Top Law and Government Legislation regarding 'Department of Labor' in Federal Government

To prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment. 5/21/2008--Public Law.    (There are 3 other summaries) (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on April 24, 2008. The summary of that version is repeated here, with changes reflecting enrollment corrections.)Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 - Title I: Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance - (Sec. 101) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), and the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a group health plan from adjusting premium or contribution amounts for a group on the basis of genetic information.Prohibits a group health plan from requesting or requiring an individual or family member of an individual from undergoing a genetic test. Provides that such prohibition does not: (1) limit the authority of [...]

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A bill to amend the Trade Act of 1974 to extend benefits to service sector workers and firms, enhance certain trade adjustment assistance authorities, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Trade Adjustment Assistance Improvement Act of 2007 - Trade Adjustment Assistance Equity for Service Workers Act of 2007 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to allow the filing of a petition for certification of eligibility to apply for trade adjustment assistance by adversely affected: (1) workers in a service sector firm, its subdivision, or public agency; and (2) service sector firms. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to provide technical assistance to service industries adversely affected by import competition. Requires the Secretary of Labor to: (1) certify as eligible to apply for trade adjustment assistance adversely affected secondary workers in a service sector firm, its subdivision, or a public agency; and (2) upon the request of the President, the U.S. Trade Representative,[...]

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To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with respect to medical care for their employees. 1/5/2007--Introduced. Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2007 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for establishment and governance of association health plans (AHPs), which are group health plans whose sponsors are trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations, and which meet certain ERISA certification requirements. Sets forth rules governing AHPs, including requirements relating to certification, sponsors and boards of trustees, participation and coverage, nondiscrimination, contribution rates, notice of voluntary termination, correction actions, and mandatory termination. Establishes the Association Health Plan Fund to be used by the Secretary of Labor to make payments to an insurer [...]

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To amend the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the agencies and actors responsible for the administration of such compensation program, and for other purposes. 1/5/2007--Introduced. Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to instruct the Secretaries of Labor and of Health and Human Services (HHS) to include as part of their annual budget requests the administrative costs necessary to implement their responsibilities under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (including, for the Secretary of HHS, costs for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health). Instructs the Secretary of Energy to designate annually as a beryllium vendor any vendor, processor, or producer of beryllium [...]

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To increase the minimum wage, to provide access to health care coverage to employees of small businesses, and to preserve American jobs. 1/9/2007--Introduced. Working Families Wage and Access to Health Care Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to incrementally increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25. Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2007 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for establishment and governance of association health plans (AHPs), which are group health plans whose sponsors are trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations, and which meet certain ERISA certification requirements. Establishes the Association Health Plan Fund to be used by the Secretary of Labor to make payments to an insurer to maintain coverage for a plan, if there is a reasonable expectation that, without such payments, claims would not be satisfied by reason of termination of coverage.[...]

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To direct the Secretary of Labor to issue an occupational safety and health standard to reduce injuries to patients, direct-care registered nurses, and other health care providers by establishing a safe patient handling standard. 1/10/2007--Introduced. Nurse and Patient Safety & Protection Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Administration, to establish a Federal Safe Patient Handling Standard to prevent musculoskeletal disorders for direct-care registered nurses and other health care providers working in health care facilities by requiring the elimination of manual lifting of patients through the use of mechanical devices, except during a declared state of emergency. Requires health care facilities to: (1) develop and implement a safe patient handling plan consistent with such standard; and (2) post a uniform notice that explains the standard and the procedures to report patient handling-related [...]

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A bill to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment. 3/29/2007--Reported to Senate amended.    (There is 1 other summary) Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 - Title I: Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance - (Sec. 101) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to specify that genetic information that an issuer of group health insurance may not establish as an enrollment eligibility factor includes information about a request for or receipt of genetic services by an individual or family member. Prohibits a group health plan or a health insurance issuer from: (1) adjusting premiums on the basis of genetic information; or (2) requesting or requiring an individual or a family member of such individual to undergo a genetic test.Applies such provisions to small group health plans.Allows [...]

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To provide for the security and safety of rail and rail transit transportation systems, and for other purposes. 1/17/2007--Introduced. Rail Transit Security and Safety Act of 2007 - Directs the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security to complete a vulnerability assessment of freight and passenger rail transportation, and develop specific prioritized recommendations for improving rail security. Directs the Under Secretary to establish the position of Federal Rail Security Manager. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to Amtrak for certain fire and life-safety improvements and infrastructure upgrades to tunnels on the Northeast Corridor. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to award grants directly to public transportation agencies for allowable capital and operational security improvements based on the prioritized rail security recommendations. Sets forth certain whistleblower protections for rail employees [...]

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To require the Secretary of Labor to issue interim and final occupational safety and health standards regarding worker exposure to combustible dust, and for other purposes. 4/30/2008--Passed House amended.    (There are 2 other summaries) Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires Act of 2008 - (Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary of Labor, within 90 days, to promulgate an interim final standard regulating combustible dusts, which shall apply to manufacturing, processing, blending, conveying, repackaging, and handling of combustible particulate solids and their dusts (including organic dusts, plastics, sulfur, wood, rubber, furniture, textiles, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, fibers, dyes, coal, metals, and fossil fuels), but shall not apply to processes already covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) standard on grain facilities.Requires such standard to provide requirements for: (1) a hazard assessment [...]

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A bill to protect health care workers and first responders, including police, fire-fighters, emergency medical personnel, and other workers at risk of workplace exposure to infectious agents and drug resistant infections, such as MRSA and pandemic influenza. 12/19/2007--Introduced. Worker Infection Protection Act - Directs the Secretaries of Labor and of Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly develop and issue workplace standards, recommendations, and plans to protect health care workers and first responders and other workers at risk of workplace exposure to infectious agents and drug resistant infections, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and pandemic influenza.Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop and issue an emergency temporary standard and, not later than six months after such issuance, a permanent standard for the protection of workers at risk of exposure, to prevent occupational exposure to infectious agents and toxins, such as [...]

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To direct each Federal agency to establish an Environmental Justice Office, and for other purposes. 12/13/2007--Introduced. Environmental Justice Access and Implementation Act of 2007 - Requires specified federal agencies to establish an Office of Environmental Justice pursuant to Executive Order 12898 (concerning federal actions to address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations).Defines "environmental justice" as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, educational level, or income in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. Requires the inclusion of minority and low-income populations with health vulnerabilities and exposure to certain environmental conditions in criteria for defining an environmental justice community. Requires federal agencies to integrate the environmental justice strategy developed under Executive [...]

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Granting the authority provided under clause 4(c)(3) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to the Committee on Education and Labor for purposes of its investigation into the deaths of 9 individuals that occurred at the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah. 12/5/2007--Passed House without amendment.    (There is 1 other summary) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Grants the Committee on Education and Labor the authority provided under Rule X (Organization of Committees) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to adopt a rule authorizing and regulating the taking of depositions by its members or counsel, including pursuant to subpoena under Rule XI (Procedures of Committees and Unfinished Business), in furtherance of the Committee's investigation into: (1) the deaths of nine individuals that occurred during August 2007 at the Crandall Canyon [...]

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To streamline the administration of whistleblower protections for private sector employees. 11/1/2007--Introduced. Private Sector Whistleblower Protection Streamlining Act of 2007 - Sets forth whistleblower protections for private sector, state, and municipal employees who are retaliated or discriminated against by an employer for disclosing threats to public safety or violations of federal law. Authorizes a whistleblower who has been discharged or discriminated against by an employer to seek appropriate relief either by: (1) filing a complaint with the Secretary of Labor; or (2) bringing an action at law or equity in the appropriate U.S. district court. Prohibits restrictions on whistleblowing and relief provided under this Act. Establishes the Whistleblower Protection Office within the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor. Makes conforming whistleblower amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Federal Mine [...]

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To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to reauthorize the trade adjustment assistance for workers program, and for other purposes. 10/23/2007--Introduced. Trade Adjustment Assistance and Training Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise requirements with respect to the filing of a petition for certification of eligibility to apply for trade adjustment assistance (TAA) by a group of adversely affected workers in a firm or subdivision (including agricultural firm or subdivision). Revises TAA group eligibility requirements for such workers and for adversely affected secondary workers. Sets forth a process for administrative reconsideration of Secretary of Labor determinations that deny certification of eligibility to apply for TAA by a group of adversely affected workers. Revises: (1) trade readjustment allowance (TRA) eligibility requirements for adversely affected workers (including to provide for the the payment of an additional TRA provided [...]

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To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to reauthorize trade adjustment assistance, to extend trade adjustment assistance to service workers and firms, and for other purposes. 10/31/2007--Passed House amended.    (There is 1 other summary) Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007 - Title I: Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers - Subtitle A: Trade Adjustment Assistance for Service Sector Workers; Expansion of Covered Shifts in Production; Expansion of Downstream Secondary Worker Eligibility - (Sec. 101) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 (the Act) to allow the filing of a petition with the Secretary of Labor for certification of eligibility to apply for trade adjustment assistance (TAA) by adversely affected workers in a service sector firm or a public agency. Revises group eligibility requirements for TAA to cover: (1) a shift, by such workers' firm or subdivision to a foreign country, of production of articles or in provision of services, like [...]

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To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2008 through 2011 for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, to enhance measures to combat trafficking in persons, and for other purposes. 12/4/2007--Passed House amended.    (There is 1 other summary) William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Title I: Combatting International Trafficking in Persons - (Sec. 101) Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) to include the Secretary of Education on the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary of State to establish within the Department of State an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking. (Current law authorizes such Office's establishment.) Revises responsibilities of the Director of the Office. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary should locate the Office at the Department of State (Department) headquarters [...]

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To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to address the impact of globalization, to reauthorize trade adjustment assistance, to extend trade adjustment assistance to service workers, communities, firms, and farmers, and for other purposes. 10/10/2007--Introduced. Trade Adjustment Assistance Improvement Act - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to allow the filing of a petition with the Secretary of Labor for certification of eligibility to apply for trade adjustment assistance (TAA) by adversely affected workers in a service sector firm, its subdivision, or a public agency. Revises group eligibility requirements for TAA to cover: (1) a shift, by a public agency to a foreign country, of production of articles or in provision of services, like or directly competitive with articles which are produced, or services which are provided by the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency; and (2) instances where the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency obtains or is likely to obtain [...]

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A bill to increase the wages and benefits of blue collar workers by strengthening labor provisions in the H-2B program, to provide for labor recruiter accountability, and for other purposes. 9/26/2007--Introduced. Increasing American Wages and Benefits Act of 2007 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize: (1) the Secretary of Labor to enforce federal labor laws with respect to employers of H-2B nonagricultural temporary workers; and (2) a private right of action against such employers. Specifies employer actions to be taken to recruit U.S. workers prior to filing for admission of H-2B workers. Prohibits H-2B worker entry until the Secretary certifies that prevailing wages will be paid to such workers or to U.S. workers. Sets forth H-2B and U.S. worker protections. Directs the Secretary to establish an H-2B (employer) labor certification application fee. Establishes in the Treasury the H-2B Employment Certification Application Fee [...]

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