United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2016
Latest action · Sep 19, 2016 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.
- IntroducedFeb 24, 2016
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2016
This bill requires a business that employs 50 or more call center employees, excluding part-time employees, or 50 or more call center employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week, exclusive of overtime, to notify the Department of Labor at least 120 days before relocating such center outside of the United States. Violators are subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day.
Labor must make publicly available a list of all such employers that relocate a call center. It may remove from the list an employer that has relocated the call center from a location outside the United States to a location inside the United States.
Employers must remain on the list for up to three years after each relocation. An employer is ineligible for federal grants or federal guaranteed loans for five years after being added to the list, except where the employer demonstrates that a lack of such loan or grant would threaten national security, result in substantial job loss in the United States, or harm the environment. Federal or state executive agencies or military departments, when awarding a civilian or defense-related contract, must give preference to a U.S. employer that does not appear on the list.
Businesses that initiate or receive a customer service communication must require each of their employees or agents participating in the communication to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each such communication unless all involved employees or agents are located in the United States. The bill exempts any communication: (1) initiated by a consumer if the consumer knows or reasonably should know that the employee or agent is located outside the United States, or (2) related to the provision of emergency services. Upon request, businesses must transfer a customer to a customer service agent who is physically located in the United States.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may exclude certain classes or types of business entities or customer service communications from the requirements of this Act under exceptionally compelling circumstances. The bill sets forth authority for the FTC to enforce against violations.
Cosponsors 4
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 24, 2016 to Nov 14, 2016; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NY | Christopher P. Gibson | Original | Feb 24, 2016 |
| R-WV | David B. McKinley | Original | Feb 24, 2016 |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Original | Feb 24, 2016 |
| D-TX | Al Green | Nov 14, 2016 |
Committees 4
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Feb 24, 2016 |
| Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee | Referred Feb 26, 2016 | |
| House | Armed Services Committee | Referred Feb 24, 2016 |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Feb 24, 2016 |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Feb 24, 2016 |
| Workforce Protections Subcommittee | Referred Sep 19, 2016 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 19, 2016Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
- Feb 26, 2016Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
- Feb 24, 2016Introduced in House
- Feb 24, 2016Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H3270 | Gene Green D-TX | May 26, 2016 |
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. 162, no. 29, February 24, 2016, page H892.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2593 | United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2016 | Identical bill | Feb 25, 2016 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To require the Secretary of Labor to maintain a publicly available list of all employers that relocate a call center overseas, to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans, and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2016
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Business records
- Commerce
- Consumer affairs
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Military procurement, research, weapons development
- Public contracts and procurement
- Telephone and wireless communication
- Unemployment
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 24, 2016Introduced 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.
