I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6699 

To extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical 

leave and pension plans, and to ensure equitable treatment in the workplace. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2022 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. PORTER, 

Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. 

TORRES of New York, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. NORTON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Reform, and Ways and Means, 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 extend protections to part-time workers in the areas 

of family and medical leave and pension plans, and to 

ensure equitable treatment in the workplace. 

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 ‘‘Part-Time Worker Bill 

5 of Rights Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 The table of contents is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—EXPANDING ACCESS TO BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME 

WORKERS 

Sec. 101. Elimination of hours of service requirement for FMLA leave. 

Sec. 102. Improving coverage for long-term part-time workers. 

TITLE II—ENSURING FAIR TREATMENT FOR PART-TIME 

WORKERS 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Elimination of discrimination on the basis of hours worked. 

Sec. 203. Offer of work to existing employees. 

Sec. 204. Prohibited acts. 

Sec. 205. Remedies and enforcement. 

Sec. 206. Regulations. 

3 TITLE I—EXPANDING ACCESS TO 

4 BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME 

5 WORKERS 

6 SEC. 101. ELIMINATION OF HOURS OF SERVICE REQUIRE7 MENT FOR FMLA LEAVE. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 101(2)(A) of the Family 

9 and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611(2)(A)) 

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em12 ployee’ means an employee who has been em13 ployed for at least 12 months by the employer 

14 with respect to whom leave is requested under 

15 section 102.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) Section 101(2) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

2 2611(2)) is amended— 

3 (A) by striking subparagraphs (C) and 

4 (D); and 

5 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as 

6 subparagraph (C). 

7 (2) Section 102(a) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

8 2612(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (5). 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect beginning on the 

11 date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

12 Act. 

13 SEC. 102. IMPROVING COVERAGE FOR LONG-TERM PART14 TIME WORKERS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202 of the Employee Re16 tirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1052) 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN PART-TIME EM20 PLOYEES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A pension plan that in22 cludes either a qualified cash or deferred arrange23 ment (as defined in section 401(k) of the Internal 

24 Revenue Code of 1986) or a salary reduction agree25 ment (as described in section 403(b) of such Code) 


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1 shall not require, as a condition of participation in 

2 the arrangement or agreement, that an employee 

3 complete a period of service with the employer (or 

4 employers) maintaining the plan extending beyond 

5 the close of the earlier of— 

6 ‘‘(A) the period permitted under subsection 

7 (a)(1) (determined without regard to subpara8 graph (B)(i) thereof) and section 410(a)(1) of 

9 such Code (determined without regard to sub10 paragraph (B)(i) thereof); or 

11 ‘‘(B) the first 24-month period— 

12 ‘‘(i) consisting of 2 consecutive 12- 

13 month periods during each of which the 

14 employee has at least 500 hours of service; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) by the close of which the em17 ployee has attained the age of 21. 

18 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1)(B) shall not 

19 apply to employees who are included in a unit of em20 ployees covered by an agreement which the Secretary 

21 finds to be a collective bargaining agreement be22 tween employee representatives and one or more em23 ployers, if there is evidence that retirement benefits 

24 were the subject of good faith bargaining between 


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1 such employee representatives and such employer or 

2 employers. 

3 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER RULES.—In 

4 the case of employees who are not highly com5 pensated employees (within the meaning of section 

6 414(q) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and 

7 who are eligible to participate in the arrangement or 

8 agreement solely by reason of paragraph (1)(B): 

9 ‘‘(A) EXCLUSIONS.—An employer may 

10 elect to exclude such employees from the deter11 mination of whether the plan that includes the 

12 arrangement or agreement satisfies the require13 ments of subsections (a)(4), (k)(3), (k)(12), 

14 (k)(13), (m)(2), (m)(11), and (m)(12) of sec15 tion 401 of such Code, section 410(b) of such 

16 Code, and section 416 of such Code. If the em17 ployer so excludes such employees with respect 

18 to the requirements of any such provision, such 

19 employees shall be excluded with respect to the 

20 requirements of all such provisions. This sub21 paragraph shall cease to apply to any employee 

22 as of the first plan year beginning after the 

23 plan year in which the employee completes 1 

24 year of service (without regard to paragraph 

25 (1)(B) of this subsection). 


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1 ‘‘(B) TIME OF PARTICIPATION.—The rules 

2 of subsection (a)(4) and section 410(a)(4) of 

3 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall apply 

4 to such employees. 

5 ‘‘(4) 12-MONTH PERIOD.—For purposes of this 

6 subsection, 12-month periods shall be determined in 

7 the same manner as under the last sentence of sub8 section (a)(3)(A), except that 12-month periods be9 ginning before January 1, 2022, shall not be taken 

10 into account.’’. 

11 (b) VESTING.—Section 203(b) of the Employee Re12 tirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 

13 1053(b)) is amended by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

14 paragraph (5) and by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(4) PART-TIME EMPLOYEES.—For purposes of de17 termining whether an employee who is eligible to partici18 pate in a qualified cash or deferred arrangement or a sal19 ary reduction agreement under a plan solely by reason of 

20 section 202(c)(1)(B) has a nonforfeitable right to em21 ployer contributions— 

22 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), 

23 each 12-month period for which the employee has at 

24 least 500 hours of service shall be treated as a year 

25 of service; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) 12-month periods occurring before the 24- 

2 month period described in section 202(c)(1)(B) shall 

3 not be treated as years of service. 

4 For purposes of this paragraph, 12-month periods shall 

5 be determined in the same manner as under the last sen6 tence of section 202(a)(3)(A), except that 12-month peri7 ods beginning before January 1, 2022, shall not be taken 

8 into account.’’. 

9 (c) PENALTY.—Section 502 of the Employee Retire10 ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new sub12 section: 

13 ‘‘(n) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO PART-TIME EM14 PLOYEES.—In the case of a plan that fails to permit par15 ticipation as required by section 202(c), the Secretary may 

16 assess a civil penalty against the plan sponsor in an 

17 amount equal to $10,000 per year per employee to whom 

18 such failure relates. The Secretary may, in the Secretary’s 

19 sole discretion, waive or reduce the penalty under this sub20 section if the Secretary determines that the plan sponsor 

21 acted reasonably and in good faith.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—ENSURING FAIR 

2 TREATMENT FOR PART-TIME 

3 WORKERS 

4 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) EMPLOY.—The term ‘‘employ’’ has the 

7 meaning given the term in section 3(g) of the Fair 

8 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(g)). 

9 (2) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 

10 an individual who is— 

11 (A) an employee, as defined in section 3(e) 

12 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

13 U.S.C. 203(e)), who is not covered under any of 

14 subparagraphs (B) through (G), except that a 

15 reference in such section to an employer shall 

16 be considered to be a reference to a person in 

17 commerce described in paragraph (3)(A); 

18 (B) a State employee described in section 

19 304(a) of the Government Employee Rights Act 

20 of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 

21 (C) a covered employee, as defined in sec22 tion 101 of the Congressional Accountability 

23 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301), except that such 

24 term shall not include an applicant for employ25 ment; 


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1 (D) a covered employee, as defined in sec2 tion 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; 

3 (E) a Federal officer or employee covered 

4 under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, 

5 United States Code; or 

6 (F) an employee of the Government Ac7 countability Office. 

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

9 (A)(i) means any person in commerce 

10 that— 

11 (I) employs more than 15 employees 

12 described in paragraph (2)(A), which shall 

13 be calculated by including all employees de14 scribed in paragraph (2)(A) performing 

15 work for compensation on a full-time, part16 time, or temporary basis, except that if the 

17 number of such employees who perform 

18 work for such a person for compensation 

19 fluctuates, the number may be determined 

20 for a calendar year based upon the average 

21 number of such employees who performed 

22 work for the person for compensation dur23 ing the preceding calendar year; or 

24 (II) is part of an integrated enter25 prise, chain of businesses, group of franVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6699.IH H6699

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1 chises associated with a franchisor, or net2 work of franchises that, in the aggregate, 

3 employs more than 15 employees, cal4 culated in accordance with subclause (I); 

5 (ii) includes— 

6 (I) any person who acts, directly or 

7 indirectly, in the interest of such an em8 ployer to any of the employees (described 

9 in clause (i)) of such employer; and 

10 (II) any successor in interest of such 

11 an employer; and 

12 (iii) includes an agency described in sub13 paragraph (A)(iii) of section 101(4) of the 

14 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 

15 U.S.C. 2611(4)), to which subparagraph (B) of 

16 such section shall apply; 

17 (B) is an entity employing a State em18 ployee described in section 304(a) of the Gov19 ernment Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 

20 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 

21 (C) is an employing office, as defined in 

22 section 101 of the Congressional Accountability 

23 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301); 

24 (D) is an employing office, as defined in 

25 section 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; 


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1 (E) is an employing agency covered under 

2 subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, United 

3 States Code; or 

4 (F) is the Comptroller General of the 

5 United States. 

6 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’, except as 

7 used with the term ‘‘person in commerce’’, has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Fair 

9 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(a)). 

10 (5) PERSON IN COMMERCE.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person in 

12 commerce’’ means any person who is engaged 

13 in commerce, in any industry or activity affect14 ing commerce, or in the production of goods for 

15 commerce. 

16 (B) COMMERCE.—In subparagraph (A), 

17 the term ‘‘commerce’’ includes government. 

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

19 the Secretary of Labor. 

20 SEC. 202. ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS 

21 OF HOURS WORKED. 

22 (a) RULE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—An employer shall not dis24 criminate against an employee on the basis that 

25 such employee is scheduled to work fewer hours per 


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1 week, or is employed for a shorter expected duration, 

2 than another employee of the employer if the jobs of 

3 such employees require substantially equal skill, ef4 fort, responsibility, and duties and such jobs are per5 formed under similar working conditions. 

6 (2) EXAMPLES.—Discrimination described in 

7 paragraph (1) shall include differential treatment 

8 with respect to— 

9 (A) rate of compensation; 

10 (B) notice of, and input into, work hours; 

11 (C) eligibility to accrue, on a pro rata 

12 basis, employer-provided paid and unpaid time 

13 off and other benefits; 

14 (D) promotion opportunities; or 

15 (E) other terms, conditions, or privileges of 

16 employment. 

17 (b) DISTINCTIONS PERMITTED.—This section shall 

18 not be construed to prohibit differences in rate of com19 pensation, or other conditions, terms, or privileges of em20 ployment, of employees of an employer for reasons other 

21 than the number of hours the employees are scheduled to 

22 work per week, or the expected duration of employment 

23 of the employees, including for reasons such as— 

24 (1) the date on which the employees are hired; 

25 (2) a merit system; or 


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1 (3) a system that measures earnings by quan2 tity per hour or quality of production. 

3 SEC. 203. OFFER OF WORK TO EXISTING EMPLOYEES. 

4 (a) WRITTEN STATEMENTS REQUIRED.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon hiring an employee, an 

6 employer shall— 

7 (A) obtain a written statement of the em8 ployee’s desired number of weekly work hours 

9 and the days and times the employee is avail10 able to work; 

11 (B) notify the employee that this written 

12 statement may be modified in writing at any 

13 time during employment; and 

14 (C) specify the process to modify the writ15 ten statement. 

16 (b) OFFER OF DESIRED WEEKLY WORK HOURS TO

17 EXISTING EMPLOYEES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para19 graph (2), an employer shall schedule an employee 

20 of the employer to work the number of weekly hours 

21 identified by the employee as desired weekly hours in 

22 a written statement under subsection (a) prior to 

23 hiring any new employee from an external applicant 

24 pool, including hiring through the use of a tem25 porary services or staffing agency, or contracting 


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1 with a contractor or subcontractor, to work such 

2 hours. 

3 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—An employer may hire an 

4 individual as a new employee, or engage a contractor 

5 or subcontractor, to perform work for the employer 

6 if— 

7 (A) the employer needs to fill hours for 

8 which no employees of the employer who have 

9 provided written statements under subsection 

10 (a) are available based on such written state11 ments; 

12 (B) all employees of the employer who 

13 have provided written statements under sub14 section (a) lack, and cannot obtain with reason15 able training, the qualifications necessary to 

16 perform the work; or 

17 (C) scheduling any such employee to per18 form the work would require providing such em19 ployee overtime compensation at a rate not less 

20 than one and one half times the regular rate at 

21 which the employee is employed, in accordance 

22 with section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 

23 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) or any State law. 

24 (c) COMPENSATION REQUIRED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), an employee (referred to in this sub3 section as an ‘‘existing employee’’) who is not sched4 uled for the desired number of total weekly work 

5 hours identified by the employee in a written state6 ment under subsection (a) shall be compensated for 

7 each hour worked by a newly hired employee, con8 tractor, or subcontractor hired after the existing em9 ployee so identified such number of hours, during an 

10 hour that such existing employee identified in a writ11 ten statement under such subsection as an hour for 

12 which the employee is available to work. 

13 (2) EXCEPTION.—An employer shall not be re14 quired to compensate an existing employee under 

15 paragraph (1) for any hour of work for which— 

16 (A) the employee lacks, or cannot obtain 

17 with reasonable training, the qualifications nec18 essary to perform the work; 

19 (B) scheduling such employee to perform 

20 the work would require providing the employee 

21 overtime compensation as described in sub22 section (b)(2)(C); 

23 (C) the employer made a reasonable at24 tempt to contact the employee to work such 

25 hour and was unable to reach the employee; or 


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1 (D) the employee was otherwise no longer 

2 available. 

3 (d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

4 terms ‘‘written’’, with respect to a statement, and ‘‘writ5 ing’’ mean a printed or printable communication in phys6 ical or electronic form. 

7 SEC. 204. PROHIBITED ACTS. 

8 (a) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS.—It shall be un9 lawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny 

10 the exercise or the attempt to exercise, any rights set forth 

11 under this title. 

12 (b) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—It shall be unlawful 

13 for any employer to discharge, threaten to discharge, de14 mote, suspend, reduce work hours of, or otherwise dis15 criminate (including taking any other adverse employment 

16 action) against any person because of an employee of the 

17 employer exercising the rights of the employee under this 

18 title or opposing any practice made unlawful by this title. 

19 (c) INTERFERENCE WITH PROCEEDINGS OR INQUIR20 IES.—It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or 

21 in any other manner discriminate against an individual be22 cause such individual— 

23 (1) has filed any charge, or has instituted or 

24 caused to be instituted any proceeding, under or re25 lated to this title; 


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1 (2) has given, or is about to give, any informa2 tion in connection with any inquiry or proceeding re3 lating to any right provided under this title; or 

4 (3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any 

5 inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided 

6 under this title. 

7 SEC. 205. REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT. 

8 (a) INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—To ensure compliance with 

10 this title, including any regulation or order issued 

11 under this title, the Secretary shall have, subject to 

12 paragraph (3), the investigative authority provided 

13 under section 11(a) of the Fair Labor Standards 

14 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 211(a)). 

15 (2) OBLIGATION TO KEEP AND PRESERVE

16 RECORDS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each employer shall 

18 maintain for a period of not less than 3 years, 

19 or for the duration of any claim (including the 

20 duration of a related civil action or investiga21 tion) pending pursuant to this title, whichever 

22 is longer, all records necessary to demonstrate 

23 compliance with this title, including compliance 

24 with the requirements of regulations issued by 

25 the Secretary under section 206. Such records 


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1 shall include documentation of offers of hours 

2 of work to employees and responses to such of3 fers. 

4 (B) COPIES.—Each employer shall, upon a 

5 reasonable request of an employee of the em6 ployer, provide the employee with a copy of the 

7 records described in subparagraph (A) relating 

8 to the employee. 

9 (3) REQUIRED SUBMISSIONS GENERALLY LIM10 ITED TO AN ANNUAL BASIS.—The Secretary shall 

11 not require, under the authority of this subsection, 

12 any employer to submit to the Secretary any books 

13 or records more than once during any 12-month pe14 riod, unless the Secretary has reasonable cause to 

15 believe there may exist a violation of this title, in16 cluding any regulation or order issued pursuant to 

17 this title, or is investigating a charge pursuant to 

18 subsection (c). 

19 (4) SUBPOENA POWERS.—For the purposes of 

20 any investigation provided for in this subsection, the 

21 Secretary shall have the subpoena authority provided 

22 for under section 9 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 

23 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 209). 

24 (b) CIVIL ACTION BY EMPLOYEES.— 

25 (1) LIABILITY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any employer who vio2 lates section 202, 203, or 204 (each such provi3 sion referred to in this section as a ‘‘covered 

4 provision’’) shall be liable to any person af5 fected for— 

6 (i) damages equal to the amount of— 

7 (I) any wages, salary, employ8 ment benefits (as defined in section 

9 101 of the Family and Medical Leave 

10 Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611)), or 

11 other compensation denied, lost, or 

12 owed to such employee by reason of 

13 the violation; or 

14 (II) in a case in which wages, 

15 salary, employment benefits (as so de16 fined), or other compensation have 

17 not been denied, lost, or owed to the 

18 employee, any actual monetary losses 

19 sustained by the employee as a direct 

20 result of the violation; 

21 (ii) interest on the amount described 

22 in clause (i) calculated at the prevailing 

23 rate; 

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1 uidated damages equal to the sum of the 

2 amount described in clause (i) and the in3 terest described in clause (ii); and 

4 (iv) such equitable relief as may be 

5 appropriate, including employment, rein6 statement, and promotion. 

7 (B) EXCEPTION FOR LIQUIDATED DAM8 AGES.—If an employer who has violated a cov9 ered provision proves to the satisfaction of the 

10 court that the act or omission which violated 

11 the covered provision was in good faith and that 

12 the employer had reasonable grounds for believ13 ing that the act or omission was not a violation 

14 of a covered provision, such court may, in the 

15 discretion of the court, reduce the amount of li16 ability under subparagraph (A) to the amount, 

17 interest, and equitable relief determined under 

18 clauses (i), (ii), and (iv), respectively. 

19 (2) RIGHT OF ACTION.—An action to recover 

20 the damages, interest, or equitable relief set forth in 

21 paragraph (1) may be maintained against any em22 ployer (including a public agency) in any Federal or 

23 State court of competent jurisdiction by any one or 

24 more employees for and on behalf of— 

25 (A) such employees; or 


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1 (B) such employees and any other employ2 ees similarly situated. 

3 (3) FEES AND COSTS.—The court in such an 

4 action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to 

5 the plaintiff, allow a reasonable attorney’s fee, rea6 sonable expert witness fees, and other costs of the 

7 action to be paid by the defendant. 

8 (4) LIMITATIONS.—The right provided by para9 graph (2) to bring an action by or on behalf of any 

10 employee shall terminate on the filing of a complaint 

11 by the Secretary in an action under subsection (c)(4) 

12 in which a recovery is sought of the damages, inter13 est, or equitable relief described in paragraph (1)(A) 

14 owing to an employee by an employer liable under 

15 paragraph (1) unless the action is dismissed without 

16 prejudice on motion of the Secretary. 

17 (c) ACTIONS BY THE SECRETARY.— 

18 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.—The Secretary 

19 shall receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve 

20 complaints of violations of this title in the same 

21 manner that the Secretary receives, investigates, and 

22 attempts to resolve complaints of violations of sec23 tions 6 and 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

24 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206 and 207), and may issue an 

25 order making determinations, and assessing a civil 


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1 penalty described in paragraph (3) (in accordance 

2 with paragraph (3)), with respect to such an alleged 

3 violation. 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—An affected 

5 person who takes exception to an order issued under 

6 paragraph (1) may request review of and a decision 

7 regarding such an order by an administrative law 

8 judge. In reviewing the order, the administrative law 

9 judge may hold an administrative hearing con10 cerning the order, in accordance with the require11 ments of sections 554, 556, and 557 of title 5, 

12 United States Code. Such hearing shall be conducted 

13 expeditiously. 

14 (3) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—An employer who will16 fully and repeatedly violates— 

17 (i) section 204(a) shall be subject to 

18 a civil penalty in an amount to be deter19 mined by the Secretary, but not to exceed 

20 $100 per violation (subject to subpara21 graph (B)); or 

22 (ii) subsection (b) or (c) of section 

23 204 shall be subject to a civil penalty in an 

24 amount to be determined by the Secretary, 


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1 but not to exceed $1,100 per violation 

2 (subject to subparagraph (B)). 

3 (B) INFLATION.—The Secretary shall, for 

4 each year beginning with calendar year 2024, 

5 increase the maximum amounts for the pen6 alties described in clauses (i) and (ii) of sub7 paragraph (A) by a percentage equal to the per8 centage increase in the Consumer Price Index 

9 for All Urban Consumers, published by the De10 partment of Labor, between December 2022 

11 and the December prior to the year for which 

12 the increase takes effect. 

13 (4) CIVIL ACTION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

15 bring an action in any court of competent juris16 diction on behalf of aggrieved employees to— 

17 (i) restrain violations of this title; 

18 (ii) obtain such equitable relief as may 

19 be appropriate, including employment, re20 instatement, and promotion; and 

21 (iii) in the case of a violation of a cov22 ered provision, recover the damages, inter23 est, and equitable relief described in 

24 clauses (i) through (iv) of subsection 

25 (b)(1)(A). 


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1 (B) RECOVERY ON BEHALF OF EMPLOY2 EES.—Any sums recovered by the Secretary 

3 under subparagraph (A) on behalf of an em4 ployee shall be held in a special deposit account 

5 and shall be paid, on order of the Secretary, di6 rectly to the employee affected. Any such sums 

7 not paid to an employee because of inability to 

8 do so within a period of three years shall be de9 posited in the Treasury and credited to mis10 cellaneous receipts. 

11 (d) LIMITATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), an action may be brought under this sec14 tion not later than 2 years after the date of the last 

15 event constituting the alleged violation for which the 

16 action is brought. 

17 (2) WILLFUL VIOLATION.—In the case of such 

18 action brought for a willful violation of section 204, 

19 such action may be brought within 3 years of the 

20 date of the last event constituting the alleged viola21 tion for which such action is brought. 

22 (3) COMMENCEMENT.—In determining when an 

23 action is commenced by the Secretary or by an em24 ployee under this section for the purposes of this 


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1 subsection, it shall be considered to be commenced 

2 on the date when the complaint is filed. 

3 (e) OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS.— 

4 (1) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CONGRESSIONAL

5 ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995.—The powers and 

6 procedures provided in the Congressional Account7 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) to the 

8 Board (as defined in section 101 of that Act (2 

9 U.S.C. 1301)), or any person, alleging a violation of 

10 section 202(a)(1) of that Act (2 U.S.C. 1312(a)(1)) 

11 shall be the powers and procedures this title provides 

12 to that Board, or any person, alleging a violation of 

13 this title against an employee described in section 

14 201(2)(C). 

15 (2) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CHAPTER 5 OF

16 TITLE 3, UNITED STATES CODE.—The powers and 

17 procedures provided in chapter 5 of title 3, United 

18 States Code, to the President, the Merit Systems 

19 Protection Board, or any person, alleging a violation 

20 of section 412(a)(1) of that title, shall be the powers 

21 and procedures this title provides to the President, 

22 that Board, or any person, respectively, alleging a 

23 violation of this title against an employee described 

24 in section 201(2)(D). 


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1 (3) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CHAPTER 63 OF

2 TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—The powers and 

3 procedures provided in title 5, United States Code, 

4 to an employing agency, provided in chapter 12 of 

5 that title to the Merit Systems Protection Board, or 

6 provided in that title to any person, alleging a viola7 tion of chapter 63 of that title, shall be the powers 

8 and procedures this title provides to that agency, 

9 that Board, or any person, respectively, alleging a 

10 violation of this title against an employee described 

11 in section 201(2)(E). 

12 (4) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—In the case of 

13 employees of the Government Accountability Office, 

14 the authority of the Secretary under this title shall 

15 be exercised by the Comptroller General of the 

16 United States. 

17 SEC. 206. REGULATIONS. 

18 (a) SECRETARY OF LABOR.—Except as provided in 

19 subsections (b) through (e), not later than 180 days after 

20 the date of enactment of this title, the Secretary shall 

21 issue such regulations as may be necessary to implement 

22 this title. 

23 (b) BOARD.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board 


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1 of Directors of the Office of Congressional Work2 place Rights shall issue such regulations as may be 

3 necessary to implement this title with respect to em4 ployees described in section 201(2)(C). The proce5 dures applicable to regulations of the Board issued 

6 for the implementation of the Congressional Ac7 countability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), 

8 prescribed in section 304 of that Act (2 U.S.C. 

9 1384), shall be the procedures applicable to regula10 tions issued under this subsection. 

11 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In prescribing the regu12 lations, the Board shall take into consideration the 

13 enforcement and remedies provisions concerning the 

14 Office and applicable to rights and protections under 

15 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 

16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), under the Congressional Ac17 countability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.). 

18 (3) MODIFICATIONS.—The regulations issued 

19 under paragraph (1) to implement this title shall be 

20 the same as substantive regulations issued by the 

21 Secretary to implement this title, except to the ex22 tent that the Board may determine, for good cause 

23 shown and stated together with the regulations 

24 issued by the Board, that a modification of such 

25 substantive regulations would be more effective for 


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1 the implementation of the rights and protections 

2 under this title. 

3 (c) PRESIDENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Presi6 dent shall issue such regulations as may be nec7 essary to implement this title with respect to em8 ployees described in section 201(2)(D). 

9 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In prescribing the regu10 lations, the President shall take into consideration 

11 the enforcement and remedies provisions concerning 

12 the President and the Merit Systems Protection 

13 Board, and applicable to rights and protections 

14 under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 

15 under chapter 5 of title 3, United States Code. 

16 (3) MODIFICATIONS.—The regulations issued 

17 under paragraph (1) to implement this title shall be 

18 the same as substantive regulations issued by the 

19 Secretary to implement this title, except to the ex20 tent that the President may determine, for good 

21 cause shown and stated together with the regula22 tions issued by the President, that a modification of 

23 such substantive regulations would be more effective 

24 for the implementation of the rights and protections 

25 under this title. 


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1 (d) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Office 

4 of Personnel Management shall issue such regula5 tions as may be necessary to implement this title 

6 with respect to employees described in section 

7 201(2)(E). 

8 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In prescribing the regu9 lations, the Office shall take into consideration the 

10 enforcement and remedies provisions concerning an 

11 employing agency and the Merit Systems Protection 

12 Board under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, 

13 United States Code. 

14 (3) MODIFICATIONS.—The regulations issued 

15 under paragraph (1) to implement this title shall be 

16 the same as substantive regulations issued by the 

17 Secretary to implement this title, except to the ex18 tent that the Office may determine, for good cause 

19 shown and stated together with the regulations 

20 issued by the Office, that a modification of such sub21 stantive regulations would be more effective for the 

22 implementation of the rights and protections under 

23 this title. 

24 (e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp3 troller General of the United States shall issue such 

4 regulations as may be necessary to implement this 

5 title with respect to employees of the Government 

6 Accountability Office. 

7 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In prescribing the regu8 lations, the Comptroller General shall take into con9 sideration the enforcement and remedies provisions 

10 concerning the Comptroller General under title I of 

11 the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 

12 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.). 

13 (3) MODIFICATIONS.—The regulations issued 

14 under paragraph (1) to implement this title shall be 

15 the same as substantive regulations issued by the 

16 Secretary to implement this title, except to the ex17 tent that the Comptroller General may determine, 

18 for good cause shown and stated together with the 

19 regulations issued by the Comptroller General, that 

20 a modification of such substantive regulations would 

21 be more effective for the implementation of the 

22 rights and protections under this title. 

Æ 


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