HR6597-119

What This Bill Does

The Labor Enforcement to Securely Protect Workers Act sharply raises penalties across several worker-protection statutes. It increases Fair Labor Standards Act child-labor penalties to at least $1,500 and up to $150,000 per affected employee, and up to $700,000 for child-labor violations causing death or serious injury, with doubled penalties for repeated or willful violations. It raises FLSA wage and hour penalties, adds penalties for recordkeeping violations, increases OSHA penalties up to $800,000 for willful or repeated violations and $80,000 for serious or failure-to-abate violations, raises Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act penalties to $30,000, and gives mine regulators stronger tools against unpaid penalties, pattern violations, and retaliation. It also expands ERISA enforcement for genetic information and mental health parity violations in group health plans, creates National Labor Relations Act civil penalties up to $50,000 per unfair labor practice and up to $100,000 for repeated serious violations, allows personal liability for directors or officers in some labor-law cases, and treats certain OSHA and FLSA recordkeeping violations as continuing until corrected or the record-retention period expires.

Who Benefits and How

Workers benefit because stronger penalties make violations more costly and can deter child labor, wage and hour violations, unsafe workplaces, unpaid mine penalties, retaliation, genetic-information discrimination, mental-health parity violations, and unfair labor practices. Child workers, miners, workers in OSHA-covered workplaces, employees with group health coverage, union organizers, and workers facing retaliation receive clearer protection. The Department of Labor, OSHA, MSHA, and the National Labor Relations Board gain stronger penalty authority and collection leverage.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Employers bear higher financial exposure across labor and safety statutes. Companies that violate child labor, wage and hour, OSHA, mine safety, migrant-worker, FMLA, ERISA, or NLRA obligations face larger civil penalties, possible mine withdrawal orders for unpaid penalties, and continuing recordkeeping violations until corrected. Group health plan sponsors, administrators, service providers, and issuers face stronger ERISA enforcement for genetic-information and mental-health parity failures. Directors and officers can face personal penalties if they direct, commit, or knowingly fail to prevent unfair labor practices.

Key Provisions

• Raises FLSA child-labor penalties to $1,500 to $150,000 per affected employee and up to $700,000 for violations causing death or serious injury.
• Increases OSHA, migrant-worker, mine-safety, FMLA, wage and hour, and recordkeeping penalties, including mine withdrawal orders for unpaid final penalties.
• Expands ERISA civil-penalty collection for genetic-information and mental-health parity violations by group health plans and issuers.
• Creates NLRA civil penalties up to $50,000 per unfair labor practice and up to $100,000 for repeated serious violations, with possible director or officer liability.
• Requires Labor Department regulations treating some OSHA and FLSA recordkeeping violations as continuing until corrected or record-retention duties expire.