

13 failing to provide final payments, misclassifying em14 ployees as being exempt from overtime compensation 

15 or as independent contractors rather than as em16 ployees, and improperly withholding tips. 

17 (2) Wage theft poses a serious and growing 

18 problem across industries for working individuals of 

19 the United States. Wage theft is widespread and is 

20 estimated to cost workers more than 

21 $15,000,000,000 per year. In certain industries, 

22 compliance with Federal wage and hour laws is less 

23 than 50 percent. 

24 (3) Wage theft is closely associated with em25 ployment discrimination, with women, immigrants, 

26 and minorities being disproportionately affected. 


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1 Women are significantly more likely to experience 

2 minimum wage violations than men, foreign-born 

3 workers are nearly 2 times as likely to experience 

4 minimum wage violations as their counterparts born 

5 in the United States, and African Americans are 3 

6 times more likely to experience minimum wage viola7 tions than their White counterparts. 

8 (4) Wage theft is closely associated with unsafe 

9 working conditions. 

10 (5) Wage theft— 

11 (A) depresses the wages of working fami12 lies who are already struggling to make ends 

13 meet; 

14 (B) strains social services funds; 

15 (C) diminishes consumer spending power 

16 and hurts local economies; 

17 (D) reduces vital State and Federal tax 

18 revenues; 

19 (E) places law-abiding employers at a com20 petitive disadvantage with noncompliant em21 ployers; 

22 (F) burdens commerce and the free flow of 

23 goods; and 

24 (G) lowers labor standards throughout 

25 labor markets. 


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1 (6) Low-wage workers are at the greatest risk 

2 of suffering from wage theft. A survey of 4,387 low3 wage workers in New York, Los Angeles, and Chi4 cago found that 68 percent of the workers surveyed 

5 had experienced some form of wage theft in the 

6 workweek immediately before the survey was con7 ducted. These workers experienced a range of wage 

8 and hour violations: 26 percent of such workers were 

9 not paid minimum wage; 76 percent of such workers 

10 who worked more than 40 hours in the workweek 

11 immediately before the survey was conducted were 

12 not paid at the overtime rate; and, in the year before 

13 the survey was conducted, 43 percent of the workers 

14 who attempted to address such issues by filing a 

15 complaint with their employer or who attempted to 

16 form a labor organization experienced retaliation by 

17 their employers, including by being fired, suspended, 

18 or receiving threats of reductions in their hours or 

19 pay. 

20 (7) In 2012, State and Federal authorities as 

21 well as private attorneys recovered at least 

22 $933,000,000 in wage theft enforcement actions, 

23 which was nearly 3 times the value of all bank rob24 beries, residential robberies, convenience store and 


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1 gas station robberies, and street robberies in the 

2 United States during that year. 

3 (8) A Department of Labor study of wage theft 

4 in California and New York found that wage theft 

5 deprived workers of 37 percent to 49 percent of 

6 their income, pushing at least 15,000 families below 

7 the poverty line and driving another 50,000 to 

8 100,000 families deeper into poverty. 

9 (9) A study analyzing wage theft claims in the 

10 State of Washington from 2009 to 2013 estimated 

11 that the total economic cost of wage theft to the 

12 State totaled more than $64,000,000 resulting from 

13 the lower economic activity and spending of low14 wage workers due to their lost wages. 

15 (10) A Department of Labor study of wage vio16 lations in California and New York found that wage 

17 theft deprived families of $5,600,000 in possible 

18 earned income tax credits and resulted in a 

19 $22,000,000 loss in State tax revenue, a 

20 $238,000,000 loss in payroll tax revenue, and a 

21 $113,000,000 loss in Federal income tax revenue. 

22 (11) Barriers to addressing wage theft continue 

23 to exist decades after the enactment of the Fair 

24 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et 

25 seq.). These barriers have resulted, in significant 


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1 part, because enforcement of such Act has not 

2 worked as Congress originally intended and because 

3 many of the provisions of such Act do not include 

4 sufficient penalties to discourage violations. Improve5 ments to enforcement and amendments to such Act 

6 are necessary to ensure that such Act provides effec7 tive protection to individuals subject to wage theft. 

8 (12) The lack of a Federal right for employees 

9 to receive full compensation at the agreed upon wage 

10 rate for all work performed by the employee has re11 sulted in workers being able to recover only the ap12 plicable minimum wage, or the overtime rate if ap13 plicable, when employers engage in wage theft. 

14 (13) The lack of a Federal requirement to pro15 vide employees with paystubs indicating how their 

16 pay is calculated or to allow employees to inspect 

17 their employers’ payroll records significantly impedes 

18 efforts to identify and challenge wage theft. 

19 (14) The lack of a Federal requirement to pay 

20 employees their final payments in a timely manner 

21 upon termination of the employment relationship be22 tween the employer and employee has led to unrea23 sonable, and sometimes indefinite, delays in com24 pensation after an employment relationship ends. 


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1 (15) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

2 1938, and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 

3 of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 

4 enactment of this Act, require employers to com5 pensate employees at the minimum wage rate and to 

6 provide overtime compensation when appropriate, 

7 the lack of civil penalties for violations of these re8 quirements has dampened their effectiveness. 

9 (16) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

10 1938 and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 

11 of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 

12 enactment of this Act, provide employees who are 

13 subject to wage theft with the right to unpaid min14 imum wages or unpaid overtime compensation plus 

15 an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, 

16 this low level of damages has proved insufficient to 

17 deter employers from stealing the wages of their em18 ployees. 

19 (17) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

20 1938 and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 

21 of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 

22 enactment of this Act, require employers to keep 

23 records of employees’ pay, the lack of remedies for 

24 this requirement diminishes the effectiveness of the 

25 requirement. 


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1 (18) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

2 1938 and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 

3 of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 

4 enactment of this Act, provide for limited criminal 

5 penalties when employers violate the provisions of 

6 such Act, the Secretary of Labor rarely resorts to 

7 these penalties, causing them to serve as a hollow 

8 threat. 

9 (19) The statute of limitations under section 6 

10 of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255), 

11 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

12 this Act, precludes employees from bringing claims 

13 for wage theft 2 years after the cause of action ac14 crued, or 3 years after the cause of action accrued 

15 if the claim is with respect to a willful violation by 

16 the employer. Additionally, the statute of limitations 

17 is not suspended while the Secretary of Labor inves18 tigates a complaint. These strict confines of the stat19 ute of limitations sometimes result in employees 

20 being deprived of their ability to institute a private 

21 lawsuit against their employer in order to recover 

22 their stolen wages. 

23 (20) Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards 

24 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)), as in effect on the 

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1 quires employees to affirmatively ‘‘opt-in’’ in order 

2 to be a party plaintiff in a collective action brought 

3 by another aggrieved employee seeking to recover 

4 stolen wages in court. This provision limits the abil5 ity of employees to unite and pursue private lawsuits 

6 against employers. 

7 (21) Under the penalty structure of the Fair 

8 Labor Standards Act of 1938, as in effect on the 

9 day before the date of enactment of this Act, many 

10 employers who are caught violating such Act con11 tinue to violate the Act. A Department of Labor in12 vestigation found that one-third of employers who 

13 had previously engaged in wage theft continued to 

14 do so. 

15 (22) The Government Accountability Office and 

16 the Department of Labor have recognized that when 

17 employers are assessed civil penalties, they are more 

18 likely to comply with the law in the future and other 

19 employers in the same region—regardless of indus20 try—are also more likely to comply with the law. 

21 (23) States that have enacted legislation to ad22 dress wage theft by increasing the damages to which 

23 employees are entitled following violations of wage 

24 and hour laws have positively impacted the workers 

25 in such States. However, many States have not enVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2101.IS S2101

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1 acted such legislation and, worse still, some States 

2 do not have any laws protecting workers from wage 

3 theft or even agencies to enforce workers’ rights to 

4 compensation for work. This discrepancy in State 

5 laws has resulted in a fragmentation of workers’ 

6 rights across the United States, with some workers 

7 having a measure of protection from wage theft and 

8 other workers being left extremely vulnerable to 

9 wage theft. 

10 (24) Effective enforcement of wage and hour 

11 laws is critical to increasing compliance. Given the 

12 limited resources available for enforcement, en13 hanced strategic enforcement of Federal wage and 

14 hour laws is crucial. 

15 (25) For enhanced strategic enforcement to be 

16 effective, government regulators must work with 

17 community stakeholders who have direct knowledge 

18 of ongoing violations of Federal wage and hour re19 quirements and who are in a position to prevent 

20 such violations. 

21 (26) Partnerships between regulators, workers, 

22 nonprofit organizations, and businesses can increase 

23 compliance by educating workers about their rights, 

24 collecting evidence, reporting violations, identifying 


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1 noncompliant employers, and modeling good prac2 tices. 

3 (27) Partnerships between regulators, workers, 

4 nonprofit organizations, and businesses have been 

5 successful in combating wage theft. In 2006, the Di6 vision of Labor Standards Enforcement of the State 

7 of California created a janitorial enforcement team 

8 to work closely with a local janitorial watchdog orga9 nization. As of 2015, the partnership had resulted in 

10 countless administrative, civil, and criminal actions 

11 against employers and in the collection of more than 

12 $68,000,000 in back pay for janitorial workers. 

13 (28) The Comptroller General of the United 

14 States has recommended that the Department of 

15 Labor identify ways to leverage its resources to bet16 ter combat wage theft by improving services pro17 vided through partnerships. 

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

19 The purposes of this Act are to prevent wage theft 

20 and facilitate the recovery of stolen wages by— 

21 (1) strengthening the penalties for engaging in 

22 wage theft; 

23 (2) giving workers the right to receive, in a 

24 timely manner, full compensation for the work they 


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1 perform, certain disclosures, regular paystubs, and 

2 final payments; 

3 (3) providing workers with improved tools to re4 cover their stolen wages in court; and 

5 (4) making assistance available to enhance en6 forcement of and compliance with Federal wage and 

7 hour laws through— 

8 (A) supporting initiatives that address and 

9 prevent violations of such laws and assist work10 ers in wage recovery; 

11 (B) supporting individual entities and de12 veloping community partnerships that expand 

13 and improve cooperative efforts between en14 forcement agencies and community-based orga15 nizations in the prevention of wage and hour 

16 violations and enforcement of wage and hour 

17 laws; 

18 (C) expanding outreach to workers in in19 dustries or geographic areas identified by the 

20 Secretary of Labor as highly noncompliant with 

21 Federal wage and hour laws; 

22 (D) improving detection of employers who 

23 are not complying with such laws and aiding in 

24 the identification of violations of such laws; and 


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1 (E) facilitating the collection of evidence to 

2 assist enforcement efforts. 

3 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

4 FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT 

5 OF 1938 

6 SEC. 101. REQUIREMENTS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DISCLO7 SURES, REGULAR PAYSTUBS, AND FINAL PAY8 MENTS. 

9 The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended 

10 by inserting after section 4 (29 U.S.C. 204) the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DISCLO12 SURES, REGULAR PAYSTUBS, AND FINAL PAY13 MENTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) INITIAL DISCLOSURES.—Not later than 15 

16 days after the date on which an employer hires an 

17 employee who in any workweek is engaged in com18 merce or in the production of goods for commerce, 

19 or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce 

20 or in the production of goods for commerce, the em21 ployer of such employee shall provide such employee 

22 with an initial disclosure containing the information 

23 described in paragraph (3). 

24 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATION DISCLOSURES.—Not later 

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1 formation described in paragraph (3) changes with 

2 respect to an employee described in paragraph (1), 

3 the employer of such employee shall provide the em4 ployee with a modification disclosure containing all 

5 the information described in paragraph (3). 

6 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION.—The information de7 scribed in this paragraph shall include— 

8 ‘‘(A) the rate of pay and whether the em9 ployee is paid by the hour, shift, day, week, or 

10 job, or by salary, piece rate, commission, or 

11 other form of compensation; 

12 ‘‘(B) an indication of whether the employee 

13 is being classified by the employer as an em14 ployee subject to the maximum hours and over15 time compensation requirements of section 7 or 

16 as an employee exempt from such requirements 

17 as provided under section 13; 

18 ‘‘(C) the name of the employer and any 

19 other name used by the employer to conduct 

20 business; and 

21 ‘‘(D) the physical address of and telephone 

22 number for the employer’s main office or prin23 ciple place of business, and a mailing address 

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1 ing address is different than the physical ad2 dress. 

3 ‘‘(b) PAYSTUBS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Every employer shall pro5 vide each employee of such employer who in any 

6 workweek is engaged in commerce or in the produc7 tion of goods for commerce, or is employed in an en8 terprise engaged in commerce or in the production 

9 of goods for commerce, a paystub that corresponds 

10 to work performed by the employee during the appli11 cable pay period and contains the information re12 quired under paragraph (3) in any form provided 

13 under paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(2) FORMS.—A paystub required under this 

15 subsection shall be a written statement and may be 

16 provided in any of the following forms: 

17 ‘‘(A) As a separate document accom18 panying any payment to an employee for work 

19 performed during the applicable pay period. 

20 ‘‘(B) In the case of an employee who re21 ceives paychecks from the employer, as a de22 tachable statement accompanying each pay23 check. 

24 ‘‘(C) As a digital document provided 

25 through electronic communication, subject to 


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1 the employee affirmatively consenting to receive 

2 the paystubs in this form. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each paystub shall contain 

4 all of the following information: 

5 ‘‘(A) The name of the employee. 

6 ‘‘(B) In the case of an employee who is 

7 paid an hourly wage, an employee who is em8 ployed at piece rates, or an employee who is 

9 paid a salary and is not exempt from the over10 time requirements of section 7, the total num11 ber of hours worked by the employee, including 

12 the number of hours worked per workweek, dur13 ing the applicable pay period. 

14 ‘‘(C) The total gross and net wages paid, 

15 and, in the case of an employee who is paid an 

16 hourly wage, an employee who is employed at 

17 piece rates, or an employee who is paid a salary 

18 and is not exempt from the overtime require19 ments of section 7, the rate of pay for each 

20 hour worked during the applicable pay period. 

21 ‘‘(D) In the case of an employee who is 

22 paid a salary in lieu of an hourly wage, the 

23 amount of salary paid during the applicable pay 

24 period. 


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1 ‘‘(E) In the case of an employee employed 

2 at piece rates, the number of piece rate units 

3 earned, the applicable piece rates, and the total 

4 amount paid to the employee for the applicable 

5 pay period in accordance with such piece rates. 

6 ‘‘(F) The rate of pay of the employee dur7 ing the applicable pay period and an expla8 nation of the basis for such rate. 

9 ‘‘(G) The number of overtime hours 

10 worked by the employee during the applicable 

11 pay period and the compensation required 

12 under section 7 that is provided to the employee 

13 for such hours. 

14 ‘‘(H) Any additional compensation pro15 vided to the employee during the applicable pay 

16 period, with an explanation of each type of com17 pensation, including any allowances or reim18 bursements such as amounts related to meals, 

19 clothing, lodging, or any other item, and any 

20 cost to the employee associated with such allow21 ance or reimbursements. 

22 ‘‘(I) Itemized deductions from the gross in23 come of the employee during the applicable pay 

24 period, and an explanation for each deduction. 


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1 ‘‘(J) The date that is the beginning of the 

2 applicable pay period and the date that is the 

3 end of such applicable pay period. 

4 ‘‘(K) The name of the employer and any 

5 other name used by the employer to conduct 

6 business. 

7 ‘‘(L) The name and phone number of a 

8 representative of the employer for contact pur9 poses. 

10 ‘‘(M) Any additional information that the 

11 Secretary reasonably requires to be included 

12 through notice and comment rulemaking. 

13 ‘‘(c) FINAL PAYMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

15 after an individual described in paragraph (4) termi16 nates employment with an employer (by action of 

17 the employer or the individual), or on the date on 

18 which such employer pays other employees for the 

19 pay period during which the individual so terminates 

20 such employment, whichever date is earlier, the em21 ployer shall provide the individual with a final pay22 ment, by compensating such individual for any un23 compensated hours worked or benefits incurred by 

24 the individual as an employee for the employer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING WAGES.—An employer who 

2 violates the requirement under paragraph (1) shall, 

3 for each day, not to exceed 30 days, of such violation 

4 provide the individual described in paragraph (4) 

5 with compensation at a rate that is equal to the reg6 ular rate of compensation to which such individual 

7 was entitled when such individual was an employee 

8 of such employer. 

9 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding para10 graphs (1) and (2), any individual described in para11 graph (4) who intentionally avoids receiving a final 

12 payment described in paragraph (1), or who refuses 

13 to receive the final payment when fully tendered, re14 sulting in the employer violating the requirement 

15 under such paragraph, shall not be entitled to the 

16 compensation provided under paragraph (2) for the 

17 time during which the individual so avoids final pay18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(4) INDIVIDUAL.—An individual described in 

20 this paragraph is an individual who was employed by 

21 the employer, and through such employment, in any 

22 workweek, was engaged in commerce or in the pro23 duction of goods for commerce, or was employed in 

24 an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the produc25 tion of goods for commerce.’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. RIGHT TO FULL COMPENSATION. 

2 Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

3 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(h) RIGHT TO FULL COMPENSATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employ7 ment contract or other employment agreement, in8 cluding a collective bargaining agreement, that speci9 fies that an employer shall compensate an employee 

10 (who is described in paragraph (2)) at a rate that 

11 is higher than the rate provided under subsection 

12 (a), the employer shall compensate such employee at 

13 the rate specified in such contract or other employ14 ment agreement. 

15 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYEE ENGAGED IN COMMERCE.—The 

16 requirement under paragraph (1) shall apply with 

17 respect to any employee who in any workweek is en18 gaged in commerce or in the production of goods for 

19 commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged 

20 in commerce or in the production of goods for com21 merce.’’. 

22 SEC. 103. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT. 

23 (a) DAMAGES.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 

24 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), as amended by section 102, 

25 is further amended— 


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1 (1) in section 4(f) (29 U.S.C. 204(f)), in the 

2 third sentence— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘minimum’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘and liquidated damages’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘damages, and interest’’; 

6 (2) in section 6(d)(3) (29 U.S.C. 206(d)(3)) by 

7 striking ‘‘minimum’’; 

8 (3) in section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216)— 

9 (A) in subsection (b)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘minimum’’ each place 

11 it appears; 

12 (ii) in the first sentence, by striking 

13 ‘‘and in an additional equal amount as liq14 uidated damages’’ and inserting ‘‘, an ad15 ditional amount as damages that is equal 

16 to (subject to the second sentence of this 

17 subsection) 2 times such amount of unpaid 

18 wages or unpaid overtime compensation, 

19 and the amount of any interest on such 

20 unpaid wages or unpaid overtime com21 pensation accrued at the prevailing rate’’; 

22 (iii) in the second sentence, by strik23 ing ‘‘wages lost and an additional equal 

24 amount as liquidated damages’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘wages lost, including any unpaid 


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1 wages or any unpaid overtime compensa2 tion, an additional amount as damages 

3 that is equal to 3 times the amount of 

4 such wages lost, and the amount of any in5 terest on such wages lost accrued at the 

6 prevailing rate’’; 

7 (iv) by striking the fourth sentence; 

8 and 

9 (v) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘Notwithstanding chapter 1 of title 9, 

11 United States Code (commonly known as 

12 the ‘Federal Arbitration Act’) or any other 

13 law, the right to bring an action, including 

14 a collective action, in court under this sec15 tion cannot be waived by an employee as a 

16 condition of employment or in a pre-dis17 pute arbitration agreement.’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (c)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘minimum’’ each place 

20 the term appears; 

21 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

22 ‘‘or liquidated’’; 

23 (iii) in the first sentence, by striking 

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1 ditional amount as damages that is equal 

2 to (subject to the third sentence of this 

3 subsection) 2 times such amount of unpaid 

4 wages or unpaid overtime compensation, 

5 and any interest on such unpaid wages or 

6 unpaid overtime compensation accrued at 

7 the prevailing rate’’; and 

8 (iv) in the second sentence, by strik9 ing ‘‘and an equal amount as liquidated 

10 damages.’’ and inserting ‘‘, an additional 

11 amount as damages that is equal to (sub12 ject to the third sentence of this sub13 section) 2 times such amount of unpaid 

14 wages or unpaid overtime compensation, 

15 and any interest on such unpaid wages or 

16 unpaid overtime compensation accrued at 

17 the prevailing rate. In the event that the 

18 employer violates section 15(a)(3), the Sec19 retary may bring an action in any court of 

20 competent jurisdiction to recover the 

21 amount of any wages lost, including any 

22 unpaid wages or any unpaid overtime com23 pensation, an additional amount as dam24 ages that is equal to 3 times the amount 

25 of such wages lost, and any interest on 


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1 such wages lost accrued at the prevailing 

2 rate.’’; and 

3 (4) in section 17 (29 U.S.C. 217), by striking 

4 ‘‘minimum’’. 

5 (b) CIVIL FINES.—Section 16(e) of the Fair Labor 

6 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), any person 

10 who violates section 6 or 7, relating to wages, shall be 

11 subject to a civil fine that is not to exceed $2,000 per 

12 each employee affected for each initial violation of such 

13 section. 

14 ‘‘(B) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates 

15 section 6 or 7, relating to wages, shall be subject to a 

16 civil fine that is not to exceed $10,000 per each employee 

17 affected for each such violation.’’; and 

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

19 ‘‘(6) Any person who violates subsection (a) or (b) 

20 of section 5 shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) for the first violation of such subsection, 

22 be subject to a civil fine that is not to exceed $50 

23 per each employee affected; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) for each subsequent violation of such sub2 section, be subject to a civil fine that is not to ex3 ceed $100 per each employee affected. 

4 ‘‘(7) Any person who violates section 11(c) shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) for the first violation, be subject to a civil 

6 fine that is not to exceed $1,000 per each employee 

7 affected; and 

8 ‘‘(B) for each subsequent violation, be subject 

9 to a civil fine that is not to exceed $5,000 per each 

10 employee affected.’’. 

11 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 16(a) of the Fair 

12 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘Any person’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 

15 Any person’’; 

16 (2) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘$10,000 per each employee affected’’; 

18 (3) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘No per19 son’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (2), no 

20 person’’; and 

21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

23 Act, the Secretary shall refer any case involving a covered 

24 offender described in subparagraph (B) to the Department 

25 of Justice for prosecution. 


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1 ‘‘(B) A covered offender described in this subpara2 graph is an offender who willfully violates each of the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(i) Section 11(c) by falsifying any records de5 scribed in such section. 

6 ‘‘(ii) Section 6 or 7, relating to wages. 

7 ‘‘(iii) Section 15(a)(3).’’. 

8 SEC. 104. RECORDKEEPING. 

9 Section 11(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

10 1938 (29 U.S.C. 211(c)) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: ‘‘In the event that an employee requests an 

12 inspection of the records described in this subsection that 

13 pertain to such employee, the employer shall provide the 

14 employee with a copy of the records for a period of up 

15 to 5 years prior to such request being made. Not later 

16 than 21 days after an employee requests such an inspec17 tion, the employer shall comply with the request. In the 

18 event that an employer violates this subsection, resulting 

19 in a lack of a complete record of an employee’s hours 

20 worked or wages owed, notwithstanding whether the em21 ployer or employee is responsible for maintaining the em22 ployer’s official records, any evidence of the hours worked 

23 or wages owed set forth by the employee, including evi24 dence of a documentary, testimonial, representative, or 

25 statistical nature, that is sufficient to establish to a finder 


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1 of fact a just and reasonable inference that the employee 

2 was not fully compensated at the rate required by this Act, 

3 including under section 6(h) as applicable, for all of the 

4 work that the employee performed for the employer shall 

5 establish a rebuttable presumption that the employer vio6 lated section 6 or 7 by failing to fully compensate the em7 ployee at the required rate for all work performed by the 

8 employee for the employer and a rebuttable presumption 

9 that the evidence set forth by the employee regarding the 

10 specific number of hours worked by the employee for the 

11 employer for which the employee was not compensated and 

12 the wage rate for each of those hours is accurate. The 

13 employer may only overcome the rebuttable presumptions 

14 described in this subsection by providing clear and con15 vincing evidence that the employee’s evidence is inac16 curate.’’. 

17 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

18 PORTAL-TO-PORTAL ACT OF 1947 

19 SEC. 201. INCREASING AND TOLLING STATUTE OF LIMITA20 TIONS. 

21 Section 6 of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 

22 U.S.C. 255) is amended— 

23 (1) in the matter preceding subsection (a)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘minimum’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘liquidated damages’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘other damages’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (a)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘may be commenced within 

5 two years’’ and inserting ‘‘may be commenced 

6 within 4 years’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘unless commenced within 

8 two years’’ and inserting ‘‘unless commenced 

9 within 4 years’’; and 

10 (C) by striking ‘‘may be commenced within 

11 three years’’ and inserting ‘‘may be commenced 

12 within 5 years’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (d), by striking the period and 

14 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(e) with respect to the running of any statutory pe17 riod of limitation described in this section, the running 

18 of such statutory period shall be deemed suspended during 

19 the period beginning on the date on which the Secretary 

20 of Labor notifies an employer of an initiation of an inves21 tigation or enforcement action and ending on the date on 

22 which the Secretary notifies the employer that the matter 

23 has been officially resolved by the Secretary.’’. 


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1 TITLE III—WAGE THEFT PRE2 VENTION AND WAGE RECOV3 ERY GRANT PROGRAM 

4 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term the ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Wage and 

8 Hour Division of the Department of Labor. 

9 (2) COMMUNITY PARTNER.—The term ‘‘com10 munity partner’’ means any stakeholder with a com11 mitment to enforcing wage and hour laws and pre12 venting abuses of such laws, including any— 

13 (A) State department of labor; 

14 (B) attorney general of a State, or other 

15 similar authorized official of a political subdivi16 sion thereof; 

17 (C) law enforcement agency; 

18 (D) consulate; 

19 (E) employee or advocate of employees, in20 cluding a labor organization, community and 

21 faith-based organization, business association, 

22 or nonprofit legal aid organization; 

23 (F) academic institution that plans, coordi24 nates, and implements programs and activities 


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1 to prevent wage and hour violations and recover 

2 unpaid wages, damages, and penalties; or 

3 (G) any municipal agency responsible for 

4 the enforcement of local wage and hour laws. 

5 (3) COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP.—The term 

6 ‘‘community partnership’’ means a partnership be7 tween— 

8 (A) a working group consisting of commu9 nity partners; and 

10 (B) the Department of Labor. 

11 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti12 ty’’ means an entity that is any of the following: 

13 (A) A nonprofit organization, including a 

14 community-based organization, faith-based or15 ganization, or labor organization, that provides 

16 services and support to employees, including as17 sisting such employees in recovering unpaid 

18 wages. 

19 (B) An employer. 

20 (C) A business association. 

21 (D) An institution of higher education, as 

22 defined by section 101 of the Higher Education 

23 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 


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1 (E) A partnership between any of the enti2 ties described in subparagraphs (A) through 

3 (D). 

4 (5) EMPLOY; EMPLOYEE; EMPLOYER.—The 

5 terms ‘‘employ’’, ‘‘employee’’, and ‘‘employer’’ have 

6 the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the 

7 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 

8 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Labor. 

10 (7) STRATEGIC ENFORCEMENT.—The term 

11 ‘‘strategic enforcement’’ means the process by which 

12 the Secretary— 

13 (A) targets highly noncompliant industries, 

14 as identified by the Secretary, using industry15 specific structures to influence, and ultimately 

16 reform, networks of interconnected employers; 

17 (B) analyzes regulatory regimes under 

18 which specific industries operate; and 

19 (C) modifies the enforcement approach of 

20 such regulatory regimes in order to ensure the 

21 greatest impact. 

22 (8) WAGE AND HOUR LAW.—The term ‘‘wage 

23 and hour law’’ means any Federal law enforced by 

24 the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of 


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1 Labor, including any provision of this Act enforced 

2 by such division. 

3 (9) WAGE AND HOUR VIOLATION.—The term 

4 ‘‘wage and hour violation’’ refers to any violation of 

5 a Federal law enforced by the Wage and Hour Divi6 sion of the Department of Labor, including any pro7 vision of this Act enforced by such division. 

8 SEC. 302. WAGE THEFT PREVENTION AND WAGE RECOVERY 

9 GRANT PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

11 Administrator, shall provide grants to eligible entities to 

12 assist such entities in enhancing the enforcement of wage 

13 and hour laws, in accordance with this section and con14 sistent with the purposes of this Act. 

15 (b) GRANTS.—A grant provided under this section 

16 shall be designed to— 

17 (1) support an eligible entity in establishing 

18 and supporting the activities described in subsection 

19 (c)(1); and 

20 (2) develop community partnerships to expand 

21 and improve cooperative efforts between enforcement 

22 agencies and members of the community to— 

23 (A) prevent and reduce wage and hour vio24 lations; and 


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1 (B) assist employees in recovering back 

2 pay for any such violations. 

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 (1) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The grants de5 scribed in this section shall assist eligible entities in 

6 establishing and supporting activities that include— 

7 (A) disseminating information and con8 ducting outreach and training to educate em9 ployees about their rights under wage and hour 

10 laws; 

11 (B) conducting educational training for 

12 employers about their obligations under wage 

13 and hour laws; 

14 (C) conducting orientations and trainings 

15 jointly with officials of the Wage and Hour Di16 vision of the Department of Labor; 

17 (D) providing assistance to employees in 

18 filing claims of wage and hour violations; 

19 (E) assisting enforcement agencies in con20 ducting investigations, including in the collec21 tion of evidence and recovering back pay; 

22 (F) monitoring compliance with wage and 

23 hour laws; 

24 (G) performing joint visitations to work25 sites that violate wage and hour laws with offiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2101.IS S2101

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1 cials from the Wage and Hour Division of the 

2 Department of Labor; 

3 (H) establishing networks for education, 

4 communication, and participation in the work5 place and community; 

6 (I) evaluating the effectiveness of pro7 grams designed to prevent wage and hour viola8 tions and enforce wage and hour laws; 

9 (J) recruiting and hiring of staff and vol10 unteers; 

11 (K) production and dissemination of out12 reach and training materials; and 

13 (L) any other activities as the Secretary 

14 may reasonably prescribe through notice and 

15 comment rulemaking. 

16 (2) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.—Notwithstanding 

17 paragraph (1), an eligible entity receiving a grant 

18 under this section may not use the grant funds for 

19 any purpose reasonably prohibited by the Secretary 

20 through notice and comment rulemaking. 

21 (d) TERM OF GRANTS.—Each grant made under this 

22 section shall be available for expenditure for a period that 

23 is not to exceed 3 years. 

24 (e) APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 

2 grant under this section shall submit an application 

3 for such grant to the Secretary in accordance with 

4 this subsection. 

5 (2) PARTNERSHIPS.—In the case of an eligible 

6 entity that is a partnership described in section 

7 301(4)(E), the eligible entity may submit a joint ap8 plication that designates a single entity as the lead 

9 entity for purposes of receiving and disbursing 

10 funds. 

11 (3) CONTENTS.—An application under this sub12 section shall include— 

13 (A) a description of a plan for the program 

14 that the eligible entity proposes to carry out 

15 with a grant under this section, including a 

16 long-term strategy and detailed implementation 

17 plan that reflects expected participation of, and 

18 partnership with, community partners; 

19 (B) information on the prevalence of wage 

20 and hour violations in each community or State 

21 of the eligible entity; 

22 (C) information on any industry or geo23 graphic area targeted by the plan for such pro24 gram; 


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1 (D) information on the type of outreach 

2 and relationship building that will be conducted 

3 under such program; 

4 (E) information on the training and edu5 cation that will be provided to employees and 

6 employers under such program; and 

7 (F) the method by which the eligible entity 

8 will measure results of such program. 

9 (f) SELECTION.— 

10 (1) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—In accordance with 

11 this subsection, the Secretary shall, on a competitive 

12 basis, select grant recipients from among eligible en13 tities that have submitted an application under sub14 section (e). 

15 (2) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients 

16 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pri17 ority to eligible entities that— 

18 (A) serve employees in any industry or ge19 ographic area that is most highly at risk for 

20 noncompliance with wage and hour violations, 

21 as identified by the Secretary; and 

22 (B) demonstrate past and ongoing work to 

23 prevent wage and hour violations or to recover 

24 unpaid wages. 


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1 (3) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting 

2 grant recipients under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

3 shall also consider— 

4 (A) the prevalence of ongoing community 

5 support for each eligible entity, including finan6 cial and other contributions; and 

7 (B) the eligible entity’s past and ongoing 

8 partnerships with other organizations. 

9 (g) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

11 receiving a grant under this section, the grant recipi12 ent shall negotiate and finalize with the Secretary a 

13 memorandum of understanding that sets forth spe14 cific goals, objectives, strategies, and activities that 

15 will be carried out under the grant by such recipient 

16 through a community partnership. 

17 (2) SIGNATURES.—A representative of the 

18 grant recipient (or, in the case of a grant recipient 

19 that is an eligible entity described in section 

20 301(4)(E), a representative of each entity that 

21 composes the grant recipient) and the Secretary 

22 shall sign the memorandum of understanding under 

23 this subsection. 

24 (3) REVISIONS.—The memorandum of under25 standing under this subsection shall be reviewed and 


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1 revised by the grant recipient and the Secretary each 

2 year of the duration of the grant. 

3 (h) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each grant recipient under 

5 this section shall develop procedures for reporting, 

6 monitoring, measuring, and evaluating the activities 

7 of each program or project funded under this sec8 tion. 

9 (2) GUIDELINES.—The procedures required 

10 under paragraph (1) shall be in accordance with 

11 guidelines established by the Secretary. 

12 (i) REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING.—If 

13 the Secretary determines that a recipient of a grant under 

14 this section is not in compliance with the terms and re15 quirements of the memorandum of understanding under 

16 subsection (g), the Secretary may revoke or suspend (in 

17 whole or in part) the funding of the grant. 

18 (j) USE OF COMPONENTS.—In addition to the Wage 

19 and Hour Division, the Secretary (acting through the Ad20 ministrator) may use any division or agency of the Depart21 ment of Labor in carrying out this title. 

22 SEC. 303. GAO STUDY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

24 United States shall conduct a study to identify successful 

25 programs carried out by grants under section 302, and 


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1 the elements, policies, or procedures of such programs that 

2 can be replicated by other programs carried out by grants 

3 under such section. 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

6 United States shall submit a report to the Secretary and 

7 Congress containing the results of the study conducted 

8 under subsection (a). 

9 (c) USE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall use 

10 information contained in the report submitted under sub11 section (b)— 

12 (1) to improve the quality of community part13 nership programs assisted or carried out under this 

14 title that are in existence as of the publication of the 

15 report; and 

16 (2) to develop models for new community part17 nership programs to be assisted or carried out under 

18 this title. 

19 SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 

21 for fiscal year 2020 and for each subsequent fiscal year 

22 through fiscal year 2023, to remain available until ex23 pended, to carry out the grant program under section 302. 


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1 TITLE IV—REGULATIONS AND 

2 EFFECTIVE DATE 

3 SEC. 401. REGULATIONS. 

4 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate such 

6 regulations as are necessary to carry out this Act, and 

7 the amendments made by this Act. 

8 SEC. 402. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 The amendments made by titles I and II shall take 

10 effect on the date that is the earlier of— 

11 (1) the date that is 6 months after the date on 

12 which the final regulations are promulgated by the 

13 Secretary of Labor under section 401; and 

14 (2) the date that is 18 months after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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