I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3712 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Portal-to-Portal 
Act of 1947 to prevent wage theft and assist in the recovery of stolen 
wages, to authorize the Secretary of Labor to administer grants to 
prevent wage and hour violations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 11, 2019 
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. POCAN, 
Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. ROYBAL- 
ALLARD, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. OMAR, Mr. SIRES, and Mrs. WATSON COLE-
MAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the 
Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 to prevent wage theft and 
assist in the recovery of stolen wages, to authorize the 
Secretary of Labor to administer grants to prevent wage 
and hour violations, 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 ‘‘Wage Theft Prevention 
and Wage Recovery Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Wage theft occurs when an employer does 
not pay an employee for work that the employee has 
performed, depriving the worker of wages and earn-
ings to which the worker is legally entitled. This 
theft occurs in many forms, including by employers 
violating minimum wage requirements, failing to pay 
overtime compensation, requiring off-the-clock work, 
failing to provide final payments, misclassifying em-
ployees as being exempt from overtime compensation 
or as independent contractors rather than as em-
ployees, and improperly withholding tips. 
(2) Wage theft poses a serious and growing 
problem across industries for working individuals of 
the United States. Wage theft is widespread and is 
estimated 
to 
cost 
workers 
more 
than 
$15,000,000,000 per year. In certain industries, 
compliance with Federal wage and hour laws is less 
than 50 percent. 
(3) Wage theft is closely associated with em-
ployment discrimination, with women, immigrants, 
and minorities being disproportionately affected. 
Women are significantly more likely to experience 
minimum wage violations than men, foreign-born 
workers are nearly 2 times as likely to experience 
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minimum wage violations as their counterparts born 
in the United States, and African Americans are 3 
times more likely to experience minimum wage viola-
tions than their White counterparts. 
(4) Wage theft is closely associated with unsafe 
working conditions. 
(5) Wage theft— 
(A) depresses the wages of working fami-
lies who are already struggling to make ends 
meet; 
(B) strains social services funds; 
(C) diminishes consumer spending power 
and hurts local economies; 
(D) reduces vital State and Federal tax 
revenues; 
(E) places law-abiding employers at a com-
petitive disadvantage with noncompliant em-
ployers; 
(F) burdens commerce and the free flow of 
goods; and 
(G) lowers labor standards throughout 
labor markets. 
(6) Low-wage workers are at the greatest risk 
of suffering from wage theft. A survey of 4,387 low- 
wage workers in New York, Los Angeles, and Chi-
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cago found that 68 percent of the workers surveyed 
had experienced some form of wage theft in the 
workweek immediately before the survey was con-
ducted. These workers experienced a range of wage 
and hour violations: 26 percent of such workers were 
not paid minimum wage; 76 percent of such workers 
who worked more than 40 hours in the workweek 
immediately before the survey was conducted were 
not paid at the overtime rate; and, in the year before 
the survey was conducted, 43 percent of the workers 
who attempted to address such issues by filing a 
complaint with their employer or who attempted to 
form a labor organization experienced retaliation by 
their employers, including by being fired, suspended, 
or receiving threats of reductions in their hours or 
pay. 
(7) In 2012, State and Federal authorities as 
well as private attorneys recovered at least 
$933,000,000 in wage theft enforcement actions, 
which was nearly 3 times the value of all bank rob-
beries, residential robberies, convenience store and 
gas station robberies, and street robberies in the 
United States during that year. 
(8) A Department of Labor study of wage theft 
in California and New York found that wage theft 
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deprived workers of 37 percent to 49 percent of 
their income, pushing at least 15,000 families below 
the poverty line and driving another 50,000 to 
100,000 families deeper into poverty. 
(9) A study analyzing wage theft claims in the 
State of Washington from 2009 to 2013 estimated 
that the total economic cost of wage theft to the 
State totaled more than $64,000,000 resulting from 
the lower economic activity and spending of low- 
wage workers due to their lost wages. 
(10) A Department of Labor study of wage vio-
lations in California and New York found that wage 
theft deprived families of $5,600,000 in possible 
earned income tax credits and resulted in a 
$22,000,000 
loss 
in 
State 
tax 
revenue, 
a 
$238,000,000 loss in payroll tax revenue, and a 
$113,000,000 loss in Federal income tax revenue. 
(11) Barriers to addressing wage theft continue 
to exist decades after the enactment of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et 
seq.). These barriers have resulted, in significant 
part, because enforcement of such Act has not 
worked as Congress originally intended and because 
many of the provisions of such Act do not include 
sufficient penalties to discourage violations. Improve-
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ments to enforcement and amendments to such Act 
are necessary to ensure that such Act provides effec-
tive protection to individuals subject to wage theft. 
(12) The lack of a Federal right for employees 
to receive full compensation at the agreed upon wage 
rate for all work performed by the employee has re-
sulted in workers being able to recover only the ap-
plicable minimum wage, or the overtime rate if ap-
plicable, when employers engage in wage theft. 
(13) The lack of a Federal requirement to pro-
vide employees with paystubs indicating how their 
pay is calculated or to allow employees to inspect 
their employers’ payroll records significantly impedes 
efforts to identify and challenge wage theft. 
(14) The lack of a Federal requirement to pay 
employees their final payments in a timely manner 
upon termination of the employment relationship be-
tween the employer and employee has led to unrea-
sonable, and sometimes indefinite, delays in com-
pensation after an employment relationship ends. 
(15) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938, and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 
of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 
enactment of this Act, require employers to com-
pensate employees at the minimum wage rate and to 
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provide overtime compensation when appropriate, 
the lack of civil penalties for violations of these re-
quirements has dampened their effectiveness. 
(16) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 
of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 
enactment of this Act, provide employees who are 
subject to wage theft with the right to unpaid min-
imum wages or unpaid overtime compensation plus 
an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, 
this low level of damages has proved insufficient to 
deter employers from stealing the wages of their em-
ployees. 
(17) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 
of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 
enactment of this Act, require employers to keep 
records of employees’ pay, the lack of remedies for 
this requirement diminishes the effectiveness of the 
requirement. 
(18) While the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 and regulations promulgated by the Secretary 
of Labor, as in effect on the day before the date of 
enactment of this Act, provide for limited criminal 
penalties when employers violate the provisions of 
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such Act, the Secretary of Labor rarely resorts to 
these penalties, causing them to serve as a hollow 
threat. 
(19) The statute of limitations under section 6 
of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255), 
in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 
this Act, precludes employees from bringing claims 
for wage theft 2 years after the cause of action ac-
crued, or 3 years after the cause of action accrued 
if the claim is with respect to a willful violation by 
the employer. Additionally, the statute of limitations 
is not suspended while the Secretary of Labor inves-
tigates a complaint. These strict confines of the stat-
ute of limitations sometimes result in employees 
being deprived of their ability to institute a private 
lawsuit against their employer in order to recover 
their stolen wages. 
(20) Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)), as in effect on the 
day before the date of enactment of this Act, re-
quires employees to affirmatively ‘‘opt-in’’ in order 
to be a party plaintiff in a collective action brought 
by another aggrieved employee seeking to recover 
stolen wages in court. This provision limits the abil-
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ity of employees to unite and pursue private lawsuits 
against employers. 
(21) Under the penalty structure of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938, as in effect on the 
day before the date of enactment of this Act, many 
employers who are caught violating such Act con-
tinue to violate the Act. A Department of Labor in-
vestigation found that one-third of employers who 
had previously engaged in wage theft continued to 
do so. 
(22) The Government Accountability Office and 
the Department of Labor have recognized that when 
employers are assessed civil penalties, they are more 
likely to comply with the law in the future and other 
employers in the same region—regardless of indus-
try—are also more likely to comply with the law. 
(23) States that have enacted legislation to ad-
dress wage theft by increasing the damages to which 
employees are entitled following violations of wage 
and hour laws have positively impacted the workers 
in such States. However, many States have not en-
acted such legislation and, worse still, some States 
do not have any laws protecting workers from wage 
theft or even agencies to enforce workers’ rights to 
compensation for work. This discrepancy in State 
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laws has resulted in a fragmentation of workers’ 
rights across the United States, with some workers 
having a measure of protection from wage theft and 
other workers being left extremely vulnerable to 
wage theft. 
(24) Effective enforcement of wage and hour 
laws is critical to increasing compliance. Given the 
limited resources available for enforcement, en-
hanced strategic enforcement of Federal wage and 
hour laws is crucial. 
(25) For enhanced strategic enforcement to be 
effective, government regulators must work with 
community stakeholders who have direct knowledge 
of ongoing violations of Federal wage and hour re-
quirements and who are in a position to prevent 
such violations. 
(26) Partnerships between regulators, workers, 
nonprofit organizations, and businesses can increase 
compliance by educating workers about their rights, 
collecting evidence, reporting violations, identifying 
noncompliant employers, and modeling good prac-
tices. 
(27) Partnerships between regulators, workers, 
nonprofit organizations, and businesses have been 
successful in combating wage theft. In 2006, the Di-
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vision of Labor Standards Enforcement of the State 
of California created a janitorial enforcement team 
to work closely with a local janitorial watchdog orga-
nization. As of 2015, the partnership had resulted in 
countless administrative, civil, and criminal actions 
against employers and in the collection of more than 
$68,000,000 in back pay for janitorial workers. 
(28) The Comptroller General of the United 
States has recommended that the Department of 
Labor identify ways to leverage its resources to bet-
ter combat wage theft by improving services pro-
vided through partnerships. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are to prevent wage theft 
and facilitate the recovery of stolen wages by— 
(1) strengthening the penalties for engaging in 
wage theft; 
(2) giving workers the right to receive, in a 
timely manner, full compensation for the work they 
perform, certain disclosures, regular paystubs, and 
final payments; 
(3) providing workers with improved tools to re-
cover their stolen wages in court; and 
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(4) making assistance available to enhance en-
forcement of and compliance with Federal wage and 
hour laws through— 
(A) supporting initiatives that address and 
prevent violations of such laws and assist work-
ers in wage recovery; 
(B) supporting individual entities and de-
veloping community partnerships that expand 
and improve cooperative efforts between en-
forcement agencies and community-based orga-
nizations in the prevention of wage and hour 
violations and enforcement of wage and hour 
laws; 
(C) expanding outreach to workers in in-
dustries or geographic areas identified by the 
Secretary of Labor as highly noncompliant with 
Federal wage and hour laws; 
(D) improving detection of employers who 
are not complying with such laws and aiding in 
the identification of violations of such laws; and 
(E) facilitating the collection of evidence to 
assist enforcement efforts. 
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TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 
FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT 
OF 1938 
SEC. 101. REQUIREMENTS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DISCLO-
SURES, REGULAR PAYSTUBS, AND FINAL PAY-
MENTS. 
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended 
by inserting after section 4 (29 U.S.C. 204) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DISCLO-
SURES, REGULAR PAYSTUBS, AND FINAL PAY-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) DISCLOSURES.— 
‘‘(1) INITIAL DISCLOSURES.—Not later than 15 
days after the date on which an employer hires an 
employee who in any workweek is engaged in com-
merce or in the production of goods for commerce, 
or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce 
or in the production of goods for commerce, the em-
ployer of such employee shall provide such employee 
with an initial disclosure containing the information 
described in paragraph (3). 
‘‘(2) MODIFICATION DISCLOSURES.—Not later 
than 15 days after the date on which any of the in-
formation described in paragraph (3) changes with 
respect to an employee described in paragraph (1), 
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the employer of such employee shall provide the em-
ployee with a modification disclosure containing all 
the information described in paragraph (3). 
‘‘(3) 
INFORMATION.—The 
information 
de-
scribed in this paragraph shall include— 
‘‘(A) the rate of pay and whether the em-
ployee is paid by the hour, shift, day, week, or 
job, or by salary, piece rate, commission, or 
other form of compensation; 
‘‘(B) an indication of whether the employee 
is being classified by the employer as an em-
ployee subject to the maximum hours and over-
time compensation requirements of section 7 or 
as an employee exempt from such requirements 
as provided under section 13; 
‘‘(C) the name of the employer and any 
other name used by the employer to conduct 
business; and 
‘‘(D) the physical address of and telephone 
number for the employer’s main office or prin-
ciple place of business, and a mailing address 
for such office or place of business if the mail-
ing address is different than the physical ad-
dress. 
‘‘(b) PAYSTUBS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Every employer shall pro-
vide each employee of such employer who in any 
workweek is engaged in commerce or in the produc-
tion of goods for commerce, or is employed in an en-
terprise engaged in commerce or in the production 
of goods for commerce, a paystub that corresponds 
to work performed by the employee during the appli-
cable pay period and contains the information re-
quired under paragraph (3) in any form provided 
under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) FORMS.—A paystub required under this 
subsection shall be a written statement and may be 
provided in any of the following forms: 
‘‘(A) As a separate document accom-
panying any payment to an employee for work 
performed during the applicable pay period. 
‘‘(B) In the case of an employee who re-
ceives paychecks from the employer, as a de-
tachable statement accompanying each pay-
check. 
‘‘(C) As a digital document provided 
through electronic communication, subject to 
the employee affirmatively consenting to receive 
the paystubs in this form. 
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‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each paystub shall contain 
all of the following information: 
‘‘(A) The name of the employee. 
‘‘(B) In the case of an employee who is 
paid an hourly wage, an employee who is em-
ployed at piece rates, or an employee who is 
paid a salary and is not exempt from the over-
time requirements of section 7, the total num-
ber of hours worked by the employee, including 
the number of hours worked per workweek, dur-
ing the applicable pay period. 
‘‘(C) The total gross and net wages paid, 
and, in the case of an employee who is paid an 
hourly wage, an employee who is employed at 
piece rates, or an employee who is paid a salary 
and is not exempt from the overtime require-
ments of section 7, the rate of pay for each 
hour worked during the applicable pay period. 
‘‘(D) In the case of an employee who is 
paid a salary in lieu of an hourly wage, the 
amount of salary paid during the applicable pay 
period. 
‘‘(E) In the case of an employee employed 
at piece rates, the number of piece rate units 
earned, the applicable piece rates, and the total 
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amount paid to the employee for the applicable 
pay period in accordance with such piece rates. 
‘‘(F) The rate of pay of the employee dur-
ing the applicable pay period and an expla-
nation of the basis for such rate. 
‘‘(G) The number of overtime hours 
worked by the employee during the applicable 
pay period and the compensation required 
under section 7 that is provided to the employee 
for such hours. 
‘‘(H) Any additional compensation pro-
vided to the employee during the applicable pay 
period, with an explanation of each type of com-
pensation, including any allowances or reim-
bursements such as amounts related to meals, 
clothing, lodging, or any other item, and any 
cost to the employee associated with such allow-
ance or reimbursements. 
‘‘(I) Itemized deductions from the gross in-
come of the employee during the applicable pay 
period, and an explanation for each deduction. 
‘‘(J) The date that is the beginning of the 
applicable pay period and the date that is the 
end of such applicable pay period. 
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‘‘(K) The name of the employer and any 
other name used by the employer to conduct 
business. 
‘‘(L) The name and phone number of a 
representative of the employer for contact pur-
poses. 
‘‘(M) Any additional information that the 
Secretary reasonably requires to be included 
through notice and comment rulemaking. 
‘‘(c) FINAL PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 
after an individual described in paragraph (4) termi-
nates employment with an employer (by action of 
the employer or the individual), or on the date on 
which such employer pays other employees for the 
pay period during which the individual so terminates 
such employment, whichever date is earlier, the em-
ployer shall provide the individual with a final pay-
ment, by compensating such individual for any un-
compensated hours worked or benefits incurred by 
the individual as an employee for the employer. 
‘‘(2) CONTINUING WAGES.—An employer who 
violates the requirement under paragraph (1) shall, 
for each day, not to exceed 30 days, of such violation 
provide the individual described in paragraph (4) 
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with compensation at a rate that is equal to the reg-
ular rate of compensation to which such individual 
was entitled when such individual was an employee 
of such employer. 
‘‘(3) 
LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding 
para-
graphs (1) and (2), any individual described in para-
graph (4) who intentionally avoids receiving a final 
payment described in paragraph (1), or who refuses 
to receive the final payment when fully tendered, re-
sulting in the employer violating the requirement 
under such paragraph, shall not be entitled to the 
compensation provided under paragraph (2) for the 
time during which the individual so avoids final pay-
ment. 
‘‘(4) INDIVIDUAL.—An individual described in 
this paragraph is an individual who was employed by 
the employer, and through such employment, in any 
workweek, was engaged in commerce or in the pro-
duction of goods for commerce, or was employed in 
an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the produc-
tion of goods for commerce.’’. 
SEC. 102. RIGHT TO FULL COMPENSATION. 
Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(h) RIGHT TO FULL COMPENSATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employ-
ment contract or other employment agreement, in-
cluding a collective bargaining agreement, that speci-
fies that an employer shall compensate an employee 
(who is described in paragraph (2)) at a rate that 
is higher than the rate provided under subsection 
(a), the employer shall compensate such employee at 
the rate specified in such contract or other employ-
ment agreement. 
‘‘(2) EMPLOYEE ENGAGED IN COMMERCE.—The 
requirement under paragraph (1) shall apply with 
respect to any employee who in any workweek is en-
gaged in commerce or in the production of goods for 
commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged 
in commerce or in the production of goods for com-
merce.’’. 
SEC. 103. CIVIL AND CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) DAMAGES.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), as amended by section 102, 
is further amended— 
(1) in section 4(f) (29 U.S.C. 204(f)), in the 
third sentence— 
(A) by striking ‘‘minimum’’; and 
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such wages lost, and the amount of any in-
terest on such wages lost accrued at the 
prevailing rate’’; 
(iv) by striking the fourth sentence; 
and 
(v) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Notwithstanding chapter 1 of title 9, 
United States Code (commonly known as 
the ‘Federal Arbitration Act’) or any other 
law, the right to bring an action, including 
a collective action, in court under this sec-
tion cannot be waived by an employee as a 
condition of employment or in a pre-dis-
pute arbitration agreement.’’; and 
(B) in subsection (c)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘minimum’’ each place 
the term appears; 
(ii) in the third sentence, by striking 
‘‘or liquidated’’; 
(iii) in the first sentence, by striking 
‘‘and an additional equal amount as liq-
uidated damages’’ and inserting ‘‘, an ad-
ditional amount as damages that is equal 
to (subject to the third sentence of this 
subsection) 2 times such amount of unpaid 
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wages or unpaid overtime compensation, 
and any interest on such unpaid wages or 
unpaid overtime compensation accrued at 
the prevailing rate’’; and 
(iv) in the second sentence, by strik-
ing ‘‘and an equal amount as liquidated 
damages.’’ and inserting ‘‘, an additional 
amount as damages that is equal to (sub-
ject to the third sentence of this sub-
section) 2 times such amount of unpaid 
wages or unpaid overtime compensation, 
and any interest on such unpaid wages or 
unpaid overtime compensation accrued at 
the prevailing rate. In the event that the 
employer violates section 15(a)(3), the Sec-
retary may bring an action in any court of 
competent jurisdiction to recover the 
amount of any wages lost, including any 
unpaid wages or any unpaid overtime com-
pensation, an additional amount as dam-
ages that is equal to 3 times the amount 
of such wages lost, and any interest on 
such wages lost accrued at the prevailing 
rate.’’; and 
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(4) in section 17 (29 U.S.C. 217), by striking 
‘‘minimum’’. 
(b) CIVIL FINES.—Section 16(e) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), any person 
who violates section 6 or 7, relating to wages, shall be 
subject to a civil fine that is not to exceed $2,000 per 
each employee affected for each initial violation of such 
section. 
‘‘(B) Any person who repeatedly or willfully violates 
section 6 or 7, relating to wages, shall be subject to a 
civil fine that is not to exceed $10,000 per each employee 
affected for each such violation.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) Any person who violates subsection (a) or (b) 
of section 5 shall— 
‘‘(A) for the first violation of such subsection, 
be subject to a civil fine that is not to exceed $50 
per each employee affected; and 
‘‘(B) for each subsequent violation of such sub-
section, be subject to a civil fine that is not to ex-
ceed $100 per each employee affected. 
‘‘(7) Any person who violates section 11(c) shall— 
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‘‘(A) for the first violation, be subject to a civil 
fine that is not to exceed $1,000 per each employee 
affected; and 
‘‘(B) for each subsequent violation, be subject 
to a civil fine that is not to exceed $5,000 per each 
employee affected.’’. 
(c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Section 16(a) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Any person’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 
Any person’’; 
(2) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ 
and inserting ‘‘$10,000 per each employee affected’’; 
(3) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘No per-
son’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (2), no 
person’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
Act, the Secretary shall refer any case involving a covered 
offender described in subparagraph (B) to the Department 
of Justice for prosecution. 
‘‘(B) A covered offender described in this subpara-
graph is an offender who willfully violates each of the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(i) Section 11(c) by falsifying any records de-
scribed in such section. 
‘‘(ii) Section 6 or 7, relating to wages. 
‘‘(iii) Section 15(a)(3).’’. 
SEC. 104. RECORDKEEPING. 
Section 11(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 211(c)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: ‘‘In the event that an employee requests an 
inspection of the records described in this subsection that 
pertain to such employee, the employer shall provide the 
employee with a copy of the records for a period of up 
to 5 years prior to such request being made. Not later 
than 21 days after an employee requests such an inspec-
tion, the employer shall comply with the request. In the 
event that an employer violates this subsection, resulting 
in a lack of a complete record of an employee’s hours 
worked or wages owed, notwithstanding whether the em-
ployer or employee is responsible for maintaining the em-
ployer’s official records, any evidence of the hours worked 
or wages owed set forth by the employee, including evi-
dence of a documentary, testimonial, representative, or 
statistical nature, that is sufficient to establish to a finder 
of fact a just and reasonable inference that the employee 
was not fully compensated at the rate required by this Act, 
including under section 6(h) as applicable, for all of the 
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work that the employee performed for the employer shall 
establish a rebuttable presumption that the employer vio-
lated section 6 or 7 by failing to fully compensate the em-
ployee at the required rate for all work performed by the 
employee for the employer and a rebuttable presumption 
that the evidence set forth by the employee regarding the 
specific number of hours worked by the employee for the 
employer for which the employee was not compensated and 
the wage rate for each of those hours is accurate. The 
employer may only overcome the rebuttable presumptions 
described in this subsection by providing clear and con-
vincing evidence that the employee’s evidence is inac-
curate.’’. 
TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 
PORTAL-TO-PORTAL ACT OF 1947 
SEC. 201. INCREASING AND TOLLING STATUTE OF LIMITA-
TIONS. 
Section 6 of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 
U.S.C. 255) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘minimum’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘liquidated damages’’ and 
inserting ‘‘other damages’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘may be commenced within 
two years’’ and inserting ‘‘may be commenced 
within 4 years’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘unless commenced within 
two years’’ and inserting ‘‘unless commenced 
within 4 years’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘may be commenced within 
three years’’ and inserting ‘‘may be commenced 
within 5 years’’; 
(3) in subsection (d), by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) with respect to the running of any statutory pe-
riod of limitation described in this section, the running 
of such statutory period shall be deemed suspended during 
the period beginning on the date on which the Secretary 
of Labor notifies an employer of an initiation of an inves-
tigation or enforcement action and ending on the date on 
which the Secretary notifies the employer that the matter 
has been officially resolved by the Secretary.’’. 
TITLE III—WAGE THEFT PRE-
VENTION AND WAGE RECOV-
ERY GRANT PROGRAM 
SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
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(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term the ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Wage and 
Hour Division of the Department of Labor. 
(2) COMMUNITY
PARTNER.—The term ‘‘com-
munity partner’’ means any stakeholder with a com-
mitment to enforcing wage and hour laws and pre-
venting abuses of such laws, including any— 
(A) State department of labor; 
(B) attorney general of a State, or other 
similar authorized official of a political subdivi-
sion thereof; 
(C) law enforcement agency; 
(D) consulate; 
(E) employee or advocate of employees, in-
cluding a labor organization, community and 
faith-based organization, business association, 
or nonprofit legal aid organization; 
(F) academic institution that plans, coordi-
nates, and implements programs and activities 
to prevent wage and hour violations and recover 
unpaid wages, damages, and penalties; or 
(G) any municipal agency responsible for 
the enforcement of local wage and hour laws. 
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(3) COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIP.—The term 
‘‘community partnership’’ means a partnership be-
tween— 
(A) a working group consisting of commu-
nity partners; and 
(B) the Department of Labor. 
(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means an entity that is any of the following: 
(A) A nonprofit organization, including a 
community-based organization, faith-based or-
ganization, or labor organization, that provides 
services and support to employees, including as-
sisting such employees in recovering unpaid 
wages. 
(B) An employer. 
(C) A business association. 
(D) An institution of higher education, as 
defined by section 101 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
(E) A partnership between any of the enti-
ties described in subparagraphs (A) through 
(D). 
(5) EMPLOY; 
EMPLOYEE; 
EMPLOYER.—The 
terms ‘‘employ’’, ‘‘employee’’, and ‘‘employer’’ have 
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the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
(7) STRATEGIC
ENFORCEMENT.—The term 
‘‘strategic enforcement’’ means the process by which 
the Secretary— 
(A) targets highly noncompliant industries, 
as identified by the Secretary, using industry- 
specific structures to influence, and ultimately 
reform, networks of interconnected employers; 
(B) analyzes regulatory regimes under 
which specific industries operate; and 
(C) modifies the enforcement approach of 
such regulatory regimes in order to ensure the 
greatest impact. 
(8) WAGE AND HOUR LAW.—The term ‘‘wage 
and hour law’’ means any Federal law enforced by 
the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of 
Labor, including any provision of this Act enforced 
by such division. 
(9) WAGE AND HOUR VIOLATION.—The term 
‘‘wage and hour violation’’ refers to any violation of 
a Federal law enforced by the Wage and Hour Divi-
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sion of the Department of Labor, including any pro-
vision of this Act enforced by such division. 
SEC. 302. WAGE THEFT PREVENTION AND WAGE RECOVERY 
GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 
Administrator, shall provide grants to eligible entities to 
assist such entities in enhancing the enforcement of wage 
and hour laws, in accordance with this section and con-
sistent with the purposes of this Act. 
(b) GRANTS.—A grant provided under this section 
shall be designed to— 
(1) support an eligible entity in establishing 
and supporting the activities described in subsection 
(c)(1); and 
(2) develop community partnerships to expand 
and improve cooperative efforts between enforcement 
agencies and members of the community to— 
(A) prevent and reduce wage and hour vio-
lations; and 
(B) assist employees in recovering back 
pay for any such violations. 
(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The grants de-
scribed in this section shall assist eligible entities in 
establishing and supporting activities that include— 
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(A) disseminating information and con-
ducting outreach and training to educate em-
ployees about their rights under wage and hour 
laws; 
(B) conducting educational training for 
employers about their obligations under wage 
and hour laws; 
(C) conducting orientations and trainings 
jointly with officials of the Wage and Hour Di-
vision of the Department of Labor; 
(D) providing assistance to employees in 
filing claims of wage and hour violations; 
(E) assisting enforcement agencies in con-
ducting investigations, including in the collec-
tion of evidence and recovering back pay; 
(F) monitoring compliance with wage and 
hour laws; 
(G) performing joint visitations to work-
sites that violate wage and hour laws with offi-
cials from the Wage and Hour Division of the 
Department of Labor; 
(H) establishing networks for education, 
communication, and participation in the work-
place and community; 
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(I) evaluating the effectiveness of pro-
grams designed to prevent wage and hour viola-
tions and enforce wage and hour laws; 
(J) recruiting and hiring of staff and vol-
unteers; 
(K) production and dissemination of out-
reach and training materials; and 
(L) any other activities as the Secretary 
may reasonably prescribe through notice and 
comment rulemaking. 
(2) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.—Notwithstanding 
paragraph (1), an eligible entity receiving a grant 
under this section may not use the grant funds for 
any purpose reasonably prohibited by the Secretary 
through notice and comment rulemaking. 
(d) TERM OF GRANTS.—Each grant made under this 
section shall be available for expenditure for a period that 
is not to exceed 3 years. 
(e) APPLICATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 
grant under this section shall submit an application 
for such grant to the Secretary in accordance with 
this subsection. 
(2) PARTNERSHIPS.—In the case of an eligible 
entity that is a partnership described in section 
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301(4)(E), the eligible entity may submit a joint ap-
plication that designates a single entity as the lead 
entity for purposes of receiving and disbursing 
funds. 
(3) CONTENTS.—An application under this sub-
section shall include— 
(A) a description of a plan for the program 
that the eligible entity proposes to carry out 
with a grant under this section, including a 
long-term strategy and detailed implementation 
plan that reflects expected participation of, and 
partnership with, community partners; 
(B) information on the prevalence of wage 
and hour violations in each community or State 
of the eligible entity; 
(C) information on any industry or geo-
graphic area targeted by the plan for such pro-
gram; 
(D) information on the type of outreach 
and relationship building that will be conducted 
under such program; 
(E) information on the training and edu-
cation that will be provided to employees and 
employers under such program; and 
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(F) the method by which the eligible entity 
will measure results of such program. 
(f) SELECTION.— 
(1) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—In accordance with 
this subsection, the Secretary shall, on a competitive 
basis, select grant recipients from among eligible en-
tities that have submitted an application under sub-
section (e). 
(2) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pri-
ority to eligible entities that— 
(A) serve employees in any industry or ge-
ographic area that is most highly at risk for 
noncompliance with wage and hour violations, 
as identified by the Secretary; and 
(B) demonstrate past and ongoing work to 
prevent wage and hour violations or to recover 
unpaid wages. 
(3) OTHER
CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting 
grant recipients under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
shall also consider— 
(A) the prevalence of ongoing community 
support for each eligible entity, including finan-
cial and other contributions; and 
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(B) the eligible entity’s past and ongoing 
partnerships with other organizations. 
(g) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 
receiving a grant under this section, the grant recipi-
ent shall negotiate and finalize with the Secretary a 
memorandum of understanding that sets forth spe-
cific goals, objectives, strategies, and activities that 
will be carried out under the grant by such recipient 
through a community partnership. 
(2) SIGNATURES.—A representative of the 
grant recipient (or, in the case of a grant recipient 
that is an eligible entity described in section 
301(4)(E), a representative of each entity that 
composes the grant recipient) and the Secretary 
shall sign the memorandum of understanding under 
this subsection. 
(3) REVISIONS.—The memorandum of under-
standing under this subsection shall be reviewed and 
revised by the grant recipient and the Secretary each 
year of the duration of the grant. 
(h) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each grant recipient under 
this section shall develop procedures for reporting, 
monitoring, measuring, and evaluating the activities 
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of each program or project funded under this sec-
tion. 
(2) GUIDELINES.—The procedures required 
under paragraph (1) shall be in accordance with 
guidelines established by the Secretary. 
(i) REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING.—If 
the Secretary determines that a recipient of a grant under 
this section is not in compliance with the terms and re-
quirements of the memorandum of understanding under 
subsection (g), the Secretary may revoke or suspend (in 
whole or in part) the funding of the grant. 
(j) USE OF COMPONENTS.—In addition to the Wage 
and Hour Division, the Secretary (acting through the Ad-
ministrator) may use any division or agency of the Depart-
ment of Labor in carrying out this title. 
SEC. 303. GAO STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 
United States shall conduct a study to identify successful 
programs carried out by grants under section 302, and 
the elements, policies, or procedures of such programs that 
can be replicated by other programs carried out by grants 
under such section. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall submit a report to the Secretary and 
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Congress containing the results of the study conducted 
under subsection (a). 
(c) USE OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall use 
information contained in the report submitted under sub-
section (b)— 
(1) to improve the quality of community part-
nership programs assisted or carried out under this 
title that are in existence as of the publication of the 
report; and 
(2) to develop models for new community part-
nership programs to be assisted or carried out under 
this title. 
SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 
for fiscal year 2020 and for each subsequent fiscal year 
through fiscal year 2023, to remain available until ex-
pended, to carry out the grant program under section 302. 
TITLE IV—REGULATIONS AND 
EFFECTIVE DATE 
SEC. 401. REGULATIONS. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate such 
regulations as are necessary to carry out this Act, and 
the amendments made by this Act. 
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SEC. 402. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by titles I and II shall take 
effect on the date that is the earlier of— 
(1) the date that is 6 months after the date on 
which the final regulations are promulgated by the 
Secretary of Labor under section 401; and 
(2) the date that is 18 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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