I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3657

To provide pay equity and labor protection for contingent workers and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 13, 1996

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, and in addition to

the Committees on Ways and Means, Government Reform and Oversight,

and House Oversight, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide pay equity and labor protection for contingent

workers 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 ‘‘Contingent Work

5 Force Equity Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. EQUAL PAY.

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 ‘‘(g)(1) No employer having employees subject to any

6 provision of this section shall discriminate, within any es7 tablishment in which such employees are employed, be8 tween employees on the basis of employment status by

9 paying wages to part-time or temporary employees in such

10 establishment at a rate less than the rate at which the

11 employer pays wages to full-time employees in such estab12 lishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which

13 requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and which

14 are performed under similar working conditions unless

15 such payment is made pursuant to—

16 ‘‘(A) a seniority system;

17 ‘‘(B) a merit system;

18 ‘‘(C) a system that measures earnings by quan19 tity or quality of production; or

20 ‘‘(D) a differential based on any other factor

21 other than employment status.

22 An employer who is paying a wage rate differential in vio23 lation of this paragraph shall not, in order to comply with

24 the requirements of this paragraph, reduce the wage rate

25 of any employee.
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1 ‘‘(2) No labor organization, or its agents, represent2 ing employees of an employer having employees subject to

3 any provision of this section shall cause or attempt to

4 cause such an employer to discriminate against an em5 ployee in violation of paragraph (1).

6 ‘‘(3) For purposes of administration and enforcement

7 of paragraph (1), any amount owing to any employee that

8 has been withheld in violation of paragraph (1) shall be

9 deemed to be unpaid minimum wages under subsection (a)

10 or unpaid overtime compensation under section 7.

11 ‘‘(4) As used in paragraph (2), the term ‘labor orga12 nization’ means any organization of any kind, or any agen13 cy or employee representation committee or plan, in which

14 employees participate and which exists for the purpose,

15 in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning

16 grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of

17 employment, or conditions of work.’’.

18 SEC. 3. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.

19 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupa20 tional Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C.

21 654(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(1) shall furnish employment and a place of

23 employment that are free from recognized hazards

24 that are causing or are likely to cause death or seri25 ous physical harm to the employees of the employer
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1 or to individuals who are employed by another em2 ployer and are performing services at such place of

3 employment;’’.

4 (b) STUDY.—The Secretary of Labor shall conduct

5 a study to determine if the health and safety of part-time

6 or temporary employees are being adequately monitored

7 and, if the monitoring is not adequate, to determine how

8 such monitoring can be made adequate.

9 SEC. 4. FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE.

10 (a) FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT.—Section

11 101(2)(A) of the Family and Medical Leave Act (29

12 U.S.C. 2611(2)(A)) is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘at least 12 months’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘at least 3 months’’; and

15 (2) by striking ‘‘at least 1,250 hours of service

16 with such employer during the previous 12-month

17 period’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 125 hours of service

18 with such employer during the previous 3-month pe19 riod’’.

20 (b) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Section 6381(1)(B) of

21 title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘12

22 months’’ and inserting ‘‘3 months’’.

23 (c) CONGRESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.—Section

24 202(a)(2)(B) of the Congressional Accountability Act of

25 1995 is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘for 12 months’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘for 3 months’’; and

3 (2) by striking ‘‘at least 1,250 hours of

4 employement during the previous 12 months’’ and

5 inserting ‘‘at least 125 hours of employment during

6 the previous 3-month period’’.

7 SEC. 5. CONTINGENT WORKFORCE SURVEY.

8 The Secretary of Labor, acting through the Commis9 sioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shall establish

10 and carry out an annual survey identifying—

11 (1) the characteristics of temporary workers in

12 the United States;

13 (2) the relationship between such workers and

14 the establishments at which such workers are tempo15 rarily employed; and

16 (3) where appropriate, the relationship between

17 such workers and their permanent employers.

18 SEC. 6. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS.

19 Section 9(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (29

20 U.S.C. 195(b)) is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘; or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘2’’;

22 (2) by striking ‘‘or (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘; (3)’’;

23 and

24 (3) by inserting before the period the following:

25 ‘‘; or (4) decide that an employee shall be excluded
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1 from a unit otherwise appropriate for the purposes

2 of collective bargaining based on the employee’s

3 part-time or temporary status, if such employee (A)

4 has a reasonable expectation of continued employ5 ment; and (B) is employed by the employer on the

6 date on which eligibility for participation in a rep7 resentation election is determined and on the date of

8 the election.’’.

9 SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF PART-TIME AND TEMPORARY

10 WORKERS.

11 (a) TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES WORKING AT LESS

12 THAN FULL-TIME UNDER PARTICIPATION, VESTING, AND

13 ACCRUAL RULES GOVERNING PENSION PLANS.—

14 (1) PARTICIPATION RULES.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(a)(3) of

16 the Employee Retirement Income Security Act

17 of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1052(a)(3)) is amended by

18 adding at the end the following new subpara19 graph:

20 ‘‘(E)(i) For purposes of this paragraph, in the case

21 of any employee who, as of the beginning of the 12-month

22 period referred to in subparagraph (A)—

23 ‘‘(I) has customarily completed 500 or more

24 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

25 of service per year, or
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1 ‘‘(II) is employed in a type of position in which

2 employment customarily constitutes 500 or more

3 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

4 of service per year,

5 completion of 500 hours of service within such 12-month

6 period shall be treated as completion of 1,000 hours of

7 service.

8 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the extent

9 to which employment in any type of position customarily

10 constitutes less than 1,000 hours of service per year shall

11 be determined with respect to each pension plan in accord12 ance with such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe

13 providing for consideration of facts and circumstances pe14 culiar to the work-force constituting the participants in

15 such plan.’’.

16 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section

17 204(b)(1)(E) of such Act (29 U.S.C.

18 1054(b)(1)(E)) is amended by striking ‘‘section

19 202(a)(3)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs

20 (A) and (E) of section 202(a)(3)’’.

21 (2) VESTING RULES.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(b)(2) of

23 such Act (29 U.S.C. 1053(b)(2)) is amended by

24 adding at the end the following new subpara25 graph:
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1 ‘‘(E)(i) For purposes of this paragraph, in the case

2 of any employee who, as of the beginning of the period

3 designated by the plan pursuant to subparagraph (A)—

4 ‘‘(I) has customarily completed 500 or more

5 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

6 of service per year, or

7 ‘‘(II) is employed in a type of position in which

8 employment customarily constitutes 500 or more

9 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

10 of service per year,

11 completion of 500 hours of service within such period shall

12 be treated as completion of 1,000 hours of service.

13 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the extent

14 to which employment in any type of position customarily

15 constitutes less than 1,000 hours of service per year shall

16 be determined with respect to each pension plan in accord17 ance with such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe

18 providing for consideration of facts and circumstances pe19 culiar to the work-force constituting the participants in

20 such plan.’’.

21 (B) 1-YEAR BREAKS IN SERVICE.—Section

22 203(b)(3) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1053(b)(3))

23 is amended by adding at the end the following

24 new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(F)(i) For purposes of this paragraph, in the case

2 of any employee who, as of the beginning of the period

3 designated by the plan pursuant to subparagraph (A)—

4 ‘‘(I) has customarily completed 500 or more

5 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

6 of service per year, or

7 ‘‘(II) is employed in a type of position in which

8 employment customarily constitutes 500 or more

9 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

10 of service per year,

11 completion of 250 hours of service within such period shall

12 be treated as completion of 500 hours of service.

13 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the extent

14 to which employment in any type of position customarily

15 constitutes less than 1,000 hours of service per year shall

16 be determined with respect to each pension plan in accord17 ance with such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe

18 providing for consideration of facts and circumstances pe19 culiar to the work-force constituting the participants in

20 such plan.’’.

21 (3) ACCRUAL RULES.—Section 204(b)(4)(C) of

22 such Act (29 U.S.C. 1054(b)(4)(C)) is amended—

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(C)’’; and

24 (B) by adding at the end the following new

25 clauses:
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1 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, in the case

2 of any employee who, as of the beginning of the period

3 designated by the plan pursuant to clause (i)—

4 ‘‘(I) has customarily completed 500 or more

5 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

6 of service per year, or

7 ‘‘(II) is employed in a type of position in which

8 employment customarily constitutes 500 or more

9 hours of service per year but less than 1,000 hours

10 of service per year,

11 completion of 500 hours of service within such period shall

12 be treated as completion of 1,000 hours of service.

13 ‘‘(iii) For purposes of clause (ii), the extent to which

14 employment in any type of position customarily constitutes

15 less than 1,000 hours of service per year shall be deter16 mined with respect to each pension plan in accordance

17 with such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe pro18 viding for consideration of facts and circumstances pecu19 liar to the work-force constituting the participants in such

20 plan.’’.

21 (b) TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES WORKING AT LESS

22 THAN FULL-TIME UNDER GROUP HEALTH PLANS.

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part 2 of subtitle B of title

24 I of such Act is amended—
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1 (A) by redesignating section 211 (29

2 U.S.C. 1061) as section 212; and

3 (B) by inserting after section 210 (29

4 U.S.C. 1060) the following new section:

5 ‘‘TREATMENT OF PART-TIME WORKERS UNDER GROUP

6 HEALTH PLANS

7 ‘‘SEC. 211. (a) IN GENERAL.—A reduction in the em8 ployer-provided premium under a group health plan with

9 respect to any employee for any period of coverage solely

10 because the employee’s customary employment is less than

11 full-time may be provided under such plan only if the em12 ployee is described in subsection (b) and only to the extent

13 permitted under subsection (c).

14 ‘‘(b) REDUCTIONS APPLICABLE TO EMPLOYEES

15 WORKING LESS THAN FULL-TIME.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An employee is described in

17 this subsection if such employee, as of the beginning

18 of the period of coverage referred to in subsection

19 (a)—

20 ‘‘(A) has customarily completed less than

21 30 hours of service per week, or

22 ‘‘(B) is employed in a type of position in

23 which employment customarily constitutes less

24 than 30 hours of service per week.

25 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—For purposes of para26 graph (1), whether employment in any type of posi-
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1 tion customarily constitutes less than 30 hours of

2 service per week shall be determined with respect to

3 each group health plan in accordance with such reg4 ulations as the Secretary shall prescribe providing

5 for consideration of facts and circumstances peculiar

6 to the work-force constituting the participants in

7 such plan.

8 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF PERMISSIBLE REDUCTION.—The

9 employer-provided premium under a group health plan

10 with respect to any employee for any period of coverage,

11 after the reduction permitted under subsection (a), shall

12 not be less than a ratable portion of the employer-provided

13 premium which would be provided under such plan for

14 such period of coverage with respect to an employee who

15 completes 30 hours of service per week.

16 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

17 ‘‘(1) GROUP HEALTH PLAN.—The term ‘group

18 health plan’ has the meaning provided such term in

19 section 607(1).

20 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER-PROVIDED PREMIUM.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘employer22 provided premium’ under a plan for any period

23 of coverage means the portion of the applicable

24 premium under the plan for such period of cov-
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1 erage which is attributable under the plan to

2 employer contributions.

3 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PREMIUM.—For pur4 poses of subparagraph (A), in determining the

5 applicable premium of a group health plan,

6 principles similar to the principles applicable

7 under section 604 shall apply.’’.

8 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

9 (A) Section 201(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C.

10 1051(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, except with

11 respect to section 211’’ before the semicolon.

12 (B) The table of contents in section 1 of

13 such Act is amended by striking the item relat14 ing to section 211 and inserting the following

15 new items:

‘‘Sec. 211. Treatment of part-time workers under group health plans.

‘‘Sec. 212. Effective date.’’.

16 (c) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE TO

17 INCLUDE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHOSE SERVICES ARE

18 LEASED OR CONTRACTED FOR.—Paragraph (6) of section

19 3 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1002(6)) is amended—

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(6)’’; and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub22 paragraph:

23 ‘‘(B) Such term includes, with respect to any em24 ployer, any person who is not an employee (within the
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1 meaning of subparagraph (A)) of such employer and who

2 provides services to such employer, if—

3 ‘‘(i) such person has (pursuant to an agreement

4 with such employer or any other person) performed

5 such services for such employer (or for such em6 ployer and related persons (within the meaning of

7 section 144(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of

8 1986)) for a period of at least 1 year (6 months in

9 the case of core health benefits) at the rate of at

10 least 500 hours of service per year, and

11 ‘‘(ii) such services are of a type historically per12 formed, in the business field of the employer, by em13 ployees (within the meaning of subparagraph (A)).’’.

14 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), the amendments made by this section

17 shall apply with respect to plan years beginning on

18 or after January 1, 1997.

19 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR COLLECTIVELY BAR20 GAINED PLANS.—In the case of a plan maintained

21 pursuant to 1 or more collective bargaining agree22 ments between employee representatives and 1 or

23 more employers ratified on or before the date of the

24 enactment of this Act, paragraph (1) shall be ap25 plied to benefits pursuant to, and individuals covered
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1 by, any such agreement by substituting for ‘‘Janu2 ary 1, 1997’’ the date of the commencement of the

3 first plan year beginning on or after the earlier of—

4 (A) the later of—

5 (i) January 1, 1997, or

6 (ii) the date on which the last of such

7 collective bargaining agreements termi8 nates (determined without regard to any

9 extension thereof after the date of the en10 actment of this Act), or

11 (B) January 1, 1999.

12 (3) PLAN AMENDMENTS.—If any amendment

13 made by this section requires an amendment to any

14 plan, such plan amendment shall not be required to

15 be made before the first plan year beginning on or

16 after January 1, 1998, if—

17 (A) during the period after such amend18 ment made by this section takes effect and be19 fore such first plan year, the plan is operated

20 in accordance with the requirements of such

21 amendment made by this section, and

22 (B) such plan amendment applies retro23 actively to the period after such amendment

24 made by this section takes effect and such first

25 plan year.
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1 A plan shall not be treated as failing to provide defi2 nitely determinable benefits or contributions, or to

3 be operated in accordance with the provisions of the

4 plan, merely because it operates in accordance with

5 this paragraph.

6 SEC. 8. UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.

7 (a) PART-TIME EMPLOYEES; INDEPENDENT CON8 TRACTORS.—Subsection (a) of section 3304 of the Inter9 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to requirements for

10 approval of State unemployment compensation laws) is

11 amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (17),

12 by redesignating paragraph (18) as paragraph (20), and

13 by inserting after paragraph (17) the following new para14 graphs:

15 ‘‘(18) in applying the State law provisions relat16 ing to availability for work, active search for work,

17 or refusal to accept work, to an individual seeking

18 part-time employment, the term ‘suitable work’ shall

19 not include any work where the individual would

20 normally perform services for more hours per week

21 than the number of hours per week for which the in22 dividual is available if the individual demonstrates

23 good cause for the individual’s limited availability

24 and such limitation does not substantially impair the

25 individual’s current attachment to the labor force;
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1 ‘‘(19) the determination of whether an individ2 ual is an employee of another person shall be made

3 in accordance with section 3306(i); and’’.

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), the amendments made by this section

7 shall take effect on January 1, 1997.

8 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of any State

9 the legislature of which has not been in session for

10 at least 30 calendar days (whether or not successive)

11 between the date of the enactment of this Act and

12 January 1, 1997, the amendments made by this sec13 tion shall take effect 30 calendar days after the 1st

14 day on which such legislature is in session on or

15 after January 1, 1998.

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