[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3875 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3875

      To permit the Secretary of Labor to make an administrative 
determination of the amount of unpaid wages owed for certain violations 
    of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the New Orleans region after 
                           Hurricane Katrina.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 17, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To permit the Secretary of Labor to make an administrative 
determination of the amount of unpaid wages owed for certain violations 
    of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the New Orleans region after 
                           Hurricane Katrina.

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

SECTION 1. DETERMINATION OF UNPAID WAGES RELATED TO CERTAIN VIOLATIONS 
              IN THE NEW ORLEANS REGION AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA.

    (a) Determination by Secretary of Labor.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, for any violation described in subsection (b), the 
Secretary of Labor may make an administrative determination of the 
amount of unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation, as the 
case may be, and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages owed 
to employees by an employer on account of such violations. Such 
determination shall be final unless, within 15 days after receipt of 
notice thereof by certified mail the person charged with the violation 
takes exception to the determination that the violations for which the 
amount of unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation, as the 
case may be, occurred, in which event final determination of the 
violation and the amount of unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime 
compensation, as the case may be, and an additional equal amount as 
liquidated damages owed to employees shall be made in an administrative 
proceeding after opportunity for hearing in accordance with section 554 
of title 5, United States Code, and regulations promulgated by the 
Secretary.
    (b) Applicability.--The violations for which the administrative 
determination in subsection (a) applies are violations of section 6 or 
7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206, 207)--
            (1) that occurred in the geographical jurisdiction of the 
        New Orleans District office of the Wage and Hours Division of 
        the Department of Labor;
            (2) that occurred after August 29, 2005; and
            (3) for which an action under section 16(b) of the Fair 
        Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) may not be 
        commenced on account of section 6 of the Act of May 14, 1947 
        (61 Stat. 87).
    (c) Payment and Enforcement.--The Secretary of Labor is authorized 
to supervise the payment of the unpaid minimum wages or the unpaid 
overtime compensation and an additional equal amount as liquidated 
damages owing to any employee or employees based on a determination 
made under subsection (a). The Secretary may bring an action in any 
court of competent jurisdiction to recover the amount of unpaid minimum 
wages or overtime compensation and an equal amount as liquidated 
damages.
    (d) Sunset.--The authority provided under this section shall cease 
to be in effect on December 31, 2012.
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