[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2298 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2298

 To provide for labor recruiter accountability, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 2005

 Mr. George Miller of California (for himself, Mr. Owens, Ms. Woolsey, 
  Mr. Waxman, Mr. Holt, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Van 
 Hollen, Mr. Kildee, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Davis of Illinois, 
Mr. Evans, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Brown of Ohio, 
  Mr. Payne, Ms. Watson, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Berman, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. 
 McDermott, Mr. Stark, and Mr. Tierney) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for labor recruiter accountability, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Indentured Servitude Abolition Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS RECRUITED ABROAD.

    (a) Basic Requirements.--(1) Each employer and foreign labor 
contractor who engages in foreign labor contracting activity shall 
ascertain and disclose to each such worker who is recruited for 
employment the following information at the time of the worker's 
recruitment:
            (A) The place of employment.
            (B) The compensation for the employment.
            (C) A description of employment activities.
            (D) The period of employment.
            (E) The transportation, housing, and any other employee 
        benefit to be provided and any costs to be charged for each 
        benefit.
            (F) The existence of any labor organizing effort, strike, 
        lockout, or other labor dispute at the place of employment.
            (G) The existence of any arrangements with any owner or 
        agent of any establishment in the area of employment under 
        which the contractor or employer is to receive a commission or 
        any other benefit resulting from any sales (including the 
        provision of services) by such establishment to the workers.
            (H) Whether and the extent to which workers will be 
        compensated through workers' compensation, private insurance, 
        or otherwise for injuries or death, including work related 
        injuries and death, during the period of employment and, if so, 
        the name of the State workers' compensation insurance carrier 
        or the name of the policyholder of the private insurance, the 
        name and the telephone number of each person who must be 
        notified of an injury or death, and the time period within 
        which such notice must be given.
            (I) Any education or training to be provided or made 
        available, including the nature and cost of such training, who 
        will pay such costs, and whether the training is a condition of 
        employment, continued employment, or future employment.
            (J) A statement, approved by the Secretary of Labor, 
        describing the protections of this Act for workers recruited 
        abroad.
    (2) No foreign labor contractor or employer shall knowingly provide 
false or misleading information to any worker concerning any matter 
required to be disclosed in paragraph (1).
    (3) The information required to be disclosed by paragraph (1) to 
workers shall be provided in written form. Such information shall be 
provided in English or, as necessary and reasonable, in the language of 
the worker being recruited. The Department of Labor shall make forms 
available in English, Spanish, and other languages, as necessary, which 
may be used in providing workers with information required under this 
section.
    (4) No fees may be charged to a worker for recruitment.
    (5) No employer or foreign labor contractor shall, without 
justification, violate the terms of any working arrangement made by 
that contractor or employer.
    (6) The employer shall pay the transportation costs, including 
subsistence costs during the period of travel, for the worker from the 
place of recruitment to the place of employment and from the place of 
employment to such worker's place of permanent residence.
    (7)(A) It shall be unlawful for an employer or a foreign labor 
contractor to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or 
otherwise discriminate against an individual with respect to 
compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because 
such individual's race, color, creed, sex, national origin, religion, 
age, or disability.
    (B) For the purposes of determining the existence of unlawful 
discrimination under subclause (A)--
            (i) in the case of a claim of discrimination based on race, 
        color, creed, sex, national origin, or religion, the same legal 
        standards shall apply as are applicable under title VII of the 
        Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.);
            (ii) in the case of a claim of discrimination based on 
        unlawful discrimination based on age, the same legal standards 
        shall apply as are applicable under the Age Discrimination in 
        Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.); and
            (iii) in the case of a claim of discrimination based on 
        disability, the same legal standards shall apply as are 
        applicable under title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).
    (b) Other Worker Protections.--(1) Each employer shall notify the 
Secretary of the identity of any foreign labor contractor involved in 
any foreign labor contractor activity for or on behalf of the employer. 
The employer shall be subject to the civil remedies of this Act for 
violations committed by such foreign labor contractor to the same 
extent as if the employer had committed the violation. The employer 
shall notify the Secretary of the identity of such a foreign labor 
contractor whose activities do not comply with this Act.
    (2) The Secretary shall maintain a list of all foreign labor 
contractors whom the Secretary knows or believes have been involved in 
violations of this Act, and make that list publicly available. The 
Secretary shall provide a procedure by which an employer, a foreign 
labor contractor, or someone acting on behalf of such contractor may 
seek to have a foreign labor contractor's name removed from such list 
by demonstrating to the Secretary's satisfaction that the foreign labor 
contractor has not violated this Act in the previous five years.
    (3) No foreign labor contractor shall violate, without 
justification, the terms of any written agreements made with an 
employer pertaining to any contracting activity or worker protection 
under this Act.
    (c) Discrimination Prohibited Against Workers Seeking Relief Under 
This Act.--No person shall intimidate, threaten, restrain, coerce, 
blacklist, discharge, or in any manner discriminate against any worker 
because such worker has, with just cause, filed any complaint or 
instituted, or caused to be instituted, any proceeding under or related 
to this Act, or has testified or is about to testify in any such 
proceedings, or because of the exercise, with just cause, by such 
worker on behalf of himself or others of any right or protection 
afforded by this Act.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.

    (a) Criminal Sanctions.--Whoever knowingly violates this Act shall 
be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more 
than one year, or both. Upon conviction, after a first conviction under 
this section, for a second or subsequent violation of this Act, the 
defendant shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or 
imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
    (b) Administrative Sanctions.--(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), 
the Secretary may assess a civil money penalty of not more than $5,000 
on any person who violates this Act.
    (B) In determining the amount of any penalty to be assessed under 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall take into account (i) the 
previous record of the person in terms of compliance with this Act and 
with comparable requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 
and with regulations promulgated under such Acts, and (ii) the gravity 
of the violation.
    (2) Any employer who uses the services of a foreign labor 
contractor who is on the list maintained by the Secretary pursuant to 
section 2(b)(2), shall, if the actions of such foreign labor contractor 
have contributed to a violation of this Act by the employer, be fined 
$10,000 per violation in addition to any other fines or penalties for 
which the employer may be liable for the violation.
    (c) Actions by Secretary.--The Secretary may take such actions, 
including seeking appropriate injunctive relief and specific 
performance of contractual obligations, as may be necessary to assure 
employer compliance with terms and conditions of employment under this 
Act and with this Act.
    (d) Waiver of Rights.--Agreements by employees purporting to waive 
or to modify their rights under this Act shall be void as contrary to 
public policy.
    (e) Representation in Court.--Except as provided in section 518(a) 
of title 28, United States Code, relating to litigation before the 
Supreme Court, the Solicitor of Labor may appear for and represent the 
Secretary in any civil litigation brought under this Act, but all such 
litigation shall be subject to the direction and control of the 
Attorney General.

SEC. 4. PROCEDURES IN ADDITION TO OTHER RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES.

    The rights and remedies provided to workers by this Act are in 
addition to, and not in lieu of, any other contractual or statutory 
rights and remedies of the workers, and are not intended to alter or 
affect such rights and remedies.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary of Labor shall prescribe such regulations as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In General.--Except as otherwise provided by this Act, for 
purposes of this Act the terms used in this Act shall have the same 
meanings, respectively, as are given those terms in section 3 of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
    (b) Other Definitions.--As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``United States'' means any within any State.
            (2) The term ``State'' means any State of the United States 
        and includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, 
        American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
        Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States.
            (3) The term ``foreign labor contractor'' means any person 
        who for any money or other valuable consideration paid or 
        promised to be paid, performs any foreign labor contracting 
        activity.
            (4) The term ``foreign labor contracting activity'' means 
        recruiting, soliciting, hiring, employing, or furnishing, an 
        individual who resides outside of the United States to be 
        employed in the United States.
            (5) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Labor.
            (6) The term ``worker'' means an individual who is the 
        subject of foreign labor contracting activity.
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