Employee Rights Act

Bill: 118-s-1201
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC]
Introduced: 2023-04-19
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Latest action: action_date: 2023-04-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-04-19
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong><strong></strong></strong><b>Employee Rights Act</b></p> <p>This bill generally addresses employer obligations related to unionized workplaces. </p> <p>This bill provides that an employer may be considered a joint employer in relation to an employee under federal labor law only if such employer directly, actually, and immediately (and not in a limited and routine manner) exercises significant control over the essential terms and conditions of employment. Such control may by demonstrated by hiring and discharging employees, determining individual employee rates of pay and benefits, day-to-day supervision of employees, assigning individual work schedules, positions, and tasks, and administering employee discipline.</p> <p>The bill also requires a workplace election to approve or reject a union to be conducted by secret ballot. Further, the bill requires an employer to provide limited employee information to union representatives to facilitate a workplace election. An employer that mishandles or fails to provide such information according to the bill's requirements may be liable for an unfair labor practice (i.e., labor law violation).</p> <p>Additionally, the bill requires an employee to authorize in writing any use of the employee's labor organization dues or other contribution for a purpose other than collective bargaining or contract administration. Such authorization must be made upon 35 days' notice and expires after one year.</p> <p>Finally, the bill exempts Indian Tribes, including Indian Tribe enterprises and institutions, from the collective bargaining rights and related provisions of federal labor law.

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1201 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 19, 2023 Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Cramer , Mr. Cassidy , Ms. Lummis , Mr. Braun , Mr. Johnson , Mr. Thune , Mrs. Hyde-Smith , Mr. Hagerty , Mr. Budd , Mr. Tuberville , Mr. Crapo , Mr. Risch , Mr. Lee , Mr. Barrasso , and Mr. Cornyn ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To reform the labor laws of the United States, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Employee Rights Act . 2. Enhanced employee rights Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 159(a) ) is amended by striking designated or selected for the purposes of collective bargaining and inserting for the purposes of collective bargaining selected by secret ballot, in an election conducted by the Board, . 3. Employee privacy (a) Notice of rights and protections; voter registration lists Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 158 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (h) (1) Whenever the Board directs an election under section 9(c) or approves an election agreement, the employer of employees in the bargaining unit shall, not later than two business days after the Board directs such election or approves such election agreement, provide a voter list to a labor organization that has petitioned to represent such employees. Such voter list shall include the names of all employees in the bargaining unit and not more than one additional form of personal contact information for the employee (such as a telephone number, an email address, or a mailing address) chosen by the employee in writing. The voter list shall be provided in a searchable electronic format generally approved by the Board unless the employer certifies that the employer does not possess the capacity to produce the list in the required form. Not later than nine months after the date of enactment of the Employee Rights Act , the Board shall promulgate regulations implementing the requirements of this paragraph. (2) It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer to violate any requirement under paragraph (1). . (b) Labor organization use of personal information Section 8(b) of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 158(b) ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ; and and inserting a semicolon; (2) in paragraph (7), by striking 8(b). and inserting 8(b); and ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (8) to fail to protect the personal information of an employee received for an organizing drive, to use such information for any reason other than a representation proceeding, or to use such information after the conclusion of a representation proceeding. . (c) Right not To subsidize labor organization nonrepresentational activities Title I of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ( 29 U.S.C. 411 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 106. Right not to subsidize labor organization nonrepresentational activities No employee’s labor organization dues, fees, assessments, or other contributions shall be used or contributed to any person, organization, or entity for any purpose not directly related to the labor organization’s collective bargaining or contract administration functions on behalf of the represented unit employee unless the employee member, or nonmember required to make such payments as a condition of employment, authorizes such expenditure in writing, after a notice period of not less than 35 days. An initial authorization provided by an employee under the preceding sentence shall expire not later than 1 year after the date on which such authorization is signed by the employee. There shall be no automatic renewal of an authorization under this section. . 4. Employment relationships (a) Amendments to the fair labor standards act of 1938 To harmonize the definition of employee (1) Definition of employee Section 3(e)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 203(e)(1) ) is amended by inserting before the period the following: , as determined under the usual common law rules . (2) Definition of employ Section 3(g) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 203(g) ) is amended by inserting an employee after permit . (b) Clarification of joint employment (1) National labor relations act Section 2(2) of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 152(2) ) is amended— (A) by striking The term employer and inserting (A) The term employer ; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (B) An employer may be considered a joint employer of the employees of another employer only if each employer directly, actually, and immediately, and not in a limited and routine manner, exercises significant control over the essential terms and conditions of employment of the employees of the other employer, such as hiring such employees, discharging such employees, determining the rate of pay and benefits of such employees, supervising such employees on a day-to-day basis, assigning such employees a work schedule, position, or task, or disciplining such employees. . (2) Fair labor standards act of 1938 Section 3(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 203(d) ) is amended— (A) by striking Employer includes and inserting (1) Employer includes ; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (2) An employer may be considered a joint employer of the employees of another employer for purposes of this Act only if each employer meets the criteria set forth in section 2(2)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 152(2)(B) ) except that, for purposes of determining joint-employer status under this Act, the terms employee and employer referenced in such section shall have the meanings given such terms in this section. . (c) Provision of technical assistance Notwithstanding any other provision of law, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq. ), the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. ), or any other Federal law, none of the following may be construed, alone or in combination with any other factor, as establishing an employer and employee relationship between a franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) and a franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee): (1) The franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) provides the franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) with, or requires such franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) to use, a handbook, or other training, on sexual harassment, human trafficking, workplace violence, discrimination, or opportunities for apprenticeships or scholarships. (2) The franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) requires the franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) to adopt a policy on sexual harassment, human trafficking, workplace violence, discrimination, opportunities for apprenticeships or scholarships, child care, or paid leave, including a requirement for such franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) to report to the franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) any violations or suspected violations of such policy. 5. Tribal sovereignty Section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 152 ), as amended by section 4(b)(1), is further amended— (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting or any Indian Tribe, or any enterprise or institution owned and operated by an Indian Tribe and located on its Indian lands, after subdivision thereof, ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (15) The term Indian Tribe means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized group or community which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians. (16) The term Indian means any individual who is a member of an Indian Tribe. (17) The term Indian lands means— (A) all lands within the limits of any Indian reservation; (B) any lands title to which is either held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian Tribe or Indian or held by any Indian Tribe or Indian subject to restriction by the United States against alienation; and (C) any lands in the State of Oklahoma that are within the boundaries of a former reservation (as defined by the Secretary of the Interior) of a federally recognized Indian Tribe. .