Jobs for America Act of 2004 - Amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to provide protections for employees relating to the offshoring of jobs.
Revises the definition of mass layoff to mean a reduction in force which is not the result of a plant closing and results in an employment loss at the single site of employment for a 30-day period for at least 50 employees.
Defines offshoring of jobs as any action taken by an employer the effect of which is to create, shift, or transfer work or facilities outside the United States and which results in an employment loss during any 30 day period for 15 or more employees.
Sets forth requirements for notices for offshoring of jobs.
Establishes requirements for posting of notice of rights by employers and for contents of annual reports by the Secretary of Labor.
Revises provisions relating to: (1) determinations with respect to employment loss; and (2) civil actions against employers.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4740 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4740
To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to
provide protections for employees relating to the offshoring of jobs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 25, 2004
Mr. George Miller of California (for himself, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Owens,
Mr. Lantos, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Lee, Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Frank
of Massachusetts, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Frost, Mr. Markey, Mr. DeFazio, Ms.
Solis, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Watson, Mr. Meehan, Mr.
Brown of Ohio, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Visclosky, Ms. Slaughter, Mr.
McDermott, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Ms. DeLauro, and Mr.
Kanjorski) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to
provide protections for employees relating to the offshoring of jobs.
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 ``Jobs for America Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE WORKER ADJUSTMENT AND RETRAINING NOTIFICATION
ACT.
(a) Definition.--Section 2(a) of the Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ``for--'' and all that
follows through ``500 employees'' in clause (ii), and inserting
``for at least 50 employees'';
(2) in paragraph (7), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period and inserting
``; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) the term `offshoring of jobs' means any action taken
by an employer the effect of which is to create, shift, or
transfer work or facilities outside the United States and which
results in an employment loss during any 30 day period for 15
or more employees.''.
(b) Determinations With Respect to Employment Loss.--Section 3(d)
of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C.
2102(d)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``each of which'' and inserting ``1 or more
of which''; and
(2) by striking ``within any 90-day period'' and inserting
``within any 180-day period''.
(c) Notice.--Section 3 of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2102) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
striking ``60-day'' and inserting ``90-day''; and
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by inserting after paragraph (2), the
following:
``(3) to the Secretary of Labor.'';
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``60-day'' each place
that such appears and inserting ``90-day''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Notice for Offshoring of Jobs.--In the case of a notice under
subsection (a) regarding the offshoring of jobs, the notice shall
include, in addition to the information otherwise required by the
Secretary with respect to other notices under such subsection,
information concerning--
``(1) the number of jobs affected;
``(2) the location to which work or facilities are being
shifted or transferred; and
``(3) the reasons that such shifting or transferring of
work or facilities is occurring.''.
(d) Technical Amendments.--The Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by striking ``plant closing or mass layoff'' each place
that such appears and inserting ``plant closing, mass layoff,
or offshoring of jobs'';
(2) by striking ``closing or layoff'' each place that such
appears and inserting ``closing, layoff, or offshoring''; and
(3) in section 3--
(A) in the section heading by striking ``plant
closings and mass layoffs'' and inserting ``plant
closings, mass layoffs, and offshoring of jobs'';
(B) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking ``closing
or mass layoff'' and inserting ``closing, layoff, or
offshoring''; and
(C) in subsection (d), by striking ``section
2(a)(2) or (3)'' and inserting ``paragraph (2), (3), or
(9) of section 2(a)''.
(e) Civil Actions Against Employers.--Section 5(a) of the Worker
Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2104(a)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``60 days'' and inserting
``90 days'';
(2) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking ``and'';
(3) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and'';
(4) in paragraph (1), by inserting after subparagraph (B)
the following:
``(C) any other consequential damages incurred by the
aggrieved employee as a result of the violation of section 3 of
this Act.'';
(5) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``State or'' after
``with respect to a'';
(6) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following:
``If the court determines that an employer acted in bad faith
in an attempt to evade the requirements of this Act, the court
may, in its discretion, award to persons seeking to enforce
this Act, treble damages.''; and
(7) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``, a State,'' after ``a
representative of employees''.
(f) Posting of Employee Rights.--The Worker Adjustment and
Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 11. POSTING OF NOTICE OF RIGHTS.
``(a) Development.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this section, the Secretary of Labor shall develop a
notice of employee rights under this Act for posting by employers.
``(b) Posting.--Each employer shall post in a conspicuous place in
places of employment the notice of the rights of employees as developed
by the Secretary under subsection (a).''.
(g) Annual Report.--The Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.), as amended by subsection
(d), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 12. CONTENTS OF ANNUAL REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY OF LABOR.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Labor shall collect and compile
statistics based on the information submitted to the Secretary under
subsections (a)(3) and (e) of section 3.
``(b) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date on which each
regular session of Congress commences, the Secretary of Labor shall
prepare and submit to the President and the appropriate committees of
Congress a report on the offshoring of jobs (as defined in section
2(a)(9)). Each such report shall include information concerning--
``(1) the number of jobs affected by offshoring;
``(2) the locations to which work or facilities are being
shifted or transferred;
``(3) the reasons why such shifts and transfers are
occurring; and
``(4) any other relevant data compiled under subsection
(a).''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
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