[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 38 (Thursday, March 30, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1973-S1974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WORKER ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text 
of the Worker Economic Opportunity Act (S. 2323), which was introduced 
yesterday, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2323

       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 Economic Opportunity 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.

       (a) Exclusion from Regular Rate.--Section 7(e) of the Fair 
     Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207(e)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``or'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting 
     ``; or''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(8) any value or income derived from employer-provided 
     grants or rights provided pursuant to a stock option, stock 
     appreciation right, or bona fide employee stock purchase 
     program which is not otherwise excludable under any of 
     paragraphs (1) through (7) if--
       ``(A) grants are made pursuant to a program, the terms and 
     conditions of which are communicated to participating 
     employees either at the beginning of the employee's 
     participation in the program or at the time of the grant;
       ``(B) in the case of stock options and stock appreciation 
     rights, the grant or right cannot be exercisable for a period 
     of at least 6 months after the time of grant (except that 
     grants or rights may become exercisable because of an 
     employee's death, disability, retirement, or a change in 
     corporate ownership, or other circumstances permitted by 
     regulation), and the exercise price is at least 85 percent of 
     the fair market value of the stock at the time of grant;
       ``(C) exercise of any grant or right is voluntary; and

[[Page S1974]]

       ``(D) any determinations regarding the award of, and the 
     amount of, employer-provided grants or rights that are based 
     on performance are--
       ``(i) made based upon meeting previously established 
     performance criteria (which may include hours of work, 
     efficiency, or productivity) of any business unit consisting 
     of at least 10 employees or of a facility, except that, any 
     determinations may be based on length of service or minimum 
     schedule of hours or days of work; or
       ``(ii) made based upon the past performance (which may 
     include any criteria) of one or more employees in a given 
     period so long as the determination is in the sole discretion 
     of the employer and not pursuant to any prior contract.''.
       (b) Extra Compensation.--Section 7(h) of the Fair Labor 
     Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207(h)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``Extra'' and inserting the following:
       ``(2) Extra''; and
       (2) by inserting after the subsection designation the 
     following:
       ``(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), sums excluded 
     from the regular rate pursuant to subsection (e) shall not be 
     creditable toward wages required under section 6 or overtime 
     compensation required under this section.''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act.
       (d) Liability of Employers.--No employer shall be liable 
     under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 for any failure to 
     include in an employee's regular rate (as defined for 
     purposes of such Act) any income or value derived from 
     employer-provided grants or rights obtained pursuant to any 
     stock option, stock appreciation right, or employee stock 
     purchase program if--
       (1) the grants or rights were obtained before the effective 
     date described in subsection (c);
       (2) the grants or rights were obtained within the 12-month 
     period beginning on the effective date described in 
     subsection (c), so long as such program was in existence on 
     the date of enactment of this Act and will require 
     shareholder approval to modify such program to comply with 
     section 7(e)(8) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (as 
     added by the amendments made by subsection (a)); or
       (3) such program is provided under a collective bargaining 
     agreement that is in effect on the effective date described 
     in subsection (c).
       (e) Regulations.--The Secretary of Labor may promulgate 
     such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
     amendments made by this Act.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

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