S 1972 · 113th Congress 2013–2015, ended

Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2014

Fact sheet

Latest action · Jan 29, 2014 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedJan 29, 2014
  2. Passed SenateNot reached
  3. Passed HouseNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2014 - Declares it an unlawful practice for certain employers with at least 15 employees for each working day in each of at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year to: (1) fail or refuse to consider for employment or to hire an individual as an employee based on present or past unemployment regardless of the length of time such individual was unemployed; (2) publish an advertisement or announcement for any job with provisions indicating that such an unemployed status disqualifies an individual and that an employer will not consider or hire an individual based on such status; and (3) direct or request that an employment agency account for such status when considering, screening, or referring applicants.

Prohibits an employment agency (including agents and persons maintaining a website publishing job advertisements or announcements), based on such an individual's status as unemployed, from: (1) failing or refusing to consider, screen, or refer an individual for employment; (2) limiting, segregating, or classifying individuals in any manner limiting access to job information; or (3) publishing an advertisement or announcement for any job vacancy that includes provisions indicating that such an individual is disqualified and that an employer will not consider or hire such individuals.

Prohibits similar employment practices by defined federal employing agencies covered under specified family and medical leave provisions for certain government employees.

Allows consideration of an individual's status as unemployed if an individual's employment in a similar or related job for a period of time reasonably proximate to the hiring of such individual is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to successful performance of the job being filled.

Authorizes, subject to possible termination upon the filing of certain complaints by the Secretary of Labor, one or more persons for and on behalf of the affected individual, or the affected individual and other individuals similarly situated, to bring actions in federal or state court for specified actual damages, punitive damages, and equitable relief, including employment.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve complaints according to specified provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; and (2) pay directly to each affected individual applicable sums recovered in any civil actions brought by the Secretary under this Act.

Requires, with respect to the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the Library of Congress (LOC), that the Secretary's authority be exercised respectively by the Public Printer and Librarian of Congress.

Sets forth a two-year statute of limitations period (three years for willful violations) for specified civil actions to be filed under this Act, except that the limitation period for filing an action by an individual is tolled during the period when the Secretary is considering a complaint against the defendant involved.

Cosponsors 8

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 29, 2014 to Feb 10, 2014, with 5 there on the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
I-VTBernard SandersOriginalJan 29, 2014
D-CTChristopher MurphyOriginalJan 29, 2014
D-MAEdward J. MarkeyOriginalJan 29, 2014
D-NHJeanne ShaheenOriginalJan 29, 2014
D-NYKirsten E. GillibrandOriginalJan 29, 2014
D-NJRobert MenendezJan 30, 2014
D-OHSherrod BrownJan 30, 2014
D-MAElizabeth WarrenFeb 10, 2014

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Jan 29, 2014Introduced in Senate
  2. Jan 29, 2014Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
HR 3972Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2014Related billJun 13, 2014

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Jan 29, 2014Introduced in Senate

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.