I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8444 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require paid rest 
breaks for certain construction employees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 20, 2022 
Ms. GARCIA of Texas (for herself, Ms. PORTER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. GREEN of Texas, and Mr. DOGGETT) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require 
paid rest breaks for certain construction employees, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. PAID REST BREAKS FOR CERTAIN CONSTRUC-
TION EMPLOYEES. 
(a) PAID REST BREAK.—The Fair Labor Standards 
Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 7 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 8. PAID REST BREAKS FOR CONSTRUCTION EMPLOY-
EES. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—An employer shall— 
‘‘(1) with respect to each construction employee 
of such employer— 
‘‘(A) provide at least one 15-minute paid 
rest break for every four hours of work to each 
such employee; and 
‘‘(B) at the time of hiring, provide notice 
in the primary language of such employee, an 
explanation that— 
‘‘(i) such employee is entitled to the 
paid rest breaks described in subparagraph 
(A); 
‘‘(ii) retaliation by such employer 
against such employee for requesting or 
taking such paid rest breaks is prohibited; 
and 
‘‘(iii) such employee has a right to file 
a complaint with the Secretary for any vio-
lation of this section by such employer; and 
‘‘(2) display a sign, in a conspicuous and acces-
sible location, at the place of business of such em-
ployer and at the applicable construction work site 
that includes, in both English and Spanish, the in-
formation described in paragraph (1)(B). 
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‘‘(b) POSTED NOTICE.—The Secretary shall issue 
regulations with respect to the design and content of the 
sign referred to in subsection (a)(2). 
‘‘(c) RETALIATION PROHIBITED.—An employer may 
not take retaliatory personnel action or otherwise discrimi-
nate against a construction employee if such employee— 
‘‘(1) requests or takes paid rest breaks in ac-
cordance with this section; or 
‘‘(2) files a complaint with the Secretary alleg-
ing a violation of this section. 
‘‘(d) INTERACTION WITH OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to excuse noncompliance 
with any Federal or State law, municipal ordinance, or 
collective bargaining agreement requiring longer rest 
breaks than those required under this section. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘construction employee’ means 
an individual who is employed by an employer, or is 
hired as a contractor of such an employer, to per-
form general construction services. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘general construction services’ 
means the— 
‘‘(A) erection of or preparation to erect a 
structure; or 
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