I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5073 
To require a score of worker-friendliness of each employer before entering 
into a Federal contract, to establish a contracting preference for such 
score, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 13, 2019 
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself, Ms. MENG, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. 
TLAIB, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Education 
and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require a score of worker-friendliness of each employer 
before entering into a Federal contract, to establish a 
contracting preference for such score, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘A Just Society: The 
Uplift Our Workers Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. WORKER-FRIENDLINESS SCORES FOR FEDERAL 
CONTRACTS. 
(a) SCORES REQUIRED.—With respect to any con-
tract or subcontract (at any tier) entered into on or after 
the date on which the method for a score is developed pur-
suant to subsection (b), the head of the executive agency 
shall— 
(1) ensure that contracting officers consider the 
score approximately equal in importance or signifi-
cantly more important than cost or price (as de-
scribed in section 3306 of title 41, United States 
Code); and 
(2) ensure that an offeror for a prime contract 
does not subcontract with any entity that violates 
the labor laws and executive orders listed in sub-
section (b). 
(b) COMPONENTS OF SCORE.—Not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Labor, in coordination with the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget, shall— 
(1) develop a method to assess and provide a 
score with respect to the worker-friendliness of each 
prospective contractor or subcontractor (at any tier) 
that is an employer that submits a bid for a Federal 
contract before entering into the contract which 
takes into account— 
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(A) whether the employer is in compliance 
with the applicable labor laws and executive or-
ders listed in subsection (c), including whether 
the employer has been subject to any adminis-
trative or civil judgments or arbitral decisions 
for any violations of such laws or orders; 
(B) whether the employer guarantees that 
the maximum amount of work that may be per-
formed under the contract by full-time workers 
will be performed by such workers by working 
40 hours per work week; 
(C) whether the employer provides paid 
overtime for any work that exceeds 40 hours 
per work week; 
(D) whether employers are paid at least 
$15 an hour, and wages are otherwise reflective 
of the prevailing wage; 
(E) whether the employer has a policy of 
providing employees with guaranteed predictive 
scheduling, the quality of which shall be as-
sessed by determining— 
(i) whether the policy is crafted for 
the purpose of ending unstable scheduling 
and allows workers to effectively provide 
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for their families financially and emotion-
ally; 
(ii) whether an employer has clear 
consistent processes in place to provide all 
employees with a good faith written esti-
mate of (1) how many shifts an employee 
is scheduled to work per month, (2) the 
days and hours these shifts will occur, and 
(3) whether the employee will be expected 
to work on-call shifts; 
(iii) whether an employer provides em-
ployees with their final schedules not less 
than two weeks in advance, including 
whether such final schedules are written 
and posted in the workplace, or posted on 
an electronic portal easily accessed by all 
employees; 
(iv) whether an employer reports 
changes to an employee’s schedule within a 
reasonable amount of time and com-
pensates employees when the employer 
cancels or alters shifts; 
(v) whether an employer limits ‘‘on 
call’’ scheduling practices and provides rea-
sonable compensation, in addition to reg-
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ular pay, to employees that are given less 
than 24 hours notice before the start of a 
scheduled work shift; 
(vi) whether an employer reasonably 
compensates each employee who reports to 
work anticipating that the employee will 
work a certain number of hours (deter-
mined by the employer) but is sent home 
by the employer before such hours are 
complete; 
(vii) whether an employer guarantees 
a reasonable rest period when employees 
work consecutive shifts; 
(viii) whether an employer consistently 
offers any ‘‘extra’’ hours or shifts to exist-
ing employees before hiring new employees, 
using a temp agency, or using contractors 
or subcontractors; 
(ix) whether an employer maintains 
and utilizes an easily accessible and univer-
sally available voluntary standby list of 
current employees willing to work addi-
tional hours due to unanticipated need or 
unexpected absence; 
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(x) whether an employee avoids con-
sistent 
or 
systematic 
under-scheduling 
which would result in employees consist-
ently working significantly more hours 
than written in work schedule; 
(xi) whether an employer allows em-
ployees to request not to be scheduled for 
work shifts during certain times or at cer-
tain locations, and to identify preferences 
for the hours or locations of work; and 
(xii) whether an employer guarantees 
its employees will not be subject to infor-
mal or formal retaliation (such a demotion, 
reduction in hours, harassment, or termi-
nation) for requesting predictable sched-
ules; 
(F) whether the employer has a policy of 
guaranteeing access to paid sick leave, the qual-
ity of which shall be assessed by determining— 
(i) whether an employer guarantees a 
minimum of 56 hours paid sick leave annu-
ally for all employees; 
(ii) in the case of an employer with 10 
or more employees, whether the employer 
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guarantees more than 56 hours of paid 
sick leave annually for all employees; 
(iii) whether this paid sick leave is 
distinct from time accrued as part of a 
paid time off policy; 
(iv) whether an employer provides 
leave as an upfront allocation at the start 
of employment and the start of subsequent 
year of employment as opposed to requir-
ing that employees accrue paid sick leave; 
(v) whether an employer allows paid 
sick leave to be used by its employees to 
recover from illness, injury, medical condi-
tion as well as to seek medical diagnosis, 
preventive care, and other medical reasons; 
(vi) whether an employer allows this 
paid sick leave to also be used to aid, care 
for, or attend medical appointments with 
an employee’s family (including the em-
ployee’s child, parent, legal guardian or 
ward, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, 
spouse, registered domestic partner under 
any State or local law, or other person rea-
sonably designated as family); 
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(vii) whether an employer ensures 
that any verification requirements or policy 
around use of paid sick leave is reasonable 
and in no way onerous; and 
(viii) whether an employer allows em-
ployees to use paid sick leave to recover 
from or seek assistance in the aftermath of 
domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual vi-
olence, or stalking; 
(G) whether the employer has a policy of 
providing employees access with paid parental 
and family leave, the quality of which shall be 
assessed by determining— 
(i) whether an employer guarantees 
12 weeks or more paid family or parental 
leave annually after birth of a child, adop-
tion of a child, foster placement, or serious 
illness of the employee or the employee’s 
family member serious illness (as defined 
in section 101 of the Family and Medical 
Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611)); 
(ii) whether an employer provides 
leave as an upfront allocation at the start 
of employment as opposed to requiring 
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that employees accrue or earn paid family 
leave; 
(iii) whether an employer guarantees 
such leave for both full-time and part-time 
employees; 
(iv) whether an employer guarantees 
full or significant wage replacement during 
the course of this leave; 
(v) whether an employer guarantees a 
high weekly benefit cap or no such cap; 
(vi) whether the employer’s paid fam-
ily leave policy include job protection for 
all employees; 
(vii) whether such leave may be used 
when an employee’s child, parent, legal 
guardian or ward, sibling, grandparent, 
grandchild, spouse, registered domestic 
partner under any State or local law, or 
other person reasonably designated as fam-
ily is deployed abroad on active military 
service; and 
(viii) whether such policy allows for 
flexible hours once an employee returns to 
work following paid family and medical 
leave; 
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(H) whether the employer has a policy to 
employ individuals who are represented by a 
labor organization that has entered into a col-
lective bargaining agreement on the behalf of 
such individuals, the quality of which shall be 
assessed by determining— 
(i) whether an employer has policies 
guaranteeing the employees’ right to be 
represented by a labor organization and 
has committed to engage in timely good 
faith negotiations with the such labor orga-
nization; 
(ii) whether an employer has policies 
that recognize labor organizations formed 
as a result of an election or use of author-
ization cards; 
(iii) whether an employer has policies 
guaranteeing its employees right to strike; 
and 
(iv) whether an employer has policies 
guaranteeing that an employee will not be 
subject to informal or formal retaliation 
(such a demotion, reduction in hour, har-
assment, or termination) for joining or at-
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tempting to be represented by a labor or-
ganization; 
(I) whether the employer provides high- 
quality healthcare that is subsidized by the em-
ployer; 
(J) whether the employees have an oppor-
tunity to form a worker or employment coopera-
tive; 
(K) whether the employer has policies in 
places to proactively manage the ethical, social, 
and environmental risks in the supply chain; 
and 
(L) any other relevant requirements as de-
termined by the Secretary and the Director; 
(2) provide the head of each executive agency 
with recommendations on how to evaluate such a 
score in making contracting decisions, and ensure 
that such recommendations will result in a pref-
erence for an employer that has higher scores with 
respect to worker-friendliness; 
(3) identify best practices for the implementa-
tion of the scoring process described in paragraph 
(1), including best practices to— 
(A) ensure that contracting officers con-
sider this score approximately equal in impor-
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tance or significantly more important than cost 
or price (as described in section 3306 of title 
41, United States Code); and 
(B) ensure that an offeror for a prime con-
tract does not subcontract with any entity that 
violates the labor laws and executive orders list-
ed in subsection (c); 
(4) maintain such scores in a database that is 
publicly accessible, which may be an existing data-
base or a new database developed and maintained by 
the Secretary of Labor; 
(5) create a process for an employer to appeal 
a score, including by submitting additional data or 
requesting a new score due to changes to employee 
policy; 
(6) review each score every 5 years to ensure 
that such score is up-to-date; and 
(7) enable employers that are not Federal con-
tractors to request such a score for purposes of pro-
moting worker-friendly policies. 
(c) LABOR LAWS AND EXECUTIVE ORDERS.—The 
laws and executive orders listed in this subsection are as 
follows: 
(1) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 
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(2) The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 
1970 (29 U.S.C. 652 et seq.). 
(3) The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 
Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). 
(4) The National Labor Relations Act (29 
U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 
(5) Subchapter IV of chapter 31, of title 40, 
United States Code (commonly referred to as the 
‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). 
(6) Chapter 67 of title 41, United States Code 
(commonly referred to as the ‘‘Service Contract 
Act’’). 
(7) Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 
1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity). 
(8) Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973 (29 U.S.C. 793). 
(9) The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 
(29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). 
(10) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
(42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.). 
(11) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 
(12) The Age Discrimination in Employment 
Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.). 
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(13) Chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code 
(commonly known as the ‘‘Uniformed Services Em-
ployment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994’’). 
(14) Executive Order 13658 dated February 
12, 2014. 
(15) State laws comparable to the laws and ex-
ecutive orders listed in paragraphs (1) through (14). 
(d) BI-YEARLY REPORT.—Not later than 12 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act and every 6 months 
thereafter until the method described in section 2(b)(1) 
is developed, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re-
port that includes— 
(1) the status of developing the method de-
scribed in section 2(b)(1); 
(2) the factors described in section 2(b)(1) 
being taken into account in providing a score and 
how each such factor is being weighted; 
(3) the stakeholders consulted in developing the 
method described in section 2(b)(1); and 
(4) how the Secretary is meeting the require-
ments of the Secretary under this section. 
(e) UPDATE OF FAR.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Acqui-
sition Regulation shall be amended to carry out this Act. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘contract’’ does not 
include a contract with the Federal Prison Indus-
tries. 
(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-
et. 
(3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 
agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
133 of title 41, United States Code. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
Æ 
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