Protecting America's Workers Act
Latest action · Nov 16, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
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.
- IntroducedApr 29, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Protecting America's Workers Act
Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to expand its coverage to federal, state, and local government employees.
Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, under specified conditions, to cede OSHA jurisdiction to another federal agency with respect to certain occupational standards or regulations for such agency's employees. Declares OSHA inapplicable to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.
Increases protections for whistle blowers under OSHA.
Prescribes requirements relating to:
- a employer's duty to furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm that the employer creates or controls or in which the employer exposes any individual (not just an employer's employee) performing work there;
- the posting of employee rights;
- a site-controlling employer's duty to keep a site log for recordable injuries and illnesses of all employees, including employees of the site-controlling employer or others (including independent contractors) performing work there;
- employer reporting of employee work-related deaths or hospitalizations;
- a prohibition against employers adopting or implementing policies or practices that discourage or discriminate against employee reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses;
- a prohibition against the loss of wages or employee benefits due to an employee participating in a workplace inspection;
- investigations of incidents resulting in death or the hospitalization of two or more employees which occur in a place of employment; and
- a prohibition against the issuing, modifying, or settling of unclassified citations for occupational health and safety standard violations.
Continues requirements relating to: (1) the rights of an employee (including a former employee or family member in lieu of an employee) who has sustained a work-related injury or illness that is the subject of an inspection or investigation; (2) an employer's right to contest citations and penalties; and (3) periods permitted for an employer to correct serious, willful, or repeated violations pending an employer's contest to a citation and procedures for stays of the time period for abatement of those violations.
Increases civil and criminal penalties for certain OSHA violators.
States that pre-final order interest on any penalties owed shall begin to accrue on the date a party contests a citation, at an interest rate calculated at the current underpayment rate.
Prescribes requirements for the Secretary's evaluation of state occupational safety and health plans as well as workplace health hazard evaluations by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Revises requirements for state plans for the development and enforcement of state occupational safety and health standards in lieu of applicable federal occupational safety and health standards. Requires the Secretary to approve plans that provide for state consideration of repeated occupational safety and health violations committed by an employer within the state as well as those committed under other occupational safety and health plans in states where the Secretary has jurisdiction.
Requires a state that has an approved plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards to amend its plan to conform to the requirements of this Act within 12 months after enactment of this Act.
Cosponsors 36
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 29, 2015 to Jun 10, 2016; 5 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-FL | Frederica S. Wilson | Original | Apr 29, 2015 |
| D-TX | Gene Green | Original | Apr 29, 2015 |
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Original | Apr 29, 2015 |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Original | Apr 29, 2015 |
| D-VA | Robert C. "Bobby" Scott | Original | Apr 29, 2015 |
| D-CO | Jared Polis | May 12, 2015 | |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | May 12, 2015 | |
| D-NV | Dina Titus | Jun 2, 2015 | |
| D-NJ | Donald M. Payne, Jr. | Sep 24, 2015 | |
| D-CA | John Garamendi | Sep 30, 2015 | |
| D-MA | Katherine M. Clark | Oct 1, 2015 | |
| D-CT | Rosa L. DeLauro | Oct 6, 2015 | |
| D-NC | Alma S. Adams | Oct 7, 2015 | |
| D-OH | Marcia L. Fudge | Oct 7, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Mark DeSaulnier | Oct 21, 2015 | |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Jan 8, 2016 | |
| D-CA | Eric Swalwell | Feb 2, 2016 | |
| D-NY | Hakeem S. Jeffries | Feb 2, 2016 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Mar 2, 2016 | |
| D-TX | Al Green | Apr 27, 2016 | |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Apr 27, 2016 | |
| D-NY | Brian Higgins | Apr 27, 2016 | |
| D-RI | James R. Langevin | Apr 27, 2016 | |
| D-WA | Jim McDermott | Apr 27, 2016 | |
| D-PA | Robert A. Brady | Apr 27, 2016 | |
| D-OR | Suzanne Bonamici | Apr 27, 2016 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Apr 29, 2016 | |
| D-CT | John B. Larson | Apr 29, 2016 | |
| D-NM | Michelle Lujan Grisham | Apr 29, 2016 | |
| D-FL | Alan Grayson | May 10, 2016 | |
| D-IN | André Carson | May 10, 2016 | |
| D-CT | James A. Himes | May 10, 2016 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | May 10, 2016 | |
| D-IN | Peter J. Visclosky | May 10, 2016 | |
| D-CA | Pete Aguilar | Jun 10, 2016 | |
| D-WI | Ron Kind | Jun 10, 2016 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Apr 29, 2015 |
| Workforce Protections Subcommittee | Referred Nov 16, 2015 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Nov 16, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
- Apr 29, 2015Introduced in House
- Apr 29, 2015Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 63, April 29, 2015, page H2654.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 114-50 | PROMOTING SAFE WORKPLACES THROUGH EFFECTIVE AND RESPONSIBLE RECORDKEEPING STANDARDS123 pages | Education and Workforce Committee | May 25, 2016 |
| Serial No. 114-30 | PROTECTING AMERICA'S WORKERS: AN ENFORCEMENT UPDATE FROM THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION105 pages | Education and Workforce Committee | Oct 7, 2015 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R44053 | Department of Homeland Security Appropriations: FY2016 Archived | Report | Jan 14, 2016 |
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 128 | Worksite Reporting Act | Related bill | Apr 29, 2015 |
| HR 914 | Protecting America's Workers Act | Reintroduced Bill | Feb 7, 2017 |
| S 1112 | Protecting America's Workers Act | Related bill | Apr 28, 2015 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage under the Act, to increase protections for whistleblowers, to increase penalties for high gravity violations, to adjust penalties for inflation, to provide rights for victims or their family members, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Protecting America's Workers Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Business records
- Civil actions and liability
- Congressional oversight
- Criminal procedure and sentencing
- Department of Labor
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Evidence and witnesses
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Inflation and prices
- Intergovernmental relations
- Judicial review and appeals
- Labor and Employment
- Legal fees and court costs
- Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
- State and local government operations
- Wages and earnings
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 29, 2015Introduced in House
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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
