[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3596 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3596

To require a publicly available a list of all employers that relocate a 
call center overseas and to make such companies ineligible for Federal 
 grants or guaranteed loans and to require disclosure of the physical 
       location of business agents engaging in customer service 
                            communications.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 7, 2011

Mr. Bishop of New York (for himself, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Michaud, and Mr. 
Gene Green of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
    to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the 
  Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Armed Services, and 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require a publicly available a list of all employers that relocate a 
call center overseas and to make such companies ineligible for Federal 
 grants or guaranteed loans and to require disclosure of the physical 
       location of business agents engaging in customer service 
                            communications.

    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 ``The United States Call Center Worker 
and Consumer Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``agency'' means a Federal or State executive 
        agency and a military department;
            (2) the term ``business entity'' means any organization, 
        corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, 
        unincorporated association, or venture established to make a 
        profit, in whole or in part, by purposefully availing itself of 
        the privilege of conducting commerce in the United States;
            (3) the term ``call center'' means a facility or other 
        operation whereby employees receive incoming telephone calls, 
        emails, or other electronic communication for the purpose of 
        providing customer assistance or other service;
            (4) the term ``consumer'' means any individual within the 
        territorial jurisdiction of the United States who purchases, 
        transacts, or contracts for the purchase or transaction of any 
        goods, merchandise, or services, not for resale in the ordinary 
        course of the individual's trade or business, but for the 
        individual's use or that of a member of the individual's 
        household;
            (5) the term ``customer service communication'' means any 
        telecommunication or wire communication between a consumer and 
        a business entity in furtherance of commerce;
            (6) the term ``employer'' means any business enterprise 
        that employs in a call center--
                    (A) 50 or more employees, excluding part-time 
                employees; or
                    (B) 50 or more employees who in the aggregate work 
                at least 1,500 hours per week (exclusive of hours of 
                overtime);
            (7) the term ``part-time employee'' means an employee who 
        is employed for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or 
        who has been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 months 
        preceding the date on which notice is required;
            (8) the terms ``relocating'' and ``relocation'' refer to 
        the closure of a call center, or the cessation of operations of 
        a call center, or 1 or more facilities or operating units 
        within a call center comprising at least 30 percent of the call 
        center's, or operating unit's, total volume when measured 
        against the previous 12-month average call volume of operations 
        or substantially similar operations to a location outside of 
        the United States;
            (9) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Labor;
            (10) the term ``telecommunication'' means the transmission, 
        between or among points specified by the communicator, of 
        information of the communicator's choosing, without change in 
        the form or content of the information as sent and received; 
        and
            (11) the term ``wire communication'' or ``communication by 
        wire'' means the transmission of writing, signs, signals, 
        pictures, and sounds of all kinds by aid of wire, cable, or 
        other like connection between the points of origin and 
        reception of such transmission, including all 
        instrumentalities, facilities, apparatus, and services (among 
        other things, the receipt, forwarding, and delivery of 
        communications) incidental to such transmission.

SEC. 3. LIST OF CALL CENTERS RELOCATING OVERSEAS AND INELIGIBILITY FOR 
              GRANTS OR GUARANTEED LOANS.

    (a) List.--
            (1) Notice requirement.--
                    (A) In general.--Not fewer than 120 days before 
                relocating a call center to a location outside of the 
                United States, an employer shall notify the Secretary 
                of such relocation.
                    (B) Penalty.--A person who violates subparagraph 
                (A) shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed 
                $10,000 for each day of violation.
            (2) List.--The Secretary shall maintain and make publicly 
        available a list of all employers that relocate a call center, 
        and such employers shall remain on the list for a period not to 
        exceed 3 years after each instance of relocating a call center.
    (b) Ineligibility for Grants or Guaranteed Loans.--
            (1) Ineligibility.--Except as provided in subsection (b) 
        and notwithstanding any other provision of law, an employer 
        that appears on the list described in section 3(b) shall be 
        ineligible for any direct or indirect Federal grants or Federal 
        guaranteed loans for 5 years after the date such employer was 
        added to the list.
            (2) Exceptions.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
        appropriate agency providing a loan or grant, may waive the 
        eligibility restriction provided under subsection (a) if the 
        employer applying for such loan or grant demonstrates that a 
        lack of such loan or grant would--
                    (A) threaten national security;
                    (B) result in substantial job loss in the United 
                States; or
                    (C) harm the environment.
    (c) Preference in Federal Contracting for Not Relocating a Call 
Center Overseas.--The head of an agency, when awarding a civilian or 
defense-related contract, shall give preference to a United States 
employer that does not appear on the list described in section 3(b).
    (d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 1 year after 
its enactment.

SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO FEDERAL BENEFITS FOR WORKERS.

    No provision of section 3 shall be construed to permit withholding 
or denial of payments, compensation, or benefits under any Federal law 
(including Federal unemployment compensation, disability payments, or 
worker retraining or readjustment funds) to workers employed by 
employers that relocate operations outside the United States.

SEC. 5. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE BY BUSINESS ENTITIES ENGAGED IN CUSTOMER 
              SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS OF PHYSICAL LOCATION.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), a business 
entity that either initiates or receives a customer service 
communication shall require that each of its employees or agents 
participating in the communication disclose their physical location at 
the beginning of each customer service communication so initiated or 
received.
    (b) Exceptions.--
            (1) Business entities located in the united states.--The 
        requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to a customer 
        service communication involving a business entity if all of the 
        employees or agents of the business entity participating in 
        such communication are physically located in the United States.
            (2) Communication initiated by consumer knowingly to 
        foreign entity or address.--The requirements of subsection (a) 
        shall not apply to an employee or agent of a business entity 
        participating in a customer service communication with a 
        consumer if--
                    (A) the customer service communication was 
                initiated by the consumer;
                    (B) the employee or agent is physically located 
                outside the United States; and
                    (C) the consumer knows or reasonably should know 
                that the employee or agent is physically located 
                outside the United States.
            (3) Emergency services.--The requirements of subsection (a) 
        shall not apply to a customer service communication relating to 
        the provision of emergency services (as defined by the Federal 
        Trade Commission).
            (4) Business entities and customer service communications 
        excluded by federal trade commission.--The Federal Trade 
        Commission may exclude certain classes or types of business 
        entities or customer service communications from the 
        requirements of subsection (a) if the Commission finds 
        exceptionally compelling circumstances that justify such 
        exclusion.
    (c) Transfer to U.S.-Based Customer Service Center.--A business 
entity that is subject to the requirements of subsection (a) shall, at 
the request of a customer, transfer the customer to a customer service 
agent who is physically located in the United States.
    (d) Certification Requirement.--Each year, each business entity 
that participates in a customer service communication shall certify to 
the Federal Trade Commission that it has complied or failed to comply 
with the requirements of subsection (a) and (c).
    (e) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall promulgate 
such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 
this section.
    (f) Effective Date.--The requirements of subsection (a) shall apply 
with respect to customer service communications occurring on or after 
the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Any failure to comply with the provisions of 
section 5 shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 
57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
    (b) Powers of Federal Trade Commission.--
            (1) In general.--The Federal Trade Commission shall prevent 
        any person from violating section 5 and any regulation 
        promulgated thereunder, in the same manner, by the same means, 
        and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though 
        all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 
        Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into 
        and made a part of this Act.
            (2) Penalties.--Any person who violates regulations 
        promulgated under section 5 shall be subject to the penalties 
        and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the 
        Federal Trade Commission Act in the same manner, by the same 
        means, and with the same jurisdiction, power, and duties as 
        though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 
        Commission Act were incorporated into and made part of this 
        Act.
    (c) Authority Preserved.--Nothing in this section or section 5 
shall be construed to limit the authority of the Federal Trade 
Commission under any other provision of law.
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