[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3600 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3600
To enable an employer or employees to establish an employee involvement
organization to represent the interests of employees, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 17, 2024
Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Vance) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enable an employer or employees to establish an employee involvement
organization to represent the interests of employees, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Teamwork for Employees and Managers
Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. EMPLOYER EXCEPTION.
(a) In General.--Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 158) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) It shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor
practice under subsection (a) for an employer to establish, assist,
maintain, or participate in an employee involvement organization, as
defined in section 3 of the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of
2024: Provided, That this subsection shall not apply in a case in
which a labor organization is the representative of the employees of
the employer in accordance with section 9(a).''.
(b) Exception From Labor Organization Definition.--Section 2(5) of
the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(5)) is amended by
inserting ``, except that the term shall not include an employee
involvement organization as defined in section 3 of the Teamwork for
Employees and Managers Act of 2024'' before the period at the end.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Employee.--The term ``employee'' has the meaning given
such term in section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 152).
(2) Employee involvement organization.--The term ``employee
involvement organization'' means an organization or entity
established by the mutual consent of an employer and any number
of employees of the employer--
(A) which may be initiated by the employer, the
employees, or both;
(B) which may be dissolved--
(i) except as described in clause (ii), at
any time, and without regard to cause, by the
employer, the employees, or both; or
(ii) in the case of an employee involvement
organization for a large employer and employees
of the large employer, only in accordance with
section 4(b)(2);
(C) in which employees and supervisors participate
to address matters of mutual interest, including issues
of quality of work, productivity, efficiency,
compensation, benefits (including related to education
and training), recruitment and retention, grievances,
child care, safety and health, and accommodation of the
religious beliefs and practices of employees; and
(D) that does not have, claim, or seek authority
to--
(i) be the exclusive collective bargaining
representative of the employees participating
in such organization or entity;
(ii) negotiate or enter into a collective
bargaining agreement with the employer on
behalf of such employees;
(iii) amend any collective bargaining
agreement between the employer and any labor
organization; or
(iv) preclude such employees from
designating or selecting a labor organization
as the representative of such employees, as
provided in section 9(a) of the National Labor
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)).
(3) Employer.--The term ``employer'' has the meaning given
such term in section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 152).
(4) Large employer.--The term ``large employer'' means an
employer that--
(A) had more than $1,000,000,000 in annual gross
revenues for the most recently completed fiscal year
prior to the date of certification under section
4(b)(1); and
(B) employs more than 3,000 employees on such date.
(5) Workforce committee.--The term ``workforce committee''
means a committee of the board of directors of an employer
that--
(A) oversees the policies of the employer on
quality of work, productivity, efficiency,
compensation, benefits (including related to education
and training), recruitment and retention, grievances,
child care, safety and health, and accommodation of the
religious beliefs and practices of employees;
(B) has a substantially equivalent source of
authority with respect to authorizing provisions in the
article of incorporation or bylaws of the employer as
the compensation committee of the board of directors or
an equivalent committee of the board of directors; and
(C) may be the compensation committee of the board
of directors or an equivalent committee of the board of
directors, if such committee meets the requirements of
this paragraph.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS AT LARGE
EMPLOYERS.
(a) In General.--This section shall apply to each employee
involvement organization for a large employer and employees of the
large employer.
(b) Establishment of an Employee Involvement Organization for Large
Employers.--
(1) Certification.--A large employer shall certify each
employee involvement organization for the large employer on the
date of formation of such employee involvement organization.
(2) Procedures.--
(A) In general.--An employee involvement
organization established under paragraph (1) shall have
reasonable procedures regarding--
(i) how an employee may join or leave such
employee involvement organization; and
(ii) dissolution of the employee
involvement organization.
(B) Dissolution for cause.--
(i) In general.--In the case of an employee
involvement organization that has been
certified under paragraph (1) for not less than
5 consecutive years, a large employer may only
dissolve such employee involvement organization
with cause.
(ii) Cause.--For purposes of clause (i),
the term ``cause'' means a reasonable business
purpose for dissolution, as determined by--
(I) the independent business
judgment of the board of directors of
the business of the large employer; or
(II) if the business of a large
employer does not have a board of
directors, the substantial equivalent
of the board of directors.
(3) Cooling-off period.--Unless otherwise specified in the
certification under paragraph (1), an employee involvement
organization may not be established at a large employer prior
to 2 years after--
(A) in the case of a large employer for which a
valid election was held under section 9(c)(1) of the
National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(c)(1)) in
which a majority of the employees voting in such
election voted against representation, the date of such
election; or
(B) in the case of a large employer for which a
valid election was held under section 9(e) of such Act
and a majority of the employees voting in such election
voted in favor of rescission of the authority of a
labor organization to make an agreement described in
section 8(a)(3) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(3)), the
date of such election.
(c) Employee Representative of an Employee Involvement
Organization.--
(1) In general.--Employees participating in an employee
involvement organization established under subsection (b)(1)
may, subject to the requirements in paragraph (2), elect
through reasonable means an employee representative of the
employee involvement organization.
(2) Election process.--
(A) Requirements.--An election of an employee
representative of an employee involvement organization
for the large employer--
(i) shall be through a secret ballot of the
employees participating in the employee
involvement organization who are employed by
the large employer on the date of such election
and who are United States citizens or reside
primarily in the United States; and
(ii) may not be funded through funding
sources external to the employee involvement
organization, including any labor organization,
nonprofit, or business other than the employer.
(B) Default rules regarding election process.--
Unless otherwise specified in the certification under
subsection (b)(1) by the large employer of such
employee involvement organization, an election of an
employee representative of an employee involvement
organization for the large employer--
(i) may be funded through employer-provided
funding; and
(ii) shall occur within the same time
period and with the same regularity as the
election of the board of directors of the large
employer.
(3) Eligibility requirements.--
(A) In general.--Each individual elected to be a
representative of an employee involvement organization
for a large employer shall be an employee who--
(i) is eligible to vote under paragraph
(2)(A)(i); and
(ii) except in a case in which the large
employer has operated for less than the 5
calendar years immediately preceding the date
of the election, has been employed by the large
employer for not less than the 5 calendar years
immediately preceding the date of the election.
(B) Ineligibility; term limits.--An employee
representative of an employee involvement organization
elected under this subsection shall not--
(i) be employed by the employer at the time
of such election as a supervisor; or
(ii) at any time during the 5 calendar
years immediately preceding the date of such
election, be employed by the employer in a
position related to human resources.
(4) Representation by employee representative on board of
directors of large employer.--
(A) Board representation.--Subject to the
limitation under subparagraph (B) and, as relevant, the
procedure under subparagraph (C), an employee
representative of an employee involvement organization
elected under this subsection shall--
(i) be a nonvoting member of either or both
of--
(I) the board of directors of the
employer; or
(II) a workforce committee of the
board of directors of the employer;
(ii) be permitted to attend any regular
meeting of such board or committee, as
applicable; and
(iii) receive equal access to information
relevant to the purposes of the employee
involvement organization as any other member of
the board or committee, as applicable.
(B) Limitations.--Unless otherwise specified in the
certification under subsection (b)(1) by the large
employer of such employee involvement organization, an
employer may exclude an employee representative from
attending any meeting of any committee of the board of
directors of the business of such employer (or the
substantial equivalent of any such committee) called
for purposes unrelated to the purposes of such employee
involvement organization.
(C) Special procedure for an employer with more
than 1 employee involvement organization.--In a case in
which 2 or more employee representatives in total are
elected for a large employer under paragraph (1), the
employer and each employee involvement organization
that elects such an employee representative shall, by
reasonable procedures which provide for the input of
each such employee involvement organization, ensure
that only 1 employee representative for the employer at
any time exercises the powers described in subparagraph
(A).
SEC. 5. SAFE HARBOR FOR VIOLATION OF RULES DUE TO THE FAULT OF AN
EMPLOYEE.
Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158), as
amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(i) It shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor
practice under subsection (a) for an employer to establish, assist,
maintain, or participate in an organization which purports to be an
employee involvement organization, as defined in section 3 of the
Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2024, but which fails to
comply with the requirements of such Act due to the fault of an
employee: Provided, That this subsection shall not apply in a case in
which a labor organization is the representative of the employees of
the employer in accordance with section 9(a).''.
SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS.
(a) Labor Organization Rights.--This Act shall not prevent or
affect the rights provided to labor organizations under section 9 of
the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159).
(b) Employee Rights.--This Act shall not affect the rights and
responsibilities of employees under the National Labor Relations Act
(29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), except with respect to the amendments made to
section 2(5) and section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 152(5); 29 U.S.C. 158) by sections 2 and 5 of this Act.
SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT BY THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD.
Section 6 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 156) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``The Board'' and inserting ``(a) The
Board''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) The Board shall not have any authority for enforcement, or
adjudication, under this Act or the Teamwork for Employees and Managers
Act of 2024 with respect to an employee involvement organization, as
defined in section 3 of such Act.''.
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