Employee Rights Act

Subjects: Labor and Employment


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1201 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1201

 To reform the labor laws of the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 19, 2023

Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Cassidy, Ms. 
    Lummis, Mr. Braun, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Thune, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. 
 Hagerty, Mr. Budd, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch, Mr. Lee, Mr. 
Barrasso, and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill; which was read 
 twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
                                Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reform the labor laws of the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Employee Rights Act''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCED EMPLOYEE RIGHTS.

    Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)) 
is amended by striking ``designated or selected for the purposes of 
collective bargaining'' and inserting ``for the purposes of collective 
bargaining selected by secret ballot, in an election conducted by the 
Board,''.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYEE PRIVACY.

    (a) Notice of Rights and Protections; Voter Registration Lists.--
Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h)(1) Whenever the Board directs an election under section 9(c) 
or approves an election agreement, the employer of employees in the 
bargaining unit shall, not later than two business days after the Board 
directs such election or approves such election agreement, provide a 
voter list to a labor organization that has petitioned to represent 
such employees. Such voter list shall include the names of all 
employees in the bargaining unit and not more than one additional form 
of personal contact information for the employee (such as a telephone 
number, an email address, or a mailing address) chosen by the employee 
in writing. The voter list shall be provided in a searchable electronic 
format generally approved by the Board unless the employer certifies 
that the employer does not possess the capacity to produce the list in 
the required form. Not later than nine months after the date of 
enactment of the Employee Rights Act, the Board shall promulgate 
regulations implementing the requirements of this paragraph.
    ``(2) It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer to 
violate any requirement under paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Labor Organization Use of Personal Information.--Section 8(b) 
of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ``8(b).'' and inserting 
        ``8(b); and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) to fail to protect the personal information of an 
        employee received for an organizing drive, to use such 
        information for any reason other than a representation 
        proceeding, or to use such information after the conclusion of 
        a representation proceeding.''.
    (c) Right Not To Subsidize Labor Organization Nonrepresentational 
Activities.--Title I of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure 
Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 106. RIGHT NOT TO SUBSIDIZE LABOR ORGANIZATION 
              NONREPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

    ``No employee's labor organization dues, fees, assessments, or 
other contributions shall be used or contributed to any person, 
organization, or entity for any purpose not directly related to the 
labor organization's collective bargaining or contract administration 
functions on behalf of the represented unit employee unless the 
employee member, or nonmember required to make such payments as a 
condition of employment, authorizes such expenditure in writing, after 
a notice period of not less than 35 days. An initial authorization 
provided by an employee under the preceding sentence shall expire not 
later than 1 year after the date on which such authorization is signed 
by the employee. There shall be no automatic renewal of an 
authorization under this section.''.

SEC. 4. EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS.

    (a) Amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 To Harmonize 
the Definition of Employee.--
            (1) Definition of employee.--Section 3(e)(1) of the Fair 
        Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(e)(1)) is amended by 
        inserting before the period the following: ``, as determined 
        under the usual common law rules''.
            (2) Definition of employ.--Section 3(g) of the Fair Labor 
        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(g)) is amended by 
        inserting ``an employee'' after ``permit''.
    (b) Clarification of Joint Employment.--
            (1) National labor relations act.--Section 2(2) of the 
        National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(2)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``The term `employer''' and 
                inserting ``(A) The term `employer'''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) An employer may be considered a joint 
                employer of the employees of another employer only if 
                each employer directly, actually, and immediately, and 
                not in a limited and routine manner, exercises 
                significant control over the essential terms and 
                conditions of employment of the employees of the other 
                employer, such as hiring such employees, discharging 
                such employees, determining the rate of pay and 
                benefits of such employees, supervising such employees 
                on a day-to-day basis, assigning such employees a work 
                schedule, position, or task, or disciplining such 
                employees.''.
            (2) Fair labor standards act of 1938.--Section 3(d) of the 
        Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(d)) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ```Employer' includes'' and 
                inserting ``(1) `Employer' includes''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) An employer may be considered a joint employer of the 
        employees of another employer for purposes of this Act only if 
        each employer meets the criteria set forth in section 2(2)(B) 
        of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(2)(B)) 
        except that, for purposes of determining joint-employer status 
        under this Act, the terms `employee' and `employer' referenced 
        in such section shall have the meanings given such terms in 
        this section.''.
    (c) Provision of Technical Assistance.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
201 et seq.), the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), 
or any other Federal law, none of the following may be construed, alone 
or in combination with any other factor, as establishing an employer 
and employee relationship between a franchisor (or any employee of the 
franchisor) and a franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee):
            (1) The franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) 
        provides the franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) 
        with, or requires such franchisee (or any employee of the 
        franchisee) to use, a handbook, or other training, on sexual 
        harassment, human trafficking, workplace violence, 
        discrimination, or opportunities for apprenticeships or 
        scholarships.
            (2) The franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) 
        requires the franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) to 
        adopt a policy on sexual harassment, human trafficking, 
        workplace violence, discrimination, opportunities for 
        apprenticeships or scholarships, child care, or paid leave, 
        including a requirement for such franchisee (or any employee of 
        the franchisee) to report to the franchisor (or any employee of 
        the franchisor) any violations or suspected violations of such 
        policy.

SEC. 5. TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY.

    Section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152), as 
amended by section 4(b)(1), is further amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``or any Indian 
        Tribe, or any enterprise or institution owned and operated by 
        an Indian Tribe and located on its Indian lands,'' after 
        ``subdivision thereof,''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) The term `Indian Tribe' means any Indian Tribe, 
        band, nation, pueblo, or other organized group or community 
        which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and 
        services provided by the United States to Indians because of 
        their status as Indians.
            ``(16) The term `Indian' means any individual who is a 
        member of an Indian Tribe.
            ``(17) The term `Indian lands' means--
                    ``(A) all lands within the limits of any Indian 
                reservation;
                    ``(B) any lands title to which is either held in 
                trust by the United States for the benefit of any 
                Indian Tribe or Indian or held by any Indian Tribe or 
                Indian subject to restriction by the United States 
                against alienation; and
                    ``(C) any lands in the State of Oklahoma that are 
                within the boundaries of a former reservation (as 
                defined by the Secretary of the Interior) of a 
                federally recognized Indian Tribe.''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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