zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
National Biodefense Strategy Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the President to:

 develop, submit, and periodically update a National Biodefense Strategy to direct and align federal efforts toward an effective and continuously improving biodefense enterprise, including threat awareness, prevention and protection, surveillance and detection, and response and recovery to major biological incidents; establish a Biodefense Coordination Council to provide the expertise necessary to develop the strategy and which shall align government biodefense activities and spending in a manner consistent with the strategy; and report annually on total federal agency expenditures on biodefense activities and how the expenditures relate to strategy goals and priorities. The strategy shall serve as a comprehensive guide for U.S. biodefense and shall include:

 a comprehensive description of the entities and leadership positions responsible for implementing, overseeing, and coordinating federal biodefense activities; five-year goals, priorities, and metrics to improve and strengthen the government's ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from a major biological incident; research and development projects or initiatives planned to improve biodefense capability; and recommendations for legislative action. The strategy shall also include an appendix, which shall contain:

 a review of collaborative efforts between the Armed Forces and the civilian sector of the government on biodefense activities and coordination; and a detailed analyses of recommendations issued by external biodefense review commissions, lessons learned from the government response to public health emergencies within the preceding five years, major biological incident risks, resources and capabilities needed to address identified risks, resource and capability gaps in the biodefense enterprise, and prioritization and allocation of investment across the biodefense enterprise.

Date: 2016-05-23
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
Active Shooter Preparedness Enhancement Act of 2016

This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop and make available to state, local, tribal, territorial, and nongovernmental partners guidance to assist in the development of emergency action and response plans for active shooter and mass casualty incidents.

Such guidance may relate to the development of:

 a strategy for properly responding to such incidents, a plan for establishing a unified command, a schedule for regular testing of equipment used to receive communications during such incidents, a practiced method and plan to communicate with occupants of locations of such incidents and with the surrounding community, a plan for coordinating with volunteer organizations to expedite assistance for victims, a schedule for joint exercises and training, and a plan for outreach to facilities that have been identified by DHS as potentially vulnerable targets. The bill permits funds under homeland security grants to states and high-risk urban areas to be used for training exercises to enhance preparedness for and response to mass casualty and active shooter incidents and security events at private locations (current law permits such funds to be used for such exercises at public locations). In allocating grant funds among states and high-risk urban areas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shall consider the threat from active shooters to critical infrastructure and U.S. populations.

Date: 2016-07-13
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Emergency management
National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act of 2016

This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to work with a consortium, including the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium, to support efforts to address cybersecurity risks and incidents, including threats or acts of terrorism.

DHS may work with such a consortium to assist its national cybersecurity and communications integration center to:

 provide training to state and local first responders and officials, develop curriculums, and provide technical assistance; conduct cross-sector cybersecurity training and simulation exercises for state and local governments, critical infrastructure owners and operators, and private industry; help states and communities develop cybersecurity information sharing programs; and help incorporate cybersecurity risk and incident prevention and response into existing state and local emergency plans and continuity of operations plans.

 DHS's authority to carry out this bill terminates five years after its enactment.

Date: 2016-09-07
Topic: Defense (Civil)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Minimum Wage Fairness Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exclude tips in determining an employee's minimum wage to the extent that tips are excluded from that employee's wage under the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement. Requires states and localities to permit a tip credit meeting certain criteria if, after enactment of this Act, they prohibit any portion of a tipped employee's tips from being considered as wages in determining if such employee has been paid the minimum wage rate.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to require that applications for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) loan, grant, contract, or cooperative agreement for any project include reasonable assurance that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors in the performance of construction or modernization on the project will be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar work in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Working Americans Growing the Economy (WAGE) Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to: (1) $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after enactment of this Act; (2) $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and (3) $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day. States that, if an employer provides an employee with health care or child care benefits of at least $2,500 per year, the applicable minimum wage rate paid to such employee shall be: (1) $5.15 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after enactment of this Act; (2) $5.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and (3) $6.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day. Requires the Secretary of Labor to: (1) define the categories of health care benefits and child care benefits which qualify an employer to pay the latter rates; and (2) establish a method for determining the value of such benefits.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Fair Wages for Americans with Disabilities Act - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Secuirty Act to prescribe formulae to exclude any increase in the federal minimum wage from calculation of an individual's (or spouse's) income for SSI eligibility purposes (thus preventing ineligibility for SSI benefits by reason of such an increase).

Date: 2007-01-05
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Social welfare
Children's Act for Responsible Employment of 2007 or the CARE Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to repeal certain exemptions from child labor prohibitions for agricultural employment. Allows an exemption only if: (1) the agricultural employment of an individual under 16 occurs outside of school hours; and (2) such individual is employed by a parent or a person standing in place of a parent on a farm owned or operated by such parent or person. Raises from 16 to 18 years old the minimum age for engaging in hazardous agricultural employment. Eliminates a waiver for hand-harvesting of certain crops.Increases civil and criminal penalties for child labor violations.Directs the Secretary of Labor to analyze data and report to Congress on work-related injuries to children and related matters. Requires employers to report on work-related serious injuries and illnesses, and deaths, of agricultural employees under 18 years of age. Incorporates into FLSA child labor requirements certain federal standards for protecting workers exposed to pesticides. Reconciles civil penalties for violations of such standards affecting child workers imposed by the Secretary under FLSA and by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Date: 2007-06-12
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Fighting for American Jobs Act of 2007 - Directs each federal agency that provides contracts, grants, loans, or loan guarantees to businesses to require, as a condition of such assistance, that such businesses provide annually information on: (1) the number of employees employed in the United States and its territories and possessions and the number employed outside the United States, as well as wage information on U.S. employees; and (2) the percentage of the workforce that has been laid off or forced to resign during the preceding year. Prohibits, until the situation is corrected, subsequent federal assistance to businesses that lay off a greater percentage of workers in the United States and its territories and possessions than in other countries.

Date: 2007-06-15
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act - Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works).

Date: 2007-08-03
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Fair Home Health Care Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt certain home health care workers who are employed on a casual basis from the minimum wage and maximum hour requirements under such Act. Defines employment on a "casual basis" as employment which is irregular or intermittent and does not exceed 20 hours per week in the aggregate.

Date: 2007-09-19
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make an administrative determination of the amount of unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages owed to employees by an employer for certain violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act committed in the New Orleans region after Hurricane Katrina. Authorizes the Secretary to bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to recover the amount of such wages and liquidated damages.

Date: 2007-10-17
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Living American Wage (LAW) Act of 2007- Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the federal minimum wage should, as a minimum, be adjusted every four years so that a person working for it may earn an annual income at least 5% higher than the federal poverty threshold for a family of three; (2) it should be set at a level high enough to allow two full-time minimum wage workers to earn an income above the national housing wage; and (3) Congress or any of the several states may establish a higher minimum wage requirement than that established in this Act. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to at least the amount determined by the Secretary of Labor according to the formula prescribed by this Act beginning September 1, 2008. Requires the Secretary to determine such minimum wage rate by June 1, 2008, and once every four years thereafter. Prohibits any adjustment if the determination results in a minimum wage lower than the current one. Requires the minimum wage so determined to be the minimum hourly wage sufficient for a person working for it 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn an annual income 5% percent higher than the federal poverty threshold for a three-person household, with one person a child under age 18, and living in the 48 contiguous states, as published for each such year by the Census Bureau.

Date: 2007-12-13
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Davis-Bacon Enforcement Act of 2007 - Amends the Davis-Bacon Act to require that any provisions of federal law that require payment of prevailing wages be construed to include the Act's debarment requirements (prohibiting for three years any award of federal contracts to persons or related firms, corporations, partnerships, or associations listed by the Comptroller General as having disregarded their obligations to employees and subcontractors under the Act). Requires each federal agency to make available to the public the complete payroll records (including all information in them except Social Security numbers) established under contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act.

Date: 2007-12-19
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Family-Friendly Workplace Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize private employers to provide compensatory time off to private employees, at a rate of 1 1/2 hours per hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required. Authorizes an employer to provide compensatory time only if it is in accordance with an applicable collective bargaining agreement or, in the absence of such an agreement, an agreement between the employer and employee. Prohibits an employee from accruing more than 160 hours of compensatory time. Requires an employee's employer to provide monetary compensation, after the end of a calendar year, for any unused compensatory time off accrued during the preceding year. Requires an employer to give employees 30-day notice before discontinuing compensatory time off. Prohibits an employer from intimidating, threatening, or coercing an employee in order to: (1) interfere with the employee's right to request or not to request compensatory time off in lieu of payment of monetary overtime compensation; or (2) require an employee to use such compensatory time. Makes an employer who violates such requirements liable to the affected employee in the amount of the compensation rate for each hour of compensatory time accrued, plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, reduced for each hour of compensatory time used.

Date: 2008-05-13
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Employee Misclassification Prevention Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require every employer to: (1) keep records of non-employees (contractors) who perform labor or services (except substitute work) for remuneration; and (2) provide certain notice to each employee and non-employee, including their classification as an employee or non-employee and information concerning their rights under the law. Makes it unlawful for any person to fail to accurately classify an employee or non-employee. Doubles the amount of liquidated damages for maximum hours, minimum wage, and notice of classification violations by an employer. Subjects a person who repeatedly or willfully violates such notice requirements to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each violation. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a web page on the Department of Labor website that summarizes the rights of employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal laws. Requires, as a condition for a federal grant for the administration of state unemployment compensation, for the state's unemployment compensation law to include a provision for: (1) auditing programs that identify employers that have not registered under the state law or that are paying unreported compensation where the effect is to exclude employees from unemployment compensation coverage; and (2) establishing administrative penalties for misclassifying employees or paying unreported unemployment compensation to employees. Requires any office, administration, or division of the Department of Labor to report any misclassification of an employee by an employer that it discovers to the Department's Employment Standards Administration (ESA). Authorizes the ESA to report such information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Date: 2008-05-21
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Amends the Davis-Bacon Act to exempt parties to a contract with a tax-exempt nonprofit organization from the Act's prevailing wage requirements for laborers and mechanics.

Date: 2008-06-19
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Child Labor Safety Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1998 to subject, upon conviction, an employer who willfully violates child labor requirements and prohibitions to a fine of up to $50,000, or imprisonment for up to six months, for each employee who was the subject of such violation, or both. Increases the maximum employer civil penalty: (1) from $11,000 to $50,000 for each employee who was the subject of a child labor violation; and (2) from $50,000 to $100,000 for each such violation that causes the death or serious injury of any employee under age 18.

Date: 2008-09-10
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to laborers and mechanics working on federal-aid highway construction projects and public transportation construction projects).

Date: 2008-09-27
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to: (1) $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after enactment of this Act; (2) $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and (3) $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day. Applies federal minimum wage requirements to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Sets forth a transition period during which a specified minimum wage in the Commonwealth shall be gradually increased to equal the federal minimum wage.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Minimum Wage Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to: (1) $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after enactment of this Act; (2) $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and (3) $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day.Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent accelerated cost recovery provisions for qualified leasehold improvement and restaurant property; (2) permit certain small businesses with gross receipts of not more than $10 million to use cash accounting methods and be exempt from the requirement of using inventories; (3) allow employers the work opportunity tax credit for hiring certain restaurant workers between the ages of 16 and 20; (4) set forth a definition and rules for evaluating the economic substance of financial transactions with tax consequences (economic substance doctrine); (5) impose an enhanced penalty for understatements of tax liability due to transactions lacking economic substance; (6) apply inverted corporation tax rules to certain transactions occurring after March 20, 2002; and (7) eliminate the requirement for a pre-levy collection due process hearing for taxpayers with employment tax liabilities.

Date: 2007-01-22
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Commerce
Appropriate and Consistent Care for Youth Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to extend to single employees (residing in educational institutions where they receive lodging and board free of charge) the house parent exemption to certain maximum hour requirements.

Date: 2007-01-24
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Child Labor Protection Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase civil penalties for violations of: (1) child labor requirements and prohibitions; and (2) minimum wage and maximum hours requirements. Increases from $10,000 to $11,000 the maximum employer penalty for each employee who was the subject of a child labor violation. Establishes a $50,000 civil penalty for each such violation that causes the death or serious injury of any employee under age 18. Allows the doubling of such a penalty where the violation is a repeated or willful violation. Defines "serious injury" as permanent: (1) loss or substantial impairment of one of the senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, tactile sensation); (2) loss or substantial impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty, including the loss of all or part of an arm, leg, foot, hand or other body part; or (3) paralysis or substantial impairment that causes loss of movement or mobility of an arm, leg, foot, hand or other body part. Increases from $1,000 to $1,100 the civil penalty for any repeated or willful violation of specified minimum wage or maximum hours requirements of such Act.

Date: 2007-06-12
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Fair Home Health Care Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt certain home health care workers who are employed on a casual basis from the minimum wage and maximum hour requirements under such Act. Defines employment on a "casual basis" as employment which is irregular or intermittent and does not exceed 20 hours per week in the aggregate.

Date: 2007-09-18
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Standing with Minimum Wage Earners Act of 2007 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to: (1) $8.00 an hour, beginning on January 1, 2010; (2) $8.75 an hour, beginning on October 1, 2010; and (3) $9.50 an hour, beginning on July 1, 2011. Declares that, beginning on July 1, 2012, and adjusted annually each July 1 thereafter, the amount of the minimum wage for the preceding year shall be increased by a percentage equal to that by which the annual rate of pay for Members of Congress increased for such year.

Date: 2007-12-18
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Employee Misclassification Prevention Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require every employer to: (1) keep records of non-employees (contractors) who perform labor or services (except substitute work) for remuneration; and (2) provide certain notice to each employee and non-employee, including their classification as an employee or non-employee and information concerning their rights under the law. Makes it unlawful for any person to fail to accurately classify an employee or non-employee. Doubles the amount of liquidated damages for maximum hours, minimum wage, and notice of classification violations by an employer. Subjects a person who repeatedly or willfully violates such notice requirements to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each violation. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a web page on the Department of Labor website that summarizes the rights of employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal laws. Requires, as a condition for a federal grant for the administration of state unemployment compensation, for the state's unemployment compensation law to include a provision for: (1) auditing programs that identify employers that have not registered under the state law or that are paying unreported compensation where the effect is to exclude employees from unemployment compensation coverage; and (2) establishing administrative penalties for misclassifying employees or paying unreported unemployment compensation to employees. Requires any office, administration, or division of the Department of Labor to report any misclassification of an employee by an employer that it discovers to the Department's Employment Standards Administration (ESA). Authorizes the ESA to report such information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Date: 2008-09-29
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Amends the the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to require federal contractors and subcontractors (as defined by this Act) to participate in the employment eligibility verification pilot program. Directs the Attorney General to ensure that the pilot program is applied to all of the contractor's or subcontractor's employees and not just to those performing the contract or subcontract.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Immigration
Federal Living Wage Responsibility Act - Requires the federal government and any employer under a federal contract or subcontract exceeding $10,000 to pay each of their respective workers: (1) an hourly wage (or salary equivalent) necessary for such employee to earn, while working 40 hours a week on a full-time basis, not less than the amount of the federal poverty level for a family of four; and (2) an additional amount, based on the locality in which a worker resides, sufficient to cover the costs to such worker to obtain specified fringe benefits not provided by the worker's employer. Exempts employers that are: (1) small business concerns; or (2) nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations, if the ratio of the total compensation of the chief executive officer to that of the full-time equivalent of their lowest-paid employee is not greater than 25 to 1. Directs the Secretary of Labor to enforce this Act. Makes federal contractors that are part of a pattern or practice of violations of such wage requirements subject to federal contract suspension, a five-year ineligibility period, and liability for government costs of obtaining a replacement contractor. Provides for judicial review of the Secretary's determinations, and authorizes the President to suspend the provisions of this Act in times of emergency. Allows an aggrieved worker to bring a civil action against an employer for appropriate relief for a violation of this Act, if the employer has not paid or reinstated the worker as a result of the administrative action.

Date: 2009-03-05
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Working for Adequate Gains for Employment in Services Act or WAGES Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to establish a base minimum wage for tipped employees of at least: (1) $3.75 an hour beginning 90 days after the enactment of this Act; (2) $5.00 an hour beginning July 1, 2011; and (3) beginning on July 1, 2012, and adjusted as necessary thereafter, 70% of the wage in effect under FLSA but in no case less than $5.50 an hour.

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Congressional Disclosures Protections Act of 2009 - Amends federal personnel law to: (1) define "covered disclosure" with respect to federal whistleblower protections to mean a disclosure of information made by an employee to either house of Congress or to a congressional committee or staff member which such employee reasonably believes evidences a violation of any law, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety; (2) allow federal employees to seek de novo review of their whistleblower claims within one year of filing such claims; (3) expand legal remedies for whistleblowers, including triple damages for lost wages, triple attorney fees, and triple compensatory damages; and (4) require the Office of Special Counsel to provide legal representation to whistleblowers, upon request. Amends the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No Fear Act) to expand the reporting requirements of federal agencies relating to reimbursement of the expenses of employees who have filed whistleblower claims.

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees Act or the RAISE Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to declare that neither its prohibition against interference by an employer with employees' right to bargain collectively, nor the terms of a collective bargaining agreement entered into between employees and an employer after enactment of this Act, shall prohibit an employer from paying an employee higher wages, pay, or other compensation than the agreement provides for.

Date: 2009-06-04
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act - Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works).

Date: 2009-06-16
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Living American Wage (LAW) Act of 2009 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the federal minimum wage should, as a minimum, be adjusted every four years so that a person working for it may earn an annual income at least 15% higher than the federal poverty threshold for a family of two; (2) it should be set at a level high enough to allow two full-time minimum wage workers to earn an income above the national housing wage; and (3) Congress, any of the several states, the District of Columbia, any U.S. territories or possessions, any Indian tribe, or local or state government may establish a higher minimum wage requirement than that established in this Act. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to at least the amount determined by the Secretary of Labor according to the formula prescribed by this Act beginning September 1, 2011. Requires the Secretary to determine such minimum wage rate by June 1, 2010, and once every four years thereafter. Prohibits any adjustment if the determination results in a minimum wage lower than the current one. Requires the minimum wage so determined to be the minimum hourly wage sufficient for a person working for it 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn an annual income 15% percent higher than the federal poverty threshold for a two-person household, with one child under age 18, and living in the 48 contiguous states, as published for each such year by the Census Bureau.

Date: 2009-06-25
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Equal Employment for All Act - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit a current or prospective employer from using a consumer report or an investigative consumer report, or from causing one to be procured, for either employment purposes or for making an adverse action, if the report contains information that bears upon the consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity. Makes exceptions to such prohibition for employment: (1) which requires a national security or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) clearance; (2) with a state or local government agency which otherwise requires use of a consumer report; or (3) in a supervisory, managerial, professional, or executive position at a financial institution.

Date: 2009-07-09
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Wage Theft Prevention Act - Amends the Portal-to-Portal Act to toll the statute of limitations for bringing a cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages under the Fair Standards Act and certain other Acts, starting from the time the Secretary of Labor notifies an employer of the initiation of an investigation regarding the cause of action until such employer is notified of its conclusion.

Date: 2009-07-23
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to postpone for one year (until July 24, 2010) the increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour.

Date: 2009-07-23
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Work-Life Balance Award Act - Establishes in the Department of Labor an annual Work-Life Balance Award for employers that have developed and implemented work-life balance policies. Establishes a Work-Life Balance Advisory Board to develop criteria to determine recipients of the Award.

Date: 2010-03-16
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Union Member Protection Act - Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (Landrum-Griffin Act) to require a labor organization's mandatory report to the Secretary of Labor on its constitution, officers, and basic organization to include, in a clear and simple format, both: (1) a description of the specific nature and total amount of political expenditures the labor organization proposes to make for the upcoming fiscal year; and (2) a disclosure of how each labor organization officer voted on each political expenditure made by the organization during the preceding fiscal year. Prohibits a labor organization from making political expenditures unless: (1) they are of the nature of those proposed in such report; and (2) they have received a full, free, and written authorization by secret ballot by a majority of the labor organization members. Makes officers jointly and severally liable for authorizing a political expenditure without first obtaining the authorization of labor organization members. Requires labor organization bylaws to provide expressly for a vote of the organization's principal officers on individual political expenditures in excess of $50,000. Requires a labor organization to make public the individual votes of such officers within 48 hours, including in a clear and conspicuous location on its website.

Date: 2010-07-26
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Railroad Hours of Service Employees Technical Corrections Act - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 to consider that a railroad employee, subject to hours of service under federal law, meets the hours of service eligibility requirement under FMLA if: (1) the employee has worked for or been paid for at least 60% of the applicable total guarantee, or the equivalent, for the previous 12-month period, by the employer with respect to whom FMLA leave is requested; and (2) the employee has worked for or been paid by that employer for at least 504 hours (not counting personal commute time or time spent on vacation leave or medical or sick leave) during such period. Defines "applicable guarantee" for an employee, as established in the applicable collective bargaining agreement or, if none exists, in the employer's policies as: (1) the minimum number of hours for which an employer has agreed to schedule a nonreserve status employee for any given period; and (2) the number of hours for which an employer has agreed to pay a reserve status employee for any given period.

Date: 2010-07-29
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Wage Theft Prevention and Community Partnership Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to award one- to three-year renewable grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible partners to prevent wage and hour violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, or any related regulations, or violations of any other law enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor by: (1) informing workers of their rights and the remedies available to them; and (2) expanding and improving cooperative efforts between agencies charged with enforcing wage and hour requirements and employers and their employees. Makes eligible for such grants such partners as: (1) not-for-profit community organizations dedicated to combating poverty and preventing abuse of wage and hour laws; (2) labor organizations; and (3) Joint Labor Management Cooperative Committees established under the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947. Directs the Secretary to establish a Wage Theft Prevention Fund to fund such grants. Prohibits the award of such a grant to: (1) any entity that infringes upon the organizational and collective bargaining rights guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act; or (2) the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or any of its subsidiaries.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
American Worker Transition and Community Assistance Act - Declares that the purposes of this Act are to ensure that groups of workers and communities adversely affected by federal climate change policy receive certain employment and training services and economic adjustment assistance, respectively. Establishes the Climate Change Worker and Community Assistance Fund. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a Climate Change Worker and Community Assistance Program. Authorizes certain groups of adversely affected workers to petition the Secretary of Labor and the governor of the state for certification of eligibility to apply for Program benefits, including a climate change adjustment allowance, employment services and training as well as on-the-job training, a job search allowance, a relocation allowance, a health allowance, and lump sum payments to employee retirement plans. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with cooperating states in providing program benefits to adversely affected workers. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for fraud committed by persons applying for Program benefits. Establishes the National Climate Change Advisory Committee to formulate, and submit to the President, Secretary, and the appropriate congressional committees, a strategic plan for addressing the effect of federal climate change policy on each segment of the workforce. Establishes in the Department of Commerce an Office of Climate Change Community Economic Adjustment. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Climate Change Community Economic Adjustment Program. Authorizes a community that includes a group of adversely affected workers certified eligible for climate change readjustment allowances to petition the Secretary of Commerce for a determination that it is adversely affected by federal climate change policy. Requires the Secretary of Commerce in affirmative determinations to certify the community as eligible for economic adjustment assistance under the Program. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to award grants to an eligible community to: (1) develop, and update, a strategic plan for the redevelopment and economic adjustment of the community; and (2) carry out one or more projects or training programs that is consistent with its plan. Subjects all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on projects funded under this Act to prevailing wage rate requirements under the Davis-Bacon Act.

Date: 2009-11-05
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Employee Misclassification Prevention Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to require every person to: (1) keep records of non-employees (contractors) who perform labor or services (except substitute work), including through an entity such as a trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation, for remuneration; and (2) provide certain notice to each new employee and new non-employee, including their classification as an employee or non-employee and information concerning their rights under the law. Makes it unlawful for any person to: (1) discharge or otherwise discriminate against an individual (including an employee) who has opposed any practice, or filed a complaint or instituted any proceeding related to this Act, including with respect to an individual's status as an employee or non-employee; and (2) fail to classify accurately an employee or non-employee. Doubles the amount of liquidated damages for maximum hours, minimum wage, and notice of classification violations by an employer. Subjects a person who: (1) violates such requirements (including recordkeeping requirements) to a civil penalty of up to $1,100; or (2) repeatedly or willfully violates such requirements to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a webpage on the Department of Labor website that summarizes the rights of employees under this Act and other appropriate information. Amends the Social Security Act to require, as a condition for a federal grant for the administration of state unemployment compensation, for the state's unemployment compensation law to include a provision for: (1) auditing programs that identify employers that have not registered under the state law or that are paying unreported compensation where the effect is to exclude employees from unemployment compensation coverage; and (2) establishing administrative penalties for misclassifying employees or paying unreported unemployment compensation to employees. Requires any office, administration, or division of the Department of Labor to report any misclassification of an employee by a person subject to the FLSA that it discovers to the Department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD). Authorizes the WHD to report such information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Date: 2010-04-22
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Wage Theft Prevention Act - Amends the Portal-to-Portal Act to toll the statute of limitations for bringing a cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages under the Fair Standards Act and certain other Acts, starting from the time the Secretary of Labor notifies an employer of the initiation of an investigation regarding the cause of action until such employer is notified of its conclusion.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Health Care Incentive Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to allow any employer in interstate commerce that is required by federal or state law to pay a minimum wage rate higher than the current federal rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to include the value of creditable health care benefits in determining the required wage.

Date: 2011-01-05
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Living American Wage (LAW) Act of 2011 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the federal minimum wage should, as a minimum, be adjusted every four years so that a person working for it may earn an annual income at least 15% higher than the federal poverty threshold for a family of two; (2) it should be set at a level high enough to allow two full-time minimum wage workers to earn an income above the national housing wage; and (3) Congress, any of the several states, the District of Columbia, any U.S. territories or possessions, any Indian tribe, or local or state government may establish a higher minimum wage requirement than that established in this Act. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage to at least the amount determined by the Secretary of Labor according to the formula prescribed by this Act beginning September 1, 2011. Requires the Secretary to determine such minimum wage rate by June 1, 2011, and once every four years thereafter. Prohibits any adjustment if the determination results in a minimum wage lower than the current one. Requires the minimum wage so determined to be the minimum hourly wage sufficient for a person working for it 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, to earn an annual income 15% percent higher than the federal poverty threshold for a two-person household, with one child under age 18, and living in the 48 contiguous states, as published for each such year by the Census Bureau.

Date: 2011-01-12
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Equal Employment for All Act - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit a current or prospective employer from using a consumer report or an investigative consumer report, or from causing one to be procured, for either employment purposes or for making an adverse action, if the report contains information that bears upon the consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity. Makes exceptions to such prohibition for employment: (1) which requires a national security or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) clearance; (2) with a state or local government agency which otherwise requires use of a consumer report; or (3) in a supervisory, managerial, professional, or executive position at a financial institution.

Date: 2011-01-19
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Working for Adequate Gains for Employment in Services Act or WAGES Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to establish a base minimum wage for tipped employees of at least: (1) $3.75 an hour beginning 90 days after the enactment of this Act; (2) $5.00 an hour beginning one year after the change in paragraph one takes effect; and (3) beginning two years after the change in paragraph two takes effect, and adjusted as necessary thereafter, 70% of the wage in effect under FLSA but in no case less than $5.50 an hour.

Date: 2011-02-10
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act - Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works). States that references in any law to a wage requirement of the Davis-Bacon Act after the enactment of this Act shall be null and void.

Date: 2011-02-16
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act - Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works).

Date: 2011-02-16
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment
Highway Trust Fund Reform Act of 2011 - Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to laborers and mechanics working on federal-aid highway construction projects and public transportation construction projects).

Date: 2011-05-11
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Electronic Paycard Protection Act of 2011 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1933 to require an employer who pays or wishes to pay an employee by means of an electronic payroll card to provide certain disclosures to the employee at the time he or she is provided the option to enroll in the electronic payroll card program. Includes among such disclosures, in addition to all terms and conditions governing the card's use, that: (1) the employee has the ability to access his or her wages as well as electronically check the available balance through use of the card, (2) no fees may be assessed to the employee for ordinary card use, (3) the employer shall maintain payroll funds accessible by means of the card only in an insured depository institution or an insured credit union, (4) the employer shall offer the employee the option of wage payment through direct deposit to the employee's checking or savings account, and (6) the employee may not be terminated for opting not to participate in the program. Makes it unlawful for any person to violate the requirements of this Act.

Date: 2011-06-03
Topic: Labor (Fair Labor Standards)
Subject: Labor and employment