I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8691 
To prohibit forced arbitration in work disputes, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 11, 2024 
Mr. NADLER (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To prohibit forced arbitration in work disputes, 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. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Justice for 
Workers Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) prohibit predispute arbitration agreements 
that require arbitration of work disputes; 
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(2) prohibit retaliation against workers for re-
fusing to arbitrate work disputes; 
(3) 
provide 
protections 
to 
ensure 
that 
postdispute arbitration agreements are truly vol-
untary and with the informed consent of workers; 
and 
(4) amend the National Labor Relations Act to 
prohibit agreements and practices that interfere with 
employees’ right to engage in concerted activity re-
garding work disputes. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF CONCERTED ACTIVITY. 
(a) AGREEMENTS.—Section 8(a) of the National 
Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6)(A) to enter into or attempt to enforce any 
agreement, express or implied, whereby prior to a 
dispute to which the agreement applies, an employee 
undertakes or promises not to pursue, bring, join, 
litigate, or support any kind of joint, class, or collec-
tive claim arising from or relating to the employ-
ment of such employee in any forum that, but for 
such agreement, is of competent jurisdiction; 
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‘‘(B) to coerce such an employee into under-
taking or promising not to pursue, bring, join, liti-
gate, or support any kind of joint, class, or collective 
claim arising from or relating to the employment of 
such employee; or 
‘‘(C) to retaliate or threaten to retaliate against 
an employee for refusing to undertake or promise 
not to pursue, bring, join, litigate, or support any 
kind of joint, class, or collective claim arising from 
or relating to the employment of such employee: 
Provided, That any agreement that violates this 
paragraph or results from a violation of this para-
graph shall be to such extent unenforceable and 
void: Provided further, That this paragraph shall not 
apply to any agreement embodied in or expressly 
permitted by a contract between an employer and a 
labor organization.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 10(b) of 
the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 160(b)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘discharge’’ and inserting ‘‘dis-
charge, or unless the person aggrieved thereby is an em-
ployee alleging a violation of section 8(a)(6) whose charge 
involves a postdispute arbitration agreement that meets 
the requirements under section 502(a)(2) of title 9, United 
States Code, or an agreement described in section 
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502(a)(4) of such title that meets the requirements under 
subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 502(a)(2) of 
such title, in which event the six-month period shall be 
computed from the day the waiting period described in 
subparagraph (C) of such section ends’’. 
SEC. 4. ARBITRATION OF WORK DISPUTES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘CHAPTER 5—ARBITRATION OF WORK 
DISPUTES 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘501. Definitions. 
‘‘502. Validity and enforceability. 
‘‘§ 501. Definitions 
‘‘In this chapter: 
‘‘(1) COMMERCE; EMPLOYEE; EMPLOYER.—The 
terms ‘commerce’, ‘employee’, and ‘employer’ have 
the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 
‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) an employer; or 
‘‘(B) an individual or entity that is not 
acting as an employer and engages the services 
of a worker. 
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‘‘(3) PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT.— 
The term ‘predispute arbitration agreement’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 401. 
‘‘(4) PREDISPUTE JOINT-ACTION WAIVER OF A 
WORK DISPUTE.—The term ‘predispute joint-action 
waiver of a work dispute’ means an agreement under 
which a worker undertakes or promises not to pur-
sue, bring, join, litigate, or support any kind of 
joint, class, or collective claim arising from or relat-
ing to a work dispute that has not yet arisen at the 
time of the making of the agreement in any forum 
that, but for such agreement, is of competent juris-
diction. 
‘‘(5) 
POSTDISPUTE
ARBITRATION
AGREE-
MENT.—The term ‘postdispute arbitration agree-
ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute 
that arose before the time of the making of the 
agreement. 
‘‘(6) POSTDISPUTE JOINT-ACTION WAIVER OF A 
WORK DISPUTE.—The term ‘postdispute joint-action 
waiver of a work dispute’ means an agreement under 
which a worker undertakes or promises not to pur-
sue, bring, join, litigate, or support any kind of 
joint, class, or collective claim arising from or relat-
ing to a work dispute that arose before the time of 
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the making of the agreement in any forum that, but 
for such agreement, is of competent jurisdiction. 
‘‘(7) WORK
DISPUTE.—the term ‘work dis-
pute’— 
‘‘(A) means a dispute between one or more 
workers (or their authorized representatives) 
and a covered entity arising out of or related to 
the work relationship or prospective work rela-
tionship between the workers and the covered 
entity; and 
‘‘(B) includes— 
‘‘(i) a dispute regarding the terms of, 
payment for, advertising of, recruitment of, 
referring of, arranging for, or discipline or 
discharge in connection with such work re-
lationship; 
‘‘(ii) a dispute arising under any law 
referred to or described in section 62(e) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, includ-
ing any part of such a law not explicitly 
referenced in such section that relates to 
protecting individuals on a basis that is 
protected under a law referred to or de-
scribed in such section; and 
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‘‘(iii) a dispute in which an individual 
or individuals seek certification— 
‘‘(I) as a class under rule 23 of 
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; 
‘‘(II) as a collective action under 
section 16(b) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
216(b)); or 
‘‘(III) under a comparable rule or 
provision of State law. 
‘‘(8) WORKER.—The term ‘worker’ means— 
‘‘(A) an employee; or 
‘‘(B) an individual who is engaged by a 
covered entity to perform services or work as an 
independent contractor (regardless of the label 
or classification assigned or used by the covered 
entity). 
‘‘§ 502. Validity and enforceability 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other chap-
ter of this title— 
‘‘(1) no predispute arbitration agreement shall 
be valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of a 
work dispute; 
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‘‘(2) no postdispute arbitration agreement that 
requires arbitration of a work dispute shall be valid 
or enforceable unless— 
‘‘(A) the agreement was not required by 
the covered entity, obtained by coercion or 
threat of adverse action, or made a condition of 
employment, work, or any employment-related 
or work-related privilege or benefit; 
‘‘(B) each worker entering into the agree-
ment was informed in writing using sufficiently 
plain language likely to be understood by the 
average worker of— 
‘‘(i) the right of the worker under 
paragraph (5) to refuse to enter the agree-
ment without retaliation; and 
‘‘(ii) the protections under section 
8(a)(6) of the National Labor Relations 
Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(6)); 
‘‘(C) each worker entering into the agree-
ment entered the agreement after a waiting pe-
riod of not fewer than 45 days, beginning on 
the date on which the worker was provided both 
the final text of the agreement and the disclo-
sures required under subparagraph (B); and 
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‘‘(D) each worker entering into the agree-
ment affirmatively consented to the agreement 
in writing; 
‘‘(3) no predispute joint-action waiver of a work 
dispute shall be valid or enforceable; 
‘‘(4) no postdispute joint-action waiver of a 
work dispute shall be valid or enforceable, unless the 
agreement to waive meets the requirements of sub-
paragraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2); and 
‘‘(5) no covered entity may retaliate or threaten 
to retaliate against a worker for refusing to enter 
into an agreement that provides for arbitration of a 
work dispute. 
‘‘(b) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—During the waiting 
period described in subsection (a)(2)(C), the statute of 
limitations for any claims that arise from or form the basis 
for the applicable work dispute shall be tolled. 
‘‘(c) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person who is injured by 
reason of a violation of subsection (a)(5) may bring a civil 
action in the appropriate district court of the United 
States against the covered entity within 2 years of the vio-
lation, or within 3 years if such violation is willful. Relief 
granted in such an action shall include a reasonable attor-
ney’s fee, other reasonable costs associated with maintain-
ing the action, and any appropriate relief authorized by 
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section 706(g) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 
2000e–5(g)) or by section 1977A(b) of the Revised Stat-
utes (42 U.S.C. 1981a(b)). 
‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This chapter applies to cov-
ered entities and workers engaged in activity affect-
ing commerce to the fullest extent permitted by the 
Constitution of the United States, including the 
work of persons engaged in domestic service in 
households, as described in section 2(a) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 202(a)). 
‘‘(2) ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) APPLICATION
DETERMINED
UNDER 
FEDERAL LAW.—An issue as to whether this 
chapter applies to an arbitration agreement 
shall be determined under Federal law. 
‘‘(B) 
APPLICATION
DETERMINED
BY 
COURT.—The applicability of this chapter to an 
agreement to arbitrate and the validity and en-
forceability of an agreement to which this chap-
ter applies shall be determined by a court, rath-
er than an arbitrator, regardless of whether any 
contractual provision purports to delegate such 
determinations to the arbitrator and irrespec-
tive of whether the party resisting arbitration 
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challenges the arbitration agreement specifically 
or in conjunction with other terms of the con-
tract containing such agreement. 
‘‘(C) COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING
AGREE-
MENTS.—Nothing in this chapter shall apply to 
any arbitration provision in a contract between 
a covered entity and a labor organization, ex-
cept that no such arbitration provision shall 
have the effect of waiving the right of a worker 
to seek judicial enforcement of a right arising 
under a provision of the Constitution of the 
United States, the constitution of a State, or a 
Federal or State statute, or public policy aris-
ing therefrom.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 
Code is amended— 
(A) in section 1, by striking ‘‘of seamen,’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com-
merce’’; 
(B) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before 
the period at the end; 
(C) in section 208, in the second sentence, 
by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before the period at the 
end; and 
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