[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8911 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8911

 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to 
 allow employees to take meal, rest, restroom, and medical breaks, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 28, 2024

  Mrs. Watson Coleman (for herself, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-
   Cortez, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. 
    Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Deluzio, Ms. Wild, Mr. 
  Thanedar, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Omar, Ms. 
Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Bowman, Ms. 
 Brown, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Adams, Mr. Lynch, 
Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Ross, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Ivey, 
 Ms. Bush, Ms. Tokuda, and Ms. Stevens) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require employers to 
 allow employees to take meal, rest, restroom, and medical breaks, 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 ``Worker Rights and Support Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRED BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES.

    (a) In General.--The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
201 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 7 (29 U.S.C. 207) 
the following:

``SEC. 8. REQUIRED BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES.

    ``(a) Meal Breaks.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (3)(A) 
        and subsection (e), an employer shall provide, for each 6-hour 
        period of work performed by an employee, a period of break time 
        of not less than 30 minutes during such period of work in which 
        the employee may consume a meal.
            ``(2) Payment.----
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), an employer shall not be required to 
                compensate an employee for a break required under 
                paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Paid breaks.--In the case in which an 
                employee is not fully relieved of all work or 
                expectation of work, or is not free to leave the 
                premises or work site during a break provided under 
                paragraph (1), the employer shall compensate the 
                employee for the full period of break time under 
                paragraph (1), at a rate that is not less than one and 
                one-half times the regular rate at which the employee 
                is employed by the employer.
            ``(3) Waiver.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The period of break time under 
                paragraph (1) may be waived by consent of the employee.
                    ``(B) Waiver may not be compelled.--An employer may 
                not compel, or attempt to compel, an employee to waive 
                the period of break time provided under paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Rest and Restroom Breaks.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (e), an 
        employer shall provide, during each 4-hour period of work 
        performed by an employee, a period of break time that is the 
        longer of--
                    ``(A) 10 minutes; or
                    ``(B) a reasonable period of time to utilize the 
                nearest functioning and accessible restroom.
            ``(2) Rate of compensation.--An employer shall compensate 
        an employee for the break time described in paragraph (1) at 
        the regular rate at which the employee is employed by the 
        employer.
    ``(c) Medical Breaks.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (e), an 
        employer shall provide to an employee periods of break time, 
        not to exceed 20 minutes each, that the employee may reasonably 
        require due to a medical condition communicated to the employer 
        by the health care provider either directly from such provider 
        or indirectly from the employee.
            ``(2) Rate of compensation.--An employer shall compensate 
        an employee for the break time described in paragraph (1) at 
        the regular rate at which the employee is employed by the 
        employer.
    ``(d) Time Worked.--Break time paid under this section shall be 
considered as time worked.
    ``(e) Collective Bargaining Agreements; State Laws.--The 
requirements under this section shall not--
            ``(1) supersede any provision in a collective bargaining 
        agreement; or
            ``(2) preempt any State law that provides greater 
        protections to employees than the protections provided to 
        employees under this section.''.
    (b) Enforcement.--
            (1) Prohibited act.--Section 15(a) of the Fair Labor 
        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215(a)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or section 7'' 
                and inserting ``, section 7, or section 8'';
                    (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) to violate any of the provisions of section 8.''.
            (2) Penalties.--Section 16 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 216) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subsection (b), by inserting after the third 
                sentence the following: ``Any employer who violates the 
                provisions of section 8 shall be liable for such legal 
                or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate 
                the purposes of such section.'';
                    (B) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 
                following: ``The authority and requirements described 
                in this subsection shall also apply with respect to a 
                violation of section 8, as appropriate, and the 
                employer shall be liable for such legal or equitable 
                relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes 
                of such section.''; and
                    (C) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ``section 6 
                or 7, relating to wages,'' and inserting ``section 6, 
                7, or 8, relating to wages or break time,''.
            (3) Statute of limitations.--Section 6 of the Portal-to-
        Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255) is amended, in the matter 
        preceding subsection (a), by inserting ``(and any cause of 
        action to enforce section 8 of such Act)'' after ``under the 
        Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 10 of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 210) is repealed.
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