[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2710 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2710

   To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for the 
tolling of the statute of limitations for investigations of violations 
     of such Act, to provide protection to employees who assist in 
   investigations of violations of this Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 1993

 Mr. Lantos (for himself and Mr. Shays) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for the 
tolling of the statute of limitations for investigations of violations 
     of such Act, to provide protection to employees who assist in 
   investigations of violations of this Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Wage and Hour 
Reform and Equity Act of 1993''.
    (b) Reference.--Whenever in sections 3 through 10 an amendment or 
repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a 
section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 
made to a section or other provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938.

SEC. 2. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

    Section 6(a) of the Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255(a)) 
is amended by adding before the semicolon the following: ``and except 
that the running of such statutory period of limitation for a violation 
of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 shall be suspended during the 
period (1) beginning on the date a complaint of such violation is filed 
with the Secretary by an employee and ending on the date final action 
is taken on such complaint, or (2) if an employee does not file a 
complaint, beginning on the date the Secretary initiates an 
investigation of such a violation and ending on the date final action 
is taken on such investigation''.

SEC. 3. COMPENSATION.

    Section 6(a)(1) (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended by inserting 
before ``except'' the following: ``the employee's regular rate of pay 
which shall be,''.

SEC. 4. NOTICE.

    Section 11 (29 U.S.C. 211) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e) In any investigation or proceeding by the Secretary under 
this Act which involves actual or potential violations of this Act 
affecting at least 50 employees of an employer, the Secretary shall--
            ``(1) inform, in writing, all affected employees of such 
        employer--
                    ``(A) that such an investigation or proceeding has 
                been initiated;
                    ``(B) of their rights under this Act, including 
                their right to provide information in connection with 
                such investigation or proceeding; and
                    ``(C) the protection provided by paragraphs (6) and 
                (7) of section 15(a) against discrimination or 
                retaliation for providing such information;
            ``(2) disclose, in writing, the terms of any settlement of 
        such an investigation or proceeding.''.

SEC. 5. TEACHERS.

    Section 13(a) (29 U.S.C. 213(a)) is amended by striking out ``or 
teacher in elementary or secondary schools''.

SEC. 6. DISCRIMINATION; INTERFERENCE.

    Section 15(a) is amended by striking out the period at the end of 
paragraph (5) and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon and by adding 
after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) to discriminate or retaliate in any way against any 
        employee because such employee has asserted to the employee's 
        employer or agent of such employer or to any governmental 
        authority any right protected under this Act; or
            ``(7) to interfere in any way with any employee's right to 
        provide information in connection with an investigation or 
        proceeding under this Act.''.

SEC. 7. ACTIONS.

    (a) Actions Under Section 16(b).--Section 16(b) (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) 
is amended by striking out the last sentence.
    (b) Actions Under Section 17.--Section 17 (29 U.S.C. 217) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ``An action may be brought 
under this section by the Secretary or by one or more employees for and 
on behalf of such employee or employees and other employees similarly 
situated.''.

SEC. 8. CONSENT TO SUIT.

    Section 16(b) (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) is amended by striking out the 4th 
sentence.

SEC. 9. CIVIL PENALTIES.

    Section 16(e) (29 U.S.C. 216(e)) is amended--
            (1) by striking out ``person'' each place it occurs and 
        inserting in lieu thereof ``employer or agent of an employer'', 
        and
            (2) by inserting after the second sentence the following: 
        ``Any employer or agent of an employer who violates section 
        15(a)(5) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed 
        $10,000 for each such violation.''.

SEC. 10. PUBLICATION OF VIOLATIONS.

    Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(f) When any person violates section 15, the Secretary shall 
publish the name and address of such person and a description of the 
violation in the Federal Register.''.

                                 <all>