Coronavirus Frontline Workers Fair Pay Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6709 To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a coronavirus fund to provide hazard payments to high-risk health care workers and essential workers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2020 Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. RYAN, and Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a coronavirus fund to provide hazard payments to high- risk health care workers and essential workers, 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Frontline 4 Workers Fair Pay Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6709 IH SEC. 2. HAZARD PAYMENTS FOR HIGH-RISK HEALTH CARE 1 WORKERS AND ESSENTIAL WORKERS. 2 (a) GENERAL RULE.—The Secretary shall make haz- 3 ard payments in accordance with this section for high-risk 4 health care workers and essential workers. 5 (b) FUND.— 6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—For the purpose of 7 making payments under this section, not later than 8 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 9 the Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an ac- 10 count in the Treasury to be known as the ‘‘Corona- 11 virus Essential and High-Risk Health Care Workers 12 Hazard Payment Fund’’ (hereafter in this section 13 referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’). 14 (2) APPROPRIATIONS TO FUND.—There is ap- 15 propriated, out of amounts in the Treasury not oth- 16 erwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending Sep- 17 tember 30, 2020, such sums as may be necessary to 18 carry out this Act. 19 (c) HAZARD PAYMENTS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 21 hazard payments from the Fund each coronavirus 22 hazard payment quarter in accordance with this sub- 23 section. 24 (2) ENTITLEMENT TO HAZARD PAYMENT.—In- 25 dividuals who are high-risk health care workers and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6709 IH essential workers as determined pursuant to this Act 1 are entitled to hazard payments under this Act. 2 (3) HIGH-RISK HEALTH CARE WORKER.—For 3 purposes of this section— 4 (A) DETERMINATION OF PAYMENT.—In 5 the case of a high-risk health care worker, the 6 hazard payment for such worker shall be the 7 aggregate of $18.50 for each hour in which the 8 worker provided high-risk health care services 9 (excluding hours provided as telework hours). 10 (B) LIMITATIONS.— 11 (i) AGGREGATE AMOUNT.—The aggre- 12 gate amount allowed for all payments to a 13 high-risk health care worker pursuant to 14 paragraph (1) shall not exceed— 15 (I) $35,000 in the case of a 16 worker whose annual earned income 17 for calendar year 2020 is $200,000 or 18 less; and 19 (II) $15,000 in the case of a 20 worker whose estimated annual 21 earned income for calendar year 2020 22 is greater than $200,000. 23 (ii) WEEKLY LIMIT.—The aggregate 24 number of hours taken into account for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6709 IH purposes of subparagraph (A) shall not ex- 1 ceed 40 hours per week. 2 (C) HIGH-RISK HEALTH CARE WORKER 3 DEFINED.— 4 (i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘high- 5 risk health care worker’’ means— 6 (I) an individual working in a 7 health care occupation, including— 8 (aa) physicians; 9 (bb) nurses; 10 (cc) surgeons; 11 (dd) surgical assistants; 12 (ee) physician assistants; 13 (ff) neurologists; 14 (gg) cardiologists; 15 (hh) anesthesiologists; 16 (ii) obstetricians and gyne- 17 cologists; 18 (jj) pediatricians; 19 (kk) medical and clinical 20 laboratory technologists; 21 (ll) emergency medical tech- 22 nicians; 23 (mm) paramedics; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6709 IH (nn) home health and per- 1 sonal care aides; 2 (oo) nursing assistants; 3 (pp) orderlies; 4 (qq) diagnostic medical so- 5 nographers and medical dosime- 6 trists; and 7 (rr) cardiovascular, nuclear 8 medicine, radiologic, and mag- 9 netic resonance imaging tech- 10 nologists; and 11 (II) an individual who is pro- 12 viding or supporting the provision of 13 health care services for the treatment 14 of Covid–19, as determined by the 15 Secretary. 16 (4) ESSENTIAL WORKER.—For purposes of this 17 section— 18 (A) DETERMINATION OF PAYMENT.—In 19 the case of an essential worker who is not a 20 high-risk health care worker under subsection 21 (c)(3), the hazard payment for such individual 22 shall be the aggregate of $13.00 for each hour 23 in which the essential worker provided essential 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6709 IH services (excluding hours provided as telework 1 hours). 2 (B) LIMITATIONS.— 3 (i) AGGREGATE AMOUNT.—The aggre- 4 gate amount allowed for all payments to 5 an essential worker under subparagraph 6 (A) shall not exceed— 7 (I) $25,000 in the case of an es- 8 sential worker whose annual earned 9 income from providing essential serv- 10 ices for calendar year 2020 is 11 $200,000 or less; and 12 (II) $5,000 in the case of an es- 13 sential worker whose annual earned 14 income from providing essential serv- 15 ices for calendar year 2020 is greater 16 than $200,000. 17 (ii) WEEKLY LIMIT.—The aggregate 18 number of hours taken into account for 19 purposes of subparagraph (A) shall not ex- 20 ceed 40 hours per week. 21 (C) ESSENTIAL WORKER.—Not later than 22 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 23 Act, the Director of the Cybersecurity and In- 24 frastructure Security Agency shall issue a defi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6709 IH nition of essential worker for the purposes of 1 making payments to essential workers under 2 this section. In defining the term essential 3 worker, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 4 Security Agency shall take into consideration 5 its April 17th ‘‘Advisory Memorandum on Iden- 6 tification of Essential Critical Infrastructure 7 Workers During Covid-19 Response’’ and shall 8 solicit public input. 9 (D) CORONAVIRUS HAZARD PAYMENT 10 QUARTER.— 11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘corona- 12 virus hazard payment quarter’’ means 90- 13 day periods in calendar year 2020 begin- 14 ning on the date of the enactment of this 15 Act, except for the last 90-day period 16 (which will end on the last day of the 90- 17 day period in calendar year 2020 or on 18 December 31, 2020, whichever occurs 19 first). 20 (ii) SPECIAL RULE BEFORE ENACT- 21 MENT.—For purposes of making payments 22 under this section, the period beginning on 23 or after January 27, 2020, and ending 24 with the date of the enactment of this Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6709 IH shall be treated as one quarter and pay- 1 ments shall be made a lump sum. 2 (5) PROCESS.— 3 (A) SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY.—Begin- 4 ning not later than 60 days after the date of 5 the enactment of this Act, each employer shall 6 submit to the Secretary for each coronavirus 7 hazard payment quarter— 8 (i) a projection of payments of the 9 regular rate of pay for such quarter for 10 employees who are high-risk health care 11 workers or essential workers; 12 (ii) a certification of such payments 13 for the preceding quarter; 14 (iii) the rate of pay for each employee 15 who is a high-risk health care worker or an 16 essential worker; and 17 (iv) the number of hours each em- 18 ployee provided health care service or es- 19 sential service each week. 20 (B) DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS AND 21 EVALUATION CRITERIA.—For purposes of this 22 section, the Secretary shall develop— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6709 IH (i) a process for submitting applica- 1 tions under this section, including a proc- 2 ess for correcting such applications; and 3 (ii) a criteria for evaluating each such 4 application. 5 (d) DISTRIBUTION OF PAYMENTS.— 6 (1) PAYMENTS TO EMPLOYER.—Beginning not 7 later than 75 days after the date of the enactment 8 of this Act, the Secretary shall make coronavirus 9 hazard payments under subsection (c)(1) on the 10 basis of projections under subparagraph (A)(i)(I) of 11 such subsection and shall make appropriate adjust- 12 ments for any surplus or deficit certified for the pre- 13 vious quarter under subparagraph (A)(i)(II) of such 14 subsection. 15 (2) PAYMENTS TO EMPLOYEE.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—From amounts paid to 17 the employer under paragraph (1), the employer 18 shall make the appropriate hazard payment to 19 each employee who is a high-risk health care 20 worker or an essential worker not later than 14 21 days after the date the employer receives such 22 amounts, taking into account the appropriate 23 adjustments for any surplus or deficit certified 24 for the previous quarter. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6709 IH (B) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE HAZARD 1 PAYMENTS.—The requirement to make the ap- 2 propriate hazard payment under subparagraph 3 (A) shall apply to an employer after the em- 4 ployer receives the amounts paid to the em- 5 ployer pursuant to paragraph (1). 6 (3) TREATMENT OF SELF-EMPLOYED INDIVID- 7 UALS.—For purposes of this section, an individual 8 with net earnings from self-employment (as defined 9 in section 1402(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 10 1986) shall be treated as an employer, except that 11 an employer (within the meaning of section 12 401(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) 13 may make an election (in such manner as the Sec- 14 retary may provide) to be the employer for such pur- 15 poses. 16 (4) TREATMENT OF EMPLOYERS.—An employer 17 may not receive a payment under this section unless 18 the employer has entered into an agreement in writ- 19 ing with the Secretary— 20 (A) to make the payments described in 21 paragraph (2); and 22 (B) to be bound by such other terms and 23 conditions as the Secretary may prescribe. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6709 IH (e) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO PAYMENTS.—For 1 purposes of this section— 2 (1) PAYMENTS NOT TREATED AS COMPENSA- 3 TION.—Payments made under subsection (c) shall 4 not be— 5 (A) treated as compensation with respect 6 to wages, overtime, or any other form of remu- 7 neration under the Fair Labor Standards Act 8 of 1938; and 9 (B) taken into account for purposes of de- 10 terminations with respect to benefits provided 11 by the employer. 12 (2) CORONAVIRUS HAZARD PAYMENTS DIS- 13 REGARDED IN ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL PRO- 14 GRAMS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 15 law, a coronavirus hazard payment made to any in- 16 dividual under this title shall not be taken into ac- 17 count as income, and shall not be taken into account 18 as resources for a period of 12 months from receipt, 19 for purposes of determining the eligibility of such in- 20 dividual for benefits or assistance (or the amount or 21 extent of benefits or assistance) under any Federal 22 program or under any State or local program fi- 23 nanced in whole or in part with Federal funds. 24 (f) PROTECTIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6709 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an employee 1 who is a high-risk health care worker or an essential 2 worker, an employer may not— 3 (A) reduce the regular rate of pay of the 4 employee because the employee received a haz- 5 ard payment under this section; or 6 (B) discriminate against the employee be- 7 cause the employee received a hazard payment 8 under this section, including terminating the 9 employment of the employee with the intent to 10 reinstate the employee at a regular rate of pay 11 that is lower than the previous rate of pay. 12 (2) ENFORCEMENT UNDER FAIR LABOR STAND- 13 ARDS ACT.—An employer shall be treated as vio- 14 lating section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 15 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) if the employer— 16 (A) does not make a hazard payment 17 under subsection (d)(2); 18 (B) violates a provision under paragraph 19 (1); or 20 (C) does not abide by a term, condition, or 21 regulation imposed by the Secretary under sub- 22 sections (c), (d), and (h). 23 (g) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For 24 purposes of this section— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 May 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6709.IH H6709 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 6709 IH (1) EARNED INCOME.—The term ‘‘earned in- 1 come’’ has the meaning given such term by section 2 32(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 3 (2) EMPLOYEE.—The terms ‘‘employee’’ has 4 the meaning given the term under section 3 of the 5 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 6 203), which includes Federal employees employed by 7 the Transportation Security Administration of the 8 Department of Homeland Security. 9 (3) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 10 meaning given the term under section 3 of the Fair 11 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 12 (4) REGULAR RATE.—The term ‘‘regular rate’’ 13 has the meaning given the term under section 7 of 14 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 15 207). 16 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of the Treasury. 18 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue such 19 regulations or other guidance as may be necessary or ap- 20 propriate to carry out [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]