I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 678 To provide back pay to low-wage contractor employees, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 17, 2019 Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BEYER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. OMAR, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. LUJA´N, Ms. MOORE, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. POCAN, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. NADLER, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ap- propriations, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide back pay to low-wage contractor employees, 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 ‘‘Fair Compensation 4 for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.IH H678 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 678 IH SEC. 2. APPROPRIATION. 1 There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in 2 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal 3 year ending September 30, 2019, such sums as may be 4 necessary for each Federal agency subject to the lapse in 5 appropriations that began on or about December 22, 6 2018, for adjustments in the price of contracts of such 7 agency under section 3. 8 SEC. 3. BACK COMPENSATION FOR LOW-WAGE EMPLOYEES 9 OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS IN CONNEC- 10 TION WITH THE LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency subject to 12 the lapse in appropriations that began on or about Decem- 13 ber 22, 2018, shall adjust the price of any contract of such 14 agency for which the contractor was ordered to suspend, 15 delay, or interrupt all or part of the work of such contract, 16 or stop all or any part of the work called for in such con- 17 tract, as a result of the lapse in appropriations to com- 18 pensate the contractor for reasonable costs incurred— 19 (1) to provide compensation, at an employee’s 20 standard rate of compensation, to any employee who 21 was furloughed or laid off, or who was not working, 22 who experienced a reduction of hours, or who experi- 23 enced a reduction in compensation, as a result of the 24 lapse in appropriations (for the period of the lapse); 25 or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.IH H678 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 678 IH (2) to restore paid leave taken by any employee 1 during the lapse in appropriations, if the contractor 2 required employees to use paid leave as a result of 3 the lapse in appropriations. 4 (b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF WEEKLY COM- 5 PENSATION COVERED BY ADJUSTMENT.—The maximum 6 amount of weekly compensation of an employee for which 7 an adjustment may be made under subsection (a) may not 8 exceed the lesser of— 9 (1) the employee’s actual weekly compensation; 10 or 11 (2) $965. 12 (c) TIMING OF ADJUSTMENTS.—The adjustments re- 13 quired by subsection (a) shall be made as soon as prac- 14 ticable after the end of the lapse in appropriations de- 15 scribed in that subsection. 16 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) The term ‘‘compensation’’ has the meaning 18 given that term in section 6701 of title 41, United 19 States Code. 20 (2) The term ‘‘employee’’ means the following: 21 (A) A ‘‘service employee’’ as that term is 22 defined in section 6701(3) of title 41, United 23 States Code, except that the term also includes 24 service employees described in subparagraph 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.IH H678 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 678 IH (C) of that section notwithstanding that sub- 1 paragraph. 2 (B) A ‘‘laborer or mechanic’’ covered by 3 section 3142 of title 40, United States Code. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Jan 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H678.IH H678 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS