II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3578 

To require certain businesses to disclose the use of forced labor in their 

direct supply chain, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2022 

Mr. HAWLEY (for himself and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require certain businesses to disclose the use of forced 

labor in their direct supply chain, 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 ‘‘Slave-Free Business 

5 Certification Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRED REPORTING ON USE OF FORCED LABOR 

7 FROM COVERED BUSINESS ENTITIES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

9 (1) COVERED BUSINESS ENTITY.—The term 

10 ‘‘covered business entity’’ means any issuer, as that 


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1 term is defined in section 2(a) of the Securities Act 

2 of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77b(a)), that— 

3 (A) has annual, worldwide gross receipts 

4 that exceed $500,000,000; and 

5 (B) is involved in the mining, production, 

6 or manufacture of goods for sale. 

7 (2) FORCED LABOR.—The term ‘‘forced labor’’ 

8 means any labor practice or human trafficking activ9 ity in violation of national and international stand10 ards, including— 

11 (A) International Labor Organization Con12 vention No. 182; 

13 (B) the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 

14 of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.); and 

15 (C) any act that would violate the criminal 

16 provisions related to slavery and human traf17 ficking under chapter 77 of title 18, United 

18 States Code, if the act had been committed 

19 within the jurisdiction of the United States. 

20 (3) GROSS RECEIPTS.—The term ‘‘gross re21 ceipts’’ has the meaning given to the term in section 

22 993(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

23 (4) ON-SITE SERVICE.—The term ‘‘on-site serv24 ice’’ means any service work provided on the site of 


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1 a covered business entity, including food service 

2 work and catering services. 

3 (5) ON-SITE SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

4 ‘‘on-site service provider’’ means any entity that pro5 vides workers who perform, collectively, a total of 

6 not less than 30 hours per week of on-site services 

7 for a covered business entity. 

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

9 the Secretary of Labor. 

10 (7) SUPPLY CHAIN.—The term ‘‘supply chain’’ 

11 means the end-to-end process for producing and 

12 transporting goods beginning at the point of origin 

13 through a point of distribution to the destination, in14 clusive of suppliers, manufacturers, and vendors. 

15 (b) AUDIT AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, and every year 

18 thereafter, each covered business entity shall— 

19 (A) conduct an audit of its supply chain, 

20 pursuant to the requirements of section 3, to 

21 investigate the presence or use of forced labor 

22 by the covered business entity or its suppliers, 

23 including by direct suppliers, secondary sup24 pliers, and on-site service providers of the cov25 ered business entity; 


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1 (B) submit a report to the Secretary con2 taining the information described in paragraph 

3 (2) on the results of such audit and efforts of 

4 the covered business entity to eradicate forced 

5 labor from the supply chain and on-site services 

6 of the covered business entity; and 

7 (C)(i) publish the report described in sub8 paragraph (B) on the public website of the cov9 ered business entity, and provide a conspicuous 

10 and easily understood link on the homepage of 

11 the website that leads to the report; or 

12 (ii) in the case of a covered business entity 

13 that does not have a public website, provide the 

14 report in written form to any consumer of the 

15 covered business entity not later than 30 days 

16 after the consumer submits a request for the 

17 report. 

18 (2) REQUIRED REPORT CONTENTS.—Each re19 port required under paragraph (1)(B) shall contain, 

20 at a minimum— 

21 (A) a disclosure of the covered business en22 tity’s policies to prevent the use of forced labor 

23 by the covered business entity, its direct sup24 pliers, and its on-site service providers; 


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1 (B) a disclosure of what policies or proce2 dures, if any, the covered business entity uses— 

3 (i) for the verification of product sup4 ply chains and on-site service provider 

5 practices to evaluate and address risks of 

6 forced labor and whether the verification 

7 was conducted by a third party; 

8 (ii) to require direct suppliers and on9 site service providers to provide written 

10 certification that materials incorporated 

11 into the product supplied or on-site serv12 ices, respectively, comply with the laws re13 garding forced labor of each country in 

14 which the supplier or on-site service pro15 vider is engaged in business; 

16 (iii) to maintain internal account17 ability standards and procedures for em18 ployees or contractors of the covered busi19 ness entity failing to meet requirements re20 garding forced labor; and 

21 (iv) to provide training on recognizing 

22 and preventing forced labor, particularly 

23 with respect to mitigating risks within the 

24 supply chains of products and on-site serv25 ices of the covered business entity, to emVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Feb 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3578.IS S3578

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1 ployees, including management personnel, 

2 of the covered business entity who have di3 rect responsibility for supply chain man4 agement or on-site services; 

5 (C) a description of the findings of each 

6 audit required under paragraph (1)(A), includ7 ing the details of any instances of found or sus8 pected forced labor; and 

9 (D) a written certification, signed by the 

10 chief executive officer of the covered business 

11 entity, that— 

12 (i) the covered business entity has 

13 complied with the requirements of this Act 

14 and exercised due diligence in order to 

15 eradicate forced labor from the supply 

16 chain and on-site services of the covered 

17 business entity; 

18 (ii) to the best of the chief executive 

19 officer’s knowledge, the covered business 

20 entity has found no instances of the use of 

21 forced labor by the covered business entity 

22 or has disclosed every known instance of 

23 the use of forced labor; and 

24 (iii) the chief executive officer and any 

25 other officers submitting the report or cerVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Feb 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3578.IS S3578

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1 tification understand that section 1001 of 

2 title 18, United States Code (popularly 

3 known as the ‘‘False Statements Act’’), 

4 applies to the information contained in the 

5 report submitted to the Secretary. 

6 (c) REPORT OF VIOLATIONS TO CONGRESS.—Each 

7 year, the Secretary shall prepare and submit a report to 

8 Congress regarding the covered business entities that— 

9 (1) have failed to conduct audits required under 

10 this Act for the preceding year or have been adju11 dicated in violation of any other provision of this 

12 Act; or 

13 (2) have been found to have used forced labor, 

14 including the use of forced labor in their supply 

15 chain or by their on-site service providers. 

16 SEC. 3. AUDIT REQUIREMENTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each audit conducted under sec18 tion 2(b)(1)(A) shall meet the following requirements: 

19 (1) WORKER INTERVIEWS.—The auditor 

20 shall— 

21 (A) select a cross-section of workers to 

22 interview that represents the full diversity of 

23 the workplace, and includes, if applicable, men 

24 and women, migrant workers and local workers, 

25 workers on different shifts, workers performing 


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1 different tasks, and members of various produc2 tion teams; 

3 (B) if individuals under the age of 18 are 

4 employed at the facility of the direct supplier or 

5 on-site service provider, interview a representa6 tive group using age-sensitive interview tech7 niques; 

8 (C) conduct interviews— 

9 (i) off-site of the facility and during 

10 non-work hours for the worker; 

11 (ii) individually or in groups (except 

12 for purposes of subparagraph (B)); and 

13 (iii) using methods of communication 

14 that limit, to the greatest practicable ex15 tent, any reliance on devices or services 

16 provided to the worker by the covered busi17 ness entity, supplier, or on-site service pro18 vider; 

19 (D) use audit tools to ensure that each 

20 worker is asked a comprehensive set of ques21 tions; 

22 (E) collect from interviewed workers copies 

23 of the workers’ pay stubs, in order to compare 

24 the pay stubs with payment records provided by 

25 the direct supplier; 


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1 (F) ensure that all worker responses are 

2 confidential and are never shared with manage3 ment; and 

4 (G) interview a representative of the labor 

5 organization or other worker representative or6 ganization that represents workers at the facil7 ity or, if no such organization is present, at8 tempt to interview a representative from a local 

9 worker advocacy group. 

10 (2) MANAGEMENT INTERVIEWS.—The auditor 

11 shall— 

12 (A) interview a cross-section of the man13 agement of the supplier, including human re14 sources personnel, production supervisors, and 

15 others; and 

16 (B) use audit tools to ensure that man17 agers are asked a comprehensive set of ques18 tions. 

19 (3) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The auditor 

20 shall— 

21 (A) conduct a thorough review of informa22 tion regarding the supplier or on-site service 

23 provider to provide tangible proof of compliance 

24 and to corroborate or find discrepancies in the 


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1 information gathered through the worker and 

2 management interviews; and 

3 (B) review, at a minimum, the following 

4 information related to the supplier or on-site 

5 service provider: 

6 (i) Age verification procedures and 

7 documents. 

8 (ii) A master list of juvenile workers 

9 or information related to juvenile workers. 

10 (iii) Selection and recruitment proce11 dures. 

12 (iv) Contracts with labor brokers, if 

13 any. 

14 (v) Worker contracts and employment 

15 agreements. 

16 (vi) Introduction program materials. 

17 (vii) Personnel files. 

18 (viii) Employee communication and 

19 training plans, including certifications pro20 vided to workers including skills training, 

21 worker preparedness, government certifi22 cation programs, and systems or policy ori23 entations. 

24 (ix) Collective bargaining agreements, 

25 including collective bargaining representaVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Feb 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3578.IS S3578

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1 tive certification, descriptions of the role of 

2 the labor organization, and minutes of the 

3 labor organization’s meetings. 

4 (x) Contracts with any security agen5 cy, and descriptions of the scope of respon6 sibilities of the security agency. 

7 (xi) Payroll and time records. 

8 (xii) Production capacity reports. 

9 (xiii) Written human resources poli10 cies and procedures. 

11 (xiv) Occupational health and safety 

12 plans and records including legal permits, 

13 maintenance and monitoring records, in14 jury and accident reports, investigation 

15 procedures, chemical inventories, personal 

16 protective equipment inventories, training 

17 certificates, and evacuation plans. 

18 (xv) Disciplinary notices. 

19 (xvi) Grievance reports. 

20 (xvii) Performance evaluations. 

21 (xviii) Promotion or merit increase 

22 records. 

23 (xix) Dismissal and suspension 

24 records of workers. 


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1 (xx) Records of employees who have 

2 resigned. 

3 (xxi) Worker pay stubs. 

4 (4) CLOSING MEETING WITH MANAGEMENT.— 

5 The auditor shall hold a closing meeting with the 

6 management of the covered business entity to— 

7 (A) report violations and nonconformities 

8 found in the facility; and 

9 (B) determine the steps forward to address 

10 and remediate any problems. 

11 (5) REPORT PREPARATION.—The auditor shall 

12 prepare a full report of the audit, which shall in13 clude— 

14 (A) a disclosure of the direct supplier’s or 

15 on-site service provider’s— 

16 (i) documented processes and proce17 dures that relate to eradicating forced 

18 labor; and 

19 (ii) documented risk assessment and 

20 prioritization policies as such policies relate 

21 to eradicating forced labor; 

22 (B) a description of the worker interviews, 

23 manager interviews, and documentation review 

24 required under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3); 


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1 (C) a description of all violations or sus2 pected violations by the direct supplier or on3 site service provider of any forced labor laws of 

4 the United States or, if applicable, the laws of 

5 another country as described in section 

6 2(b)(2)(B)(ii); and 

7 (D) for each violation described in sub8 paragraph (C), a description of any corrective 

9 and protective actions recommended for the di10 rect supplier consisting of, at a minimum— 

11 (i) the issues relating to the violation 

12 and any root causes of the violation; 

13 (ii) the implementation of a solution; 

14 and 

15 (iii) a method to check the effective16 ness of the solution. 

17 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO AU18 DITS.— 

19 (1) NO RETALIATION FOR AUDIT COOPERA20 TION.—A covered business entity or supplier, includ21 ing a direct supplier, secondary supplier, or on-site 

22 service provider, shall not retaliate against any 

23 worker for participating in interviews under section 

24 3(a)(1) or providing information necessary for the 


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1 audit requirements under section 3(a)(3)(B) to the 

2 auditor. 

3 (2) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—Each covered 

4 business entity shall include, in any contract with a 

5 direct supplier or on-site service provider, a require6 ment that— 

7 (A) the supplier or provider shall not re8 taliate against any worker for participating in 

9 an audit relating to forced labor; and 

10 (B) worker participation in an audit shall 

11 be protected through the same grievance mech12 anisms available to the worker available for any 

13 other type of workplace grievance. 

14 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

15 (a) CIVIL DAMAGES.—The Secretary may assess civil 

16 damages in an amount of not more than $100,000,000 

17 if, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, the Sec18 retary determines that a covered business entity has vio19 lated any requirement of section 2(b). 

20 (b) PUNITIVE DAMAGES.—In addition to damages 

21 under subsection (a), the Secretary may assess punitive 

22 damages in an amount of not more than $500,000,000 

23 against an entity that is a covered business entity or sup24 plier, including a direct supplier, secondary supplier, or 


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1 on-site service provider, if, after notice and an opportunity 

2 for a hearing, the Secretary determines the entity— 

3 (1) willfully violated any requirement of section 

4 2(b); or 

5 (2) willfully violated section 3(b)(1). 

6 (c) DECLARATIVE OR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—The 

7 Secretary may request the Attorney General institute a 

8 civil action for relief, including a permanent or temporary 

9 injunction, restraining order, or any other appropriate 

10 order, in the district court of the United States for any 

11 district in which the covered business entity conducts busi12 ness, whenever the Secretary believes that a violation of 

13 section 2(b) constitutes a hazard to workers. 

14 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate rules to carry 

17 out this Act. 

Æ 


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