HR4954-119

What This Bill Does

The Keep Call Centers in America Act targets call center offshoring and customer-service transparency. Employers must notify the Labor Secretary at least 120 days before relocating a call center outside the United States or contracting call center work overseas; violations carry civil penalties up to $10,000 per day. Labor must keep a public list of employers that relocate or offshore call center work for up to five years, and listed employers become ineligible for federal grants or guaranteed loans unless they bring equivalent call center jobs back to the United States. The bill protects workers' federal benefits despite an employer's offshoring. It requires Labor to report on the location of federal call center work, federal employee versus contractor performance, and job losses tied to artificial intelligence customer service. Federal contracts must require call center work under the contract or subcontract to be performed inside the United States. Business entities engaged in customer service communications must disclose agent physical location at the beginning of calls or electronic communications and, when the agent is outside the United States, tell consumers they may request immediate transfer to a U.S.-located agent, with FTC enforcement as unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

Who Benefits and How

United States call center workers benefit because employers that offshore work face notice duties, public listing, penalties, and federal-benefit consequences. Consumers benefit because customer-service agents must disclose their physical location and offer transfer to a U.S.-located agent when applicable. Domestic call center employers benefit from procurement rules requiring federal contract call center work to be performed inside the United States. Federal call center workers benefit from a Labor Department report tracking job locations and artificial intelligence job losses.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Employers offshoring call center work must give 120 days notice and risk penalties up to $10,000 per day. Federal agency contracting officers must require domestic performance of call center work in civilian and defense contracts. Business customer service departments must build disclosures and transfer options into communications involving offshore agents. FTC enforcement staff must police customer-service disclosure violations under Federal Trade Commission Act authorities.

Key Provisions

• Requires 120-day Labor Department notice before relocating or contracting call center work overseas.
• Creates a public list of offshoring employers and federal grant or guaranteed-loan ineligibility for up to five years.
• Requires federal contract call center work to be performed inside the United States.
• Requires customer-service agents to disclose physical location and offer transfer to U.S.-located agents when applicable.
• Provides FTC enforcement and penalties for customer-service disclosure violations.