zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Workplace Action for a Growing Economy Act or the WAGE Act

This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to award back pay and additional liquidated damages equal to double the back pay, without any reduction, to any employee against whom an employer has discriminated with regard to hiring or because the employee has filed charges or given testimony or if the employer has committed an unfair labor practice resulting in the employee's discharge or other serious economic loss.

Civil penalties are established for violations of posting requirements and any violations causing serious economic loss to employees.

 Whenever it is charged that an employer has engaged in an unfair labor practice that significantly interferes with, restrains, or coerces employees in the exercise of guaranteed rights and involves discharge or other serious harm to an employee, the preliminary investigation of the charge shall be made forthwith and given priority generally over all other cases.

The U.S. district court shall: (1) have jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief or a temporary restraining order to protect the rights guaranteed, and (2) shall grant the relief requested unless the court concludes that there is no reasonable likelihood that the NLRB will succeed on the merits of the NLRB's claim.

A person injured by an unfair labor practice may bring a civil action in the appropriate district court.

Unauthorized aliens may be paid back pay under a court order directing reinstatement of an employee.

In any case where the NLRB finds that an election to determine a collective bargaining representative should be set aside because the employer committed a violation or otherwise interfered with a fair election, it shall issue an order requiring the employer to collectively bargain with the labor organization.

The NLRB shall dismiss any petition to represent a unit if in an election a majority of the valid votes cast in an appropriate unit have not been cast in favor of representation by the labor organization.

 The NLRB shall promulgate regulations requiring each employer to post and maintain, in conspicuous places, a notice setting forth the rights and protections afforded employees under such Act.

Each order of the NLRB shall take effect 30 days after notice of an NLRB order is given, unless the NLRB directs otherwise.

The NLRB shall apply to the district court in which an unfair labor practice or other subject of the order occurred for the enforcement of an order if any person or entity fails or neglects to obey it.

Date: 2015-09-16
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Workplace Democracy Act

This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to certify without an election an individual or labor organization as the exclusive representative of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining if a majority of the employees has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in a properly filed petition as their bargaining representative and no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit.

The NLRB shall develop guidelines and procedures for the designation by employees of a bargaining representative.

Deadlines are prescribed for critical turns in collective bargaining to establish an initial agreement upon the request of an individual or labor organization that has been newly organized or certified as a representative. The first meeting shall convene within 10 days after the employer receives a request. Either party to a negotiation may, 90 days after commencement, notify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service of the existence of a dispute and request mediation. The Service shall refer the dispute to an arbitration board if the parties are not brought to agreement within 30 days after the request for mediation.

Date: 2015-10-06
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Employee Empowerment Act 

 This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to authorize a person alleging an unfair labor practice by an employer by discrimination regarding hiring or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization, in addition to filing a charge alleging an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board, to bring a civil action against such employer in U.S. district court.

The court may grant relief (including injunctive and equitable relief, back pay, and compensatory and punitive damages) and allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee (including expert witness fees) as part of the costs.

Date: 2015-10-27
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Ensuring Access to Affordable and Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act 

 This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 with respect to the exemption from minimum wage and maximum hour requirements of domestic service employment to provide companionship services for individuals who because of age or infirmity are unable to care for themselves. Definitions of "companionship services" and "domestic service employment" are detailed. Excluded from companionship services are any relating to the care and protection of the aged or infirm which require and are performed by trained medical personnel.

The exemption shall now extend to third-party employment of an employee to provide companionship services to such individuals, including non-medical in-home personal care or household work related to their care. "Third-party employment" means employees who provide companionship or live-in domestic services while employed by an employer or agency other than the family or household using their services, whether or not such an employee provides services to more than one household or family in the same workweek when providing such services.

Exempted also from the Act's maximum hour requirements are third-party employment in domestic service of an employee who resides in the household in which the services are provided.

Date: 2015-10-29
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Ensuring Continued Operations and No Other Major Incidents, Closures, or Slowdowns Act or the ECONOMICS Act

This bill amends the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to direct the President to appoint a board of inquiry within 10 days after any of the following events occur:

 the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the monthly Import or Export Vessel Value decreased by 20% or more in any one month from the previous month in any one of the four metric identification regions into which each U.S. maritime port shall be classified; a slow-down or a threatened or actual strike or lock-out takes place at four or more port facilities in any one of the four metric identification regions; or a slow-down or a threatened or an actual strike or lock-out occurs in which the total number of employees actively involved at the affected port facilities in any one of the four metric identification regions, is 6,000 or greater. The Department of Transportation shall classify the nation's maritime ports as belonging to one of these four metric identification regions: (1) West Coast, (2) East Coast, (3) Gulf Coast, and (4) Great Lakes.

A board of inquiry must report to the President within 10 days after its appointment on whether the slow-down or threatened or actual strike or lock-out contributed to the occurrence of the event.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics shall collect the following data relating to activity at port facilities in the United States: (1) the average number of lifts per hour of containers by crane, (2) the average cargo container dwell time, (3) the average truck times at ports, and (4) the average rail time at ports.

The Bureau shall report to Congress recommendations on whether such conditions exist requiring the appointment of such a board.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Local Hire Act 

 This bill authorizes a state to establish local hiring bid specifications or consider the hiring of local workers in the evaluation of bids and proposals for federal-aid highway projects. The recipients of federal assistance are likewise authorized to establish such specifications or consider local hiring in the evaluation of bids and proposals for public transportation projects.

Date: 2015-11-16
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Transportation and public works
National Labor Relations Board Reform Act

Amends the National Labor Relations Act to revise requirements with respect to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), and the process for appellate review.

Increases NLRB membership from five to six. Requires three members to represent each of the two major political parties and, beginning January 1, 2020, each of the two members whose terms expire on the same date to represent a different major political party.

Requires: (1) four NLRB members to constitute a quorum at all times, and (2) any NLRB determination to be approved by a majority of the members present.

Specifies tenure, including staggered terms, of NLRB members.

Sets forth judicial review procedures for any person subject to a complaint issued or authorized by the OGC.

Sets the compensation rate for each NLRB member, in addition to the OGC, at level IV of the Executive Schedule and the Chairman of the NLRB, as under current law, at level III.

Requires the NLRB to issue a final order reviewing an appeal of a report of an administrative law judge or decision of a regional director within one year after the report or decision; but if the NLRB does not issue a final order within that time, allows any party to the case to move to discharge it. Deems, upon such a motion, the report or the decision to be a final agency action. Prohibits the NLRB from taking further action on the matter.

Reduces authorized appropriations to carry out the Act for each of the succeeding two fiscal years to 80% of the average amount authorized for the prior two fiscal years if, two years after enactment of this Act, the NLRB has failed to issue a final order on more than 90% of the cases pending on (or filed on or after) the date of enactment.

Extends such reduced authorization of appropriations if after four years the NLRB has failed to issue a final order on more than 90% of the cases pending on (or filed on or after) the date that is two years after the date of enactment of this Act.

Date: 2015-11-16
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Freedom for Workers to Seek Opportunity Act

This bill: (1) prohibits employers from entering into not-to-compete covenants with any grocery store employees engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, and (2) requires an employer of such employees to post a notice of this prohibition in a conspicuous place on the employer's premises.

No employers who own or operate at least one grocery store may, in conjunction with the purchase of one or more grocery stores owned or operated by another employer, include in any agreement between such employers any provision that restricts either employer from hiring a grocery store employee of the other employer.

An employer who acquires the operation of another employer and retains in employment a grocery store employee of the former employee at the same grocery store of the former employer shall continue to recognize, for all employment purposes, the seniority of that grocery store employee, and, to the extent practicable, make available to such employees any benefits made available by the former employer.

The Secretary of Labor shall: (1) enforce a complaint of a violation of this Act in the same manner as a complaint of a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and (2) impose a specified civil fine on any employer who violates this Act.

Date: 2015-12-15
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Federal Employee Rights Act 

This bill repeals current authority allowing the deduction of labor organization dues from employee pay and prohibits federal agencies, including executive, legislative, and judicial agencies, the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and the government of the District of Columbia, from deducting any amount from the pay of an employee for the dues of a labor organization.

The bill prohibits employee dues collected by a labor organization from being used for any purpose not directly related to the organization's collective bargaining activities without employee authorization.

The bill requires a vote of more than 50% of all employees (not just employees who cast ballots) to approve union representation and extends this requirement to postal service employees.

An employee may elect, in writing, to withhold personal information from a labor organization during organizing activity.

The bill requires that all elections relating to labor representation, including elections involving postal service employees, have secret paper ballots.

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Safe Harbor for Reporting Violent Behavior Act of 2016

This bill makes an employer immune from civil liability for reporting to a potential future employer an employee or former employee’s violent or threatening behavior. The report must be made in good faith and based on objectively reasonable suspicion.

Additionally, the bill makes a potential employer immune from civil liability for taking a reasonable action in good faith to respond to a report of violent or threatening behavior of an employee or potential employee.

Date: 2016-02-11
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Employee Free Choice Act of 2016

This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board to certify, without an election, an individual or labor organization to be the exclusive representative of the employees in a unit appropriate for bargaining if a majority of the employees has signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor organization specified in a properly filed petition as their bargaining representative, and no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit.

The Board shall develop guidelines and procedures for the designation by employees of a bargaining representative.

Whenever collective bargaining is for the purpose of establishing an initial agreement involving a newly organized or certified employee representative, the requirements for bargaining collectively shall be modified. The parties shall meet to bargain collectively within 10 days after the employer receives a written request. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) shall use its best efforts, by mediation and conciliation, to bring the parties to agreement if 90 days lapse without settlement of a dispute. If such efforts fail for 30 days, the FMCS shall refer the dispute to an arbitration panel, whose decision shall bind the parties for two years, unless the parties consent to a different time period.

 The preliminary investigation of charges involving employer discrimination or unfair labor practices while employees of that employer were seeking representation by a labor organization shall be made forthwith and given priority over all other cases except cases of like character in the office where the charge is filed or to which it is referred.

The Board shall award an employee back pay and, in addition, twice that amount as liquidated damages if it finds that the employer has discriminated against the employee either during the period while the employer's employees were seeking representation by a labor organization, or during the period from the time a labor organization was recognized as a representative until the first collective bargaining contract between the employer and the representative was entered into.

 Any employer who willfully or repeatedly commits any unfair labor practice during these periods shall, in addition to any make-whole remedy ordered, be subject to a civil penalty of up to $20,000 for each violation.

Date: 2016-04-20
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Assisting America's Dislocated Miners Act of 2016

This bill establishes within the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration a Dislocated Miners Assistance Program. The program shall contract with comprehensive career centers to:

 identify miners who have been dislocated from their employment in mining jobs across the United States; assess the skills, training, and education such miners need to find and hold new jobs; identify job training programs that would provide such training and education; and provide grants to eligible job training providers to recruit and train such miners and assist them in finding new employment. A comprehensive career center or job training provider eligible to receive a grant under this bill shall be a nonprofit organization with demonstrated success in coordinating or providing necessary training and education to enable dislocated miners to acquire marketable skills to find and hold jobs in areas where they live.

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Leveraging Effective Apprenticeships to Rebuild National Skills Act or the LEARNS Act

This bill establishes, in the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor, an Office of Apprenticeship to:

 determine whether an apprenticeship program meets requirements for registration and maintains the standards necessary to remain registered, manage the national apprenticeship system (the collective group of registered apprenticeship programs and pre-apprenticeship programs in the nation), and make grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to carry out projects that support development of pre-apprenticeship programs. The bill also establishes in Labor a National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships.

Labor and the Department of Education shall establish a voluntary Registered Apprenticeship-College Collaborative consisting of the sponsors carrying out registered apprenticeship programs, two- or four-year postsecondary educational institutions, and organizations that represent such programs or institutions, that agree to meet certain criteria in order to promote stronger connections between the registered apprenticeship programs involved and participating two- and four-year postsecondary educational institutions.

Labor shall make assistance payments to eligible sponsors of new registered apprenticeship programs or of existing programs that add employers as new partners, which may include joint labor-management registered apprenticeship programs.

Date: 2016-07-06
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
New Jobs Training Act

This bill requires the Department of Labor to award grants to employers to partner with community colleges to create programs for training individuals for new jobs with such employers.

A "new job" is defined as a job that:

 may include a new position within an existing job category that is not a job of a recalled worker, a replacement job, or any other job that existed in the employer's business in the year preceding the date of hire; is not a job that existed in a business operation or substantially similar business operation of the employer formerly located in another location that was closed or substantially reduced by the employer; and results in a net increase in employment for the employer.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Eliminate So-Called Right-to-Work Legislation Nationwide Act of 2016

 This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to repeal the disclaimer that nothing in the law shall be construed as authorizing the execution or application of agreements requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment in any state or territory in which such execution or application is prohibited by state or territorial law.

(The bill preempts contrary state or territorial law to allow the execution or application of agreements requiring union membership.)

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Freedom From Union Violence Act of 2015

Amends the Hobbs Act to exempt from provisions that prohibit obstructing, delaying, or affecting commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce by robbery or extortion and threatening physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to interfere with commerce by threats or violence, any conduct that: (1) is incidental to otherwise peaceful picketing during the course of a labor dispute; (2) consists solely of minor bodily injury, or minor damage to property, or threat or fear of such minor injury or damage; and (3) is not part of a pattern of violent conduct or of coordinated violent activity. Subjects such conduct to prosecution only by the appropriate state and local authorities.

Date: 2015-01-07
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
National Labor Relations Board Reform Act

 Amends the National Labor Relations Act to revise requirements with respect to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), and the process for appellate review.

Increases NLRB membership from five to six. Requires three members to represent each of the two major political parties and, beginning January 1, 2020, each of the two members whose terms expire on the same date to represent a different major political party.

 Requires: (1) four NLRB members to constitute a quorum at all times, and (2) any NLRB determination to be approved by a majority of the members present.

Specifies tenure, including staggered terms, of NLRB members.

Sets forth judicial review procedures for any person subject to a complaint issued or authorized by the OGC.

Sets the compensation rate for each NLRB member, in addition to the OGC, at level IV of the Executive Schedule and the Chairman of the NLRB, as under current law, at level III.

Requires the NLRB to issue a final order reviewing an appeal of a report of an administrative law judge or decision of a regional director within one year after the report or decision; but if the NLRB does not issue a final order within that time, allows any party to the case to move to discharge it. Deems, upon such a motion, the report or the decision to be a final agency action. Prohibits the NLRB from taking further action on the matter.

Reduces authorized appropriations to carry out the Act for each of the succeeding two fiscal years to 80% of the average amount authorized for the prior two fiscal years if, two years after enactment of this Act, the NLRB has failed to issue a final order on more than 90% of the cases pending on (or filed on or after) the date of enactment.

Extends such reduced authorization of appropriations if after four years the NLRB has failed to issue a final order on more than 90% of the cases pending on (or filed on or after) the date that is two years after the date of enactment of this Act.

Date: 2015-01-28
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
National Right-to-Work Act 

 Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to repeal those provisions that permit employers, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that is a union security agreement, to require employees to join a union as a condition of employment (including provisions permitting railroad carriers to require, pursuant to such an agreement, payroll deduction of union dues or fees as a condition of employment).

Date: 2015-02-05
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Representation Fairness Restoration Act

 Amends the National Labor Relations Act to revise requirements for determination by the National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) of an appropriate bargaining unit before an election of collective bargaining representation. (In effect reverses the NLRB's August 26, 2011, decision in Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation of Mobile and its June 22, 2011, rulemaking regarding proposed changes to procedures involving the election of collective bargaining representation.)

Replaces the current restriction in the meaning of collective bargaining unit to employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision. Requires the NLRB, instead, to determine a unit as appropriate for collective bargaining if it consists of employees that share a sufficient community of interest. Specifies factors the NLRB must consider when making such determinations.

Prohibits exclusion of employees from the unit unless the group's interests are sufficiently distinct from those of other employees to warrant the establishment of a separate unit.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act

 Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to require that no investigative hearing take place until at least 14 days after the filing of an election petition regarding collective bargaining representation when the NLRB has reasonable cause to believe that the petition raises a question of representation affecting commerce. Requires such hearings to be non-adversarial, and the hearing officer, in collaboration with the parties, to identify any relevant and material pre-election issues.

Requires the NLRB, in cases where it finds that a question of representation exists, to: (1) direct an election by secret ballot as soon as practicable but not before 35 calendar days after the filing of the election petition, and (2) certify election results only after it has ruled on each pre-election issue not resolved before the election and any additional issue pertaining to the conduct or results of that election.

Requires the Board also, not earlier than seven days after a final determination of the appropriate bargaining unit, to acquire from the employer a list of all employees eligible to vote in the election, which shall: (1) be made available to all parties, and (2) include the employees' names as well as one additional form of personal contact information (such as telephone number, email address, or mailing address) chosen by the employee in writing.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Stop Subsidizing Multimillion Dollar Corporate Bonuses Act 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the $1 million limitation on the deductibility of employee compensation, to: (1) extend such limitation to any individual who is a current or former officer, director, or employee of a publicly-held corporation; (2) eliminate the exemption from such limitation for compensation payable on a commission basis or upon the attainment of a performance goal; and (3) make such limitation applicable to all publicly-held corporations that are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to register securities and provide periodic reports to their investors.

Date: 2015-04-29
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Taxation
Raise the Wage Act

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to: (1) $8.00 an hour on January 1, 2016, or, if later, on the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act; (2) $9.00 an hour after one year; (3) $10.00 an hour after two years; (4) $11.00 an hour after three years; (5) $12.00 an hour after four years; and (6) the amount the Secretary of Labor determines (based on increases in the median hourly wage of all employees) after five years, and annually thereafter.

The federal minimum wage for tipped employees shall increase to $3.15 an hour for one year on January 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act, whichever is later. Subsequent annual adjustments of the wage increase, according to a specified formula, shall ensure that it remains equal to the wage in effect under FLSA for other employees.

Employers must notify their employees of the right to retain any received tips.

The separate minimum wage requirements for tipped employees shall end, effective one day after the hourly wage established for them under this Act takes effect.

The Secretary must publish any increase in the minimum wage in the Federal Register and on the Department of Labor's website 60 days before it takes effect.

Date: 2015-04-30
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Mobility and Opportunity for Vulnerable Employees Act or the MOVE Act

 This bill: (1) prohibits employers from entering into not to compete covenants with low-wage employees engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, and (2) requires an employer of such employees to post notice of such prohibition in a conspicuous place on the employer's premises.

The bill defines "low-wage employee" as an employee who earns less than: (1) $15 per hour or the state or local minimum wage, or (2) $31,200 per year.

In order for an employer to require such an employee who is not a low-wage employee to enter into such a covenant, the employer must have disclosed the requirement for entering into such covenant before hiring such employee.

The Secretary of Labor shall: (1) enforce a complaint of a violation of this Act in the same manner as a complaint of a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and (2) impose a civil fine on any employer who violates this Act.

Date: 2015-06-04
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Protecting Orderly and Responsible Transit of Shipments Act of 2015 or the PORTS Act

This bill amends the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to extend to labor slowdowns occurring at U.S. ports the President's authority to appoint a board of inquiry into the issues involved.

State and territorial governors shall have authority to request the President to appoint a board of inquiry if a slowdown, or a threatened or an actual strike or lock-out, occurring at one or more U.S. ports will, if continued, imperil national or state health or safety.

If the President does not appoint a board of inquiry within 10 days after receiving a request, the governor who made the request may appoint one to report on the dispute to the governor and the President, although without recommendations. Supplemental reports are also authorized. Boards of inquiry are limited to one that may appointed for each dispute during a 90-day period.

Governors may also petition for injunctions against such labor or management actions affecting ports in their states or territories.

The National Labor Relations Board, for each dispute, shall take not more than one secret ballot for the same employees in any 30-day period.

Date: 2015-06-04
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to require specified employers (including certain federal and state employers) who employ at least 15 employees at any time during a calendar year to provide each eligible employee at least 10 days of paid vacation time during each 12-month period, to be used on consecutive or nonconsecutive days.

An employee is eligible for paid vacation time only if he or she has been employed by the employer for at least one year and has worked at least 1,250 hours for that employer during the previous year.

The employee must give the employer at least 15 days' prior notice of his or her intent to take paid vacation, including the dates it will begin and end.

The Department of Labor shall conduct a public awareness campaign, through the Internet and other media, to inform the public of an eligible employee's entitlement to paid vacation time under the Act.

Date: 2015-06-11
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Preventing Labor Union Slowdowns Act of 2015 or the PLUS Act

This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to make it an unlawful labor practice for a labor organization or its agents while representing, or seeking to represent, employees engaged in maritime employment to engage in a labor slowdown at any time, including when a collective-bargaining agreement is in effect.

In cases where a labor organization has committed a violation, the National Labor Relations Board shall:

 revoke the organization's exclusive recognition or certification to represent the employees in the bargaining unit, or take other appropriate disciplinary action.

Date: 2015-06-18
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Schedules That Work Act 

Grants an employee the right to request that his or her employer change the terms and conditions of employment relating to:

 the number of hours or times the employee is required to work or be on call; the location; the amount of notification he or she receives of work schedule assignments; and minimizing fluctuations in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Requires the employer, if the request is made, to engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee that includes a discussion of potential schedule changes that would meet his or her needs. Outlines the process for either granting or denying a change.

Requires the employer to grant a request, unless there is a bona fide business reason for denying it, if the request is made because of the employee's serious health condition, his or her responsibilities as a caregiver, or enrollment in a career-related educational or training program, or if a part-time employee requests such a change for a reason related to a second job.++_

Authorizes an employer, if an employee requests a change for any other reason, to deny it for any reason that is not unlawful. Requires the employer to give the employee the reason for the denial, including whether it was a bona fide business reason.

Outlines employer requirements for paying reporting time and split shift pay and for giving advance notice of work schedules to retail, food service, or cleaning employees, or the Department of Labor's (DOL) designated employees, except for those in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacities.

Makes it unlawful for any employer or other person to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise or the attempt to exercise any right of an employee specified in this Act; (2) retaliate against an individual for exercising his or her rights, or (3) interfere with proceedings or inquiries with respect to violation of an individual's rights.

Sets forth administrative enforcement procedures and civil remedies for violation of these prohibitions.

Directs DOL to give information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning compliance with this Act.

Directs DOL, acting through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Bureau of the Census to: (1) include in the Current Population Survey questions on, among other things, the amount of fluctuation in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; and (2) conduct at regular intervals the Contingent Worker Supplement, the Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplement, and other relevant supplements to the Current Population Survey.

Makes this Act inapplicable to any employee covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement if its terms govern work scheduling practices.

Date: 2015-07-15
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Pay Workers a Living Wage Act

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to: (1) $9.00 an hour on January 1, 2016, or, if later, on the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act; (2) $10.50 an hour after one year; (3) $12.00 an hour after two years; (4) $13.50 an hour after three years; (5) $15.00 an hour after four years; and (6) the amount the Secretary of Labor determines (based on increases in the median hourly wage of all employees) after five years, and annually thereafter. The federal minimum wage for tipped employees shall increase to $3.15 an hour for one year on January 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act, whichever is later. Subsequent annual adjustments of the wage increase, according to a specified formula, shall ensure that it remains equal to the wage in effect under FLSA for other employees.

Employers must notify their employees of the right to retain any received tips.

The separate minimum wage requirements for tipped employees shall end, effective one day after the hourly wage established for them under this Act takes effect.

Any employer may pay any newly hired employee who is less than 20 years old, during the first 90 consecutive days after that employee's initial employment, a wage at a rate that is not less than the rate prescribed for employees who are engaged in commerce, reduced by $3.00 per hour.

The Secretary must publish the amount of any adjusted required wage in the Federal Register and on the Department of Labor's website 60 days before it takes effect.

Date: 2015-07-22
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Payroll Fraud Prevention Act of 2015

 This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to require every person (including every employer and enterprise) that employs an employee or non-employee who performs labor or services, including through an entity such as a trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation, to: (1) classify such individuals accurately as employees or non-employees; and (2) notify each new employee and new non-employee of his or her classification as an employee or non-employee, together with information concerning their legal rights.

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) wrongly classify an employee as a 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 Department of Labor (DOL) to establish a single webpage on the Department of Labor website that summarizes the rights of employees and non-employees under the FLSA and this Act.

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 DOL 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.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Layoff Prevention Extension Act of 2015

This bill amends the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 with respect to state short-time compensation programs that allow employers to reduce the workweek of their employees in lieu of layoffs. The bill: (1) extends federal financing of the programs for an additional two years; and (2) extends through December 31, 2016, the deadline for a state to submit to the Department of Labor its application for a short-time compensation program grant.

Date: 2015-07-30
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act

This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow two or more employers to be considered joint employers for purposes of the Act only if each shares and exercises control over essential terms and conditions of employment and such control over these matters is actual, direct, and immediate.

Date: 2015-09-09
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Civil Justice Tax Fairness Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) an exclusion from gross income for amounts received (whether by judgment or settlement, as lump sums or periodic payments) on account of a claim of unlawful discrimination; (2) income averaging for backpay or frontpay amounts received from such claims; and (3) an exemption from the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for any tax benefit resulting from the income averaging of amounts received from an unlawful discrimination claim.

Date: 2015-09-17
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Taxation
Protecting American Jobs Act 

 Amends the National Labor Relations Act to repeal the authority of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board to issue, and prosecute before the Board, complaints with respect to unfair labor practices.

Repeals the prohibition against: (1) review of an administrative law judge's report by any person other than a Board member or legal assistant; and (2) advice to or consultation with the Board by an administrative law judge with respect to exceptions taken to his or her findings, rulings, or recommendations.

Limits the Board's rulemaking authority to rules concerning the internal functions of the Board. Prohibits the Board from promulgating rules or regulations that affect the substantive or procedural rights of a person, employer, employee, or labor organization, including those concerning unfair labor practices and representation elections.

Revises Board powers to grant it the authority to investigate unfair labor practices, but repeals its power to prevent any person from engaging in them.

Repeals the Board's power to issue a complaint against a person charging an unfair labor practice. Allows an aggrieved person to bring a civil action for relief (including an injunction) in U.S. district court or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in cases where it appears that a person has engaged, is engaging, or is about to engage in an unfair labor practice

Date: 2015-09-28
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Driver Fatigue Prevention Act

 This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to apply its maximum hours requirements to over-the-road bus drivers.

Date: 2015-11-19
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Pay Stub Disclosure Act

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require each employer to provide an initial disclosure to each employee who is not subject to exemption from minimum wage and maximum hour requirements within 15 days after: (1) the employee is hired, or (2) specified information in the initial disclosure changes.

The information specified in that initial disclosure shall include:

 the pay rate and form of compensation; the name of the employer and any other name used by the employer to conduct business; and the physical address and telephone number of the employer's main office or principal place of business, and a mailing address if different from the first one. The bill specifies additional disclosures that must be in each pay stub, including the pay period covered, the employee's name, the total hours worked by the employee, benefits, allowances, and reimbursements.

The bill also prescribes the form of the pay stub as well as employer notice requirements.

An employer shall keep records of the information disclosed in an employee's pay stub for three years from each stub's issuance.

In the event that an employee who is not subject to minimum wage and maximum hourexemptions requests an inspection of his or her records, the employer shall provide copies of them for up to three years before the request.

The bill prescribes civil penalties for employer failure to comply with this Act.

Date: 2016-03-03
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act

This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow two or more employers to be considered joint employers for purposes of the Act only if each shares and exercises control over essential terms and conditions of employment and such control over these matters is actual, direct, and immediate.

Date: 2016-03-15
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment
Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers engaged in commerce, or in the production of goods for commerce, to make certain disclosures to employees about their employment, including a paystub corresponding to work the employee performed during the applicable pay period, and make final payments to a terminating employee for uncompensated hours the employee has worked.

An employer shall compensate an employee at the rate specified in an employment contract or other employment agreement, including a collective bargaining agreement, that specifies a rate of pay higher than the minimum wage rate.

The bill revises penalty requirements to:

 increase to double the amount of unpaid wages or unpaid overtime compensation the damages an employer must pay for violating minimum wage or maximum hour rules, plus interest; increase to treble damages the penalty for retaliatory discrimination against or discharge of a whistleblowing employee; repeal the requirement that an employee consent in writing to become a party plaintiff in an action to recover damages from an employer for all such violations; prohibit waiver of the right to bring an action, including a collective action, by an employee as a condition of employment or in a pre-dispute arbitration agreement; and direct the Department of Labor to refer any case involving a covered offender to the Department of Justice for prosecution. In the event that an employee requests an inspection of his or her records for accuracy of wage payments, the employer shall give the employee a copy of the records covering a period of up to five years prior to the request.

The Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 is amended to:

 increase the statute of limitations for causes of action under that Act, the Walsh-Healy Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act with respect to unpaid wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or damages; and deem the statute of limitations tolled for such an action between notification of an employer that an investigation or enforcement action has begun to notification to the employer that the matter has been officially resolved. Acting through the Wage and Hour Division, Labor shall award grants to assist eligible entities in enhancing the enforcement of wage and hour laws.

The Government Accountability Office shall identify successful programs carried out by such grants, especially elements, policies, or procedures that can be replicated by other grant-receiving programs.

Date: 2016-03-16
Topic: Labor (Labor Unions)
Subject: Labor and employment