I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3669 
To prohibit employers from carrying life insurance policies on their rank 
and file employees. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 
Mr. GUTIERREZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To prohibit employers from carrying life insurance policies 
on their rank and file employees. 
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 ‘‘Employer-Owned Life 
Insurance Limitation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMPLOYER-OWNED LIFE INSUR-
ANCE OF MOST EMPLOYEES. 
(a) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for 
any employer to carry an employer-owned life insurance 
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policy on any employee of such employer whose salary is 
less than $1,000,000 per year. 
(b) MANDATORY CANCELLATION.—It shall be unlaw-
ful for any employer to carry an employer-owned life in-
surance policy not prohibited by subsection (a) for any em-
ployee after 30 days after such employee terminates em-
ployment with such employer. 
SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE REQUIRED. 
Not later than 30 days after the date on which an 
employer purchases any employer-owned life insurance 
policy not prohibited by section 2(a), the employer shall 
provide to the employee who is the subject of the employer- 
owned life insurance policy a written notice that con-
tains— 
(1) a statement that the employer carries an 
employer-owned life insurance policy on the life of 
the employee; 
(2) the identity of the insurance carrier of the 
policy; 
(3) the benefit amount of the policy; and 
(4) the name of the beneficiary of the policy. 
SEC. 4. CIVIL ACTION. 
Any employee who is the subject of an employer- 
owned life insurance policy carried by his or her employer 
in violation of section 2 (or the spouse or next of kin of 
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such an employee in the case of a deceased employee) may 
commence a civil action in an appropriate district court 
of the United States— 
(1) to enjoin the employer from carrying such 
a policy; and 
(2) to obtain damages in an amount that is the 
greater of $500,000 or— 
(A) in the case of a deceased employee, 3 
times the amount of any benefit paid or payable 
to the employer from the employer-owned life 
insurance policy; or 
(B) in the case of an employee who has not 
died, 3 times the amount of any benefit that 
would be payable to the employer from the em-
ployer-owned life insurance policy if the em-
ployee had died on the day on which such ac-
tion was commenced. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this Act— 
(1) the terms ‘‘employer’’ and ‘‘employee’’ have 
the meaning given such terms in section 3 of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203); 
and 
(2) the term ‘‘employer-owned life insurance 
policy’’ means a life insurance policy purchased by 
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an employer where the insured is an employee of the 
employer and the beneficiary is the employer. 
SEC. 6. GAO STUDY. 
The Comptroller General shall study the incidence of 
employers carrying employer-owned life insurance policies 
on their employees, the effect of this Act on such practices, 
and the number of actions brought under section 4 during 
the first 2-year period following the date of enactment of 
this Act. In conducting such a study, the Comptroller Gen-
eral shall consult with the Internal Revenue Service re-
garding information on such policies that has been re-
ported to the Service. Upon conclusion of the study, the 
Comptroller General shall transmit to Congress a report 
assessing the efficacy of this Act in eliminating or limiting 
employer-owned life insurance policies. 
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect 90 days after the date of 
its enactment. 
SEC. 8. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 
Any employer who commits a violation of section 2(a) 
upon conviction thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a mis-
demeanor and shall be fined $500,000 and imprisoned for 
up to 1 year. 
Æ 
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