United States HR 2749: Restoring Justice for Workers Act

Bill Text

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116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 2749
To prohibit forced arbitration in work disputes, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 15, 2019
Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms.
BONAMICI, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COOPER, Mr.
CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELAURO, Mr.
DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Mr.
GARAMENDI, Mr. GOLDEN, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms.
JAYAPAL, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. LAWRENCE,
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCCOL-
LUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MUCARSEL-
POWELL, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PORTER, Mr. RASKIN,
Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SMITH of
Washington, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TONKO, Mr.
VELA, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, and Ms. CASTOR of
Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education
and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To prohibit forced arbitration in work disputes, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Justice for 2
Workers Act’’. 3
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 4
The purposes of this Act are to— 5
(1) prohibit predispute arbitration agreements 6
that require arbitration of work disputes; 7
(2) prohibit retaliation against workers for re-8
fusing to arbitrate work disputes; 9
(3) provide protections to ensure that postdis-10
pute arbitration agreements are truly voluntary and 11
with the informed consent of workers; and 12
(4) amend the National Labor Relations Act to 13
prohibit agreements and practices that interfere with 14
employees’ right to engage in concerted activity re-15
garding work disputes. 16
SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF WORK DISPUTES. 17
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 18
is amended by adding at the end the following: 19
‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF WORK 20
DISPUTES 21
‘‘Sec.
‘‘401. Definitions.
‘‘402. Validity and enforceability.
‘‘§ 401. Definitions 22
‘‘In this chapter— 23
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‘‘(1) the terms ‘commerce’, ‘employee’, and ‘em-1
ployer’ have the meanings given the terms in section 2
3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 3
U.S.C. 203); 4
‘‘(2) the term ‘covered entity’ means— 5
‘‘(A) an employer; or 6
‘‘(B) an individual or entity that is not 7
acting as an employer and engages the services 8
of a worker; 9
‘‘(3) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree-10
ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute 11
that had not yet arisen at the time of the making 12
of the agreement; 13
‘‘(4) the term ‘postdispute arbitration agree-14
ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute 15
that arose before the time of the making of the 16
agreement; 17
‘‘(5) the term ‘worker’ means— 18
‘‘(A) an employee; or 19
‘‘(B) an individual who is engaged by a 20
covered entity to perform services or work as an 21
independent contractor (regardless of the label 22
or classification assigned or used by the covered 23
entity); and 24
‘‘(6) the term ‘work dispute’— 25
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‘‘(A) means a dispute between one or more 1
workers (or their authorized representatives) 2
and a covered entity arising out of or related to 3
the work relationship or prospective work rela-4
tionship between the workers and the covered 5
entity; and 6
‘‘(B) includes, but is not limited to— 7
‘‘(i) a dispute regarding the terms of, 8
payment for, advertising of, recruitment of, 9
referring of, arranging for, or discipline or 10
discharge in connection with such work; 11
‘‘(ii) a dispute arising under any law 12
referred to or described in section 62(e) of 13
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, includ-14
ing any part of such a law not explicitly 15
referenced in such section that relates to 16
protecting individuals on a basis that is 17
protected under a law referred to or de-18
scribed in such section; and 19
‘‘(iii) a dispute in which an individual 20
or individuals seek certification— 21
‘‘(I) as a class under rule 23 of 22
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; 23
‘‘(II) as a collective action under 24
section 16(b) of the Fair Labor 25
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