Protections for Socially Good Activities Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4109 To ensure that an employment relationship is not established between a franchisor and a franchisee if the franchisor engages in certain activities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 23, 2021 Mrs. WALORSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To ensure that an employment relationship is not established between a franchisor and a franchisee if the franchisor engages in certain activities, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protections for Socially 4 Good Activities Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP.—The term 8 ‘‘employment relationship’’ means any type of joint 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4109 IH employer relationship, single employer relationship, 1 or other employment-related status or relationship 2 under any of the laws described in section 3(b). 3 (2) FRANCHISEE.—The term ‘‘franchisee’’ 4 means a franchisee, as defined— 5 (A) in section 436.1(i) of title 16, Code of 6 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the day be- 7 fore the date of enactment of this Act; or 8 (B) under an applicable State franchise 9 law. 10 (3) FRANCHISOR.—The term ‘‘franchisor’’ 11 means a franchisor, as defined— 12 (A) in section 436.1(k) of title 16, Code of 13 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the day be- 14 fore the date of enactment of this Act; or 15 (B) under an applicable State franchise 16 law. 17 SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of each law de- 19 scribed in subsection (b), none of the following may be 20 construed, alone or in combination with any other factor, 21 as establishing an employment relationship between a 22 franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) and a 23 franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee): 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4109 IH (1) The franchisor (or any employee of the 1 franchisor) provides the franchisee (or any employee 2 of the franchisee) with, or requires the franchisee 3 (or any employee of the franchisee) to use, a hand- 4 book, or other training, on sexual harassment, 5 human trafficking, workplace violence, discrimina- 6 tion, or opportunities for apprenticeships or scholar- 7 ships policies. 8 (2) The franchisor (or any employee of the 9 franchisor) requires the franchisee (or any employee 10 of the franchisee) to adopt a policy on sexual harass- 11 ment, human trafficking, workplace violence, dis- 12 crimination, or opportunities for apprenticeships or 13 scholarships, childcare, and paid leave policies in- 14 cluding a requirement for the franchisee (or any em- 15 ployee of the franchisee) to report to the franchisor 16 (or any employee of the franchisor) any violations or 17 suspected violations of such policy. 18 (3) The franchisor (or any employee of the 19 franchisor) requires the franchisee (or any employee 20 of the franchisee) to adopt a policy based on the 21 novel coronavirus (referred to in this paragraph as 22 ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic such as the use of personal 23 protective equipment or other policies, or the 24 franchisor (or any employee of the franchisor) pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4109 IH vides the franchisee (or any employee of the 1 franchisee) with personal protective equipment or 2 other material goods or compensation to help the 3 franchisee (or any employee of the franchisee) dur- 4 ing or due to the COVID–19 pandemic. 5 (b) LAWS.—The laws described in this subsection are 6 each of the following: 7 (1) The National Labor Relations Act (29 8 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 9 (2) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 10 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 11 (3) The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 12 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.). 13 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION. 14 Except with respect to the definitions of the terms 15 ‘‘franchisee’’ and ‘‘franchisor’’ under section 2, this Act 16 shall preempt any State law to the extent that such State 17 law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS