Treating Workers with Dignity Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2937 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to allow employees to take meal, medical, and restroom breaks, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to allow employees to take meal, medical, and restroom breaks, 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 ‘‘Treating Workers with 4 Dignity Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. REQUIRED BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 7 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting 8 after section 7 (29 U.S.C. 207) the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2937.IS S2937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2937 IS ‘‘SEC. 8. REQUIRED BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES. 1 ‘‘(a) MEAL BREAKS.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub- 3 section (d), no employer shall employ any employee, 4 who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in 5 the production of goods for commerce, or is em- 6 ployed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in 7 the production of goods for commerce, for a period 8 of 6 hours without allowing the employee to take a 9 break of not less than 30 minutes during such pe- 10 riod in which the employee is able to consume a 11 meal. 12 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 14 subparagraph (B), an employer shall not be re- 15 quired to compensate an employee for a break 16 required under paragraph (1). 17 ‘‘(B) PAID BREAKS.—In the case in which 18 an employer employs an employee during the 19 employee’s required break under paragraph (1), 20 the employer shall compensate the employee for 21 the employment during such break at a rate, 22 for the full period of the required break, that is 23 not less than one and one-half times the regular 24 rate at which the employee is employed by the 25 employer. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2937.IS S2937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2937 IS ‘‘(b) MEDICAL BREAKS.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An employer shall com- 2 pensate an employee, who in any workweek is en- 3 gaged in commerce or in the production of goods for 4 commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged 5 in commerce or in the production of goods for com- 6 merce, for any short-duration break that the em- 7 ployee is required to take due to a medical condition 8 documented by a medical professional. 9 ‘‘(2) RATE OF COMPENSATION.—Compensation 10 described in paragraph (1) shall be at the regular 11 rate at which the employee is employed by the em- 12 ployer. 13 ‘‘(c) RESTROOM BREAKS.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No employer shall employ 15 any employee, who in any workweek is engaged in 16 commerce or in the production of goods for com- 17 merce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in 18 commerce or in the production of goods for com- 19 merce, for a period of 4 hours without allowing the 20 employee to take a reasonable break during such pe- 21 riod to utilize the nearest functioning and accessible 22 restroom. 23 ‘‘(2) RATE OF COMPENSATION.—An employer 24 shall compensate an employee described in para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2937.IS S2937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2937 IS graph (1) for a break described in such paragraph 1 at the regular rate at which the employee is em- 2 ployed by the employer. 3 ‘‘(d) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS; STATE 4 LAWS.—The requirements under this section— 5 ‘‘(1) shall not supercede any provision in a col- 6 lective bargaining agreement; and 7 ‘‘(2) shall not preempt any State law that pro- 8 vides greater protections for employees than the pro- 9 tections under this section.’’. 10 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 11 (1) PROHIBITED ACT.—Section 15(a) of the 12 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 13 215(a)) is amended— 14 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe- 15 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(6) to violate any provision of section 8.’’. 18 (2) PENALTIES.—Section 16 of such Act (29 19 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 20 (A) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘Any 21 employer who violates the provisions of section 22 8 shall be liable for such legal or equitable relief 23 as may be appropriate to effectuate the pur- 24 poses of such section.’’ after the third sentence; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2937.IS S2937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2937 IS (B) in subsection (c), by adding at the end 1 the following: ‘‘The authority and requirements 2 described in this subsection shall also apply 3 with respect to a violation of section 8, as ap- 4 propriate, and the employer shall be liable for 5 such legal or equitable relief as may be appro- 6 priate to effectuate the purposes of such sec- 7 tion.’’; and 8 (C) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ‘‘sec- 9 tion 6 or 7, relating to wages,’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘section 6, 7, or 8, relating to wages or 11 breaks,’’. 12 (3) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Section 6 of 13 the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255) is 14 amended, in the matter preceding subsection (a), by 15 inserting ‘‘(and any cause of action to enforce sec- 16 tion 8 of such Act)’’ after ‘‘under the Fair Labor 17 Standards Act of 1938, as amended’’. 18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 10 of the 19 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 210) is re- 20 pealed. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2937.IS S2937 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS