United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1792 To require the Secretary of Labor to maintain a publicly available list of all employers that relocate a call center or contract call center work overseas, to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaran- teed loans, and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications, and for other pur- poses. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 12, 2019 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. MANCHIN, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Com- merce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Secretary of Labor to maintain a publicly available list of all employers that relocate a call center or contract call center work overseas, to make such com- panies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans, and to require disclosure of the physical location of busi- ness agents engaging in customer service communica- tions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1792 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protec- 3 tion Act of 2019’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I—CONSEQUENCES FOR RELOCATING OR CONTRACTING OUT CALL CENTER WORK OVERSEAS Sec. 101. List of call centers relocating or contracting call center work overseas and ineligibility for grants or guaranteed loans. Sec. 102. Rule of construction related to Federal benefits for workers. Sec. 103. Report regarding Federal call center work locations. Sec. 104. Requirement that call center work under a Federal contract be per- formed inside the United States. TITLE II—REQUIRED DISCLOSURE OF PHYSICAL LOCATIONS IN CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMUNICATIONS Sec. 201. Required disclosure by business entities engaged in customer service communications of physical location. Sec. 202. Enforcement. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means a 9 Federal or State executive agency or a military de- 10 partment. 11 (2) BUSINESS ENTITY.—The term ‘‘business 12 entity’’ means any organization, corporation, trust, 13 partnership, sole proprietorship, unincorporated as- 14 sociation, or venture established to make a profit, in 15 whole or in part, by purposefully availing itself of 16 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1792 IS the privilege of conducting commerce in the United 1 States. 2 (3) CALL CENTER.—The term ‘‘call center’’ 3 means a facility or other operation whereby employ- 4 ees receive incoming telephone calls, emails, or other 5 electronic communication for the purpose of pro- 6 viding customer assistance or other service. 7 (4) CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘consumer’’ means 8 any individual within the territorial jurisdiction of 9 the United States who purchases, transacts, or con- 10 tracts for the purchase or transaction of any goods, 11 merchandise, or services, not for resale in the ordi- 12 nary course of the individual’s trade or business, but 13 for the individual’s use or that of a member of the 14 individual’s household. 15 (5) CONTRACTING CALL CENTER WORK OVER- 16 SEAS.—The term ‘‘contracting call center work over- 17 seas’’ means transferring the work of a call center, 18 or of one or more facilities or operating units within 19 a call center comprising at least 30 percent of the 20 total volume of the call center or operating unit 21 when measured against the previous 12-month aver- 22 age call volume of operations or substantially similar 23 operations, through a contract or other agreement to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1792 IS another entity who will perform that work outside of 1 the United States. 2 (6) CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMUNICATION.— 3 The term ‘‘customer service communication’’ means 4 any telecommunication or wire communication be- 5 tween a consumer and a business entity in further- 6 ance of commerce. 7 (7) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ means 8 any business enterprise that employs in a call cen- 9 ter— 10 (A) 50 or more employees, excluding part- 11 time employees; or 12 (B) 50 or more employees who in the ag- 13 gregate work at least 1,500 hours per week (ex- 14 clusive of hours of overtime). 15 (8) PART-TIME EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘part- 16 time employee’’ means an employee who is employed 17 for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or 18 who has been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 19 months preceding the date on which notice is re- 20 quired. 21 (9) RELOCATING AND RELOCATION.—The 22 terms ‘‘relocating’’ and ‘‘relocation’’ refer to the clo- 23 sure of a call center, or the cessation of operations 24 of a call center, or one or more facilities or operating 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1792 IS units within a call center comprising at least 30 per- 1 cent of the total volume of the call center or oper- 2 ating unit, when measured against the previous 12- 3 month average call volume of operations or substan- 4 tially similar operations, and the transferring of the 5 operations of the call center (or facilities or oper- 6 ating units) to another location outside of the 7 United States. 8 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 9 means the Secretary of Labor. 10 (11) TELECOMMUNICATION.—The term ‘‘tele- 11 communication’’ means the transmission, between or 12 among points specified by the communicator, of in- 13 formation of the communicator’s choosing, without 14 change in the form or content of the information as 15 sent and received. 16 (12) WIRE COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNICA- 17 TION BY WIRE.—The term ‘‘wire communication’’ or 18 ‘‘communication by wire’’ means the transmission of 19 writing, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds of all 20 kinds by aid of wire, cable, or other like connection 21 between the points of origin and reception of such 22 transmission, including all instrumentalities, facili- 23 ties, apparatus, and services (among other things, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1792 IS the receipt, forwarding, and delivery of communica- 1 tions) incidental to such transmission. 2 TITLE I—CONSEQUENCES FOR 3 RELOCATING OR CON- 4 TRACTING OUT CALL CENTER 5 WORK OVERSEAS 6 SEC. 101. LIST OF CALL CENTERS RELOCATING OR CON- 7 TRACTING CALL CENTER WORK OVERSEAS 8 AND INELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS OR GUAR- 9 ANTEED LOANS. 10 (a) LIST.— 11 (1) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not fewer than 120 13 days before relocating a call center outside of 14 the United States, or contracting call center 15 work overseas, an employer shall notify the Sec- 16 retary of such relocation or contracting. 17 (B) PENALTY.—A person who violates sub- 18 paragraph (A) shall be subject to a civil penalty 19 not to exceed $10,000 for each day of violation. 20 (2) ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF 21 LIST.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es- 23 tablish, maintain, and make available to the 24 public a list of all employers who relocate a call 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1792 IS center or contract call center work overseas, as 1 described in paragraph (1)(A). 2 (B) TERM.—Each employer included in 3 the list required by subparagraph (A) shall re- 4 main on the list for a period not to exceed 5 5 years after each instance of relocating a call 6 center or contracting call center work overseas. 7 (C) REMOVAL.—The Secretary may re- 8 move an employer from the list required by sub- 9 paragraph (A) if the Secretary determines 10 that— 11 (i)(I) the employer has relocated a call 12 center from a location outside of the 13 United States to a location in the United 14 States; and 15 (II) the new call center in the United 16 States employs a number of employees 17 equal to or greater than the number of em- 18 ployees who worked at the original call 19 center that was relocated to a location out- 20 side of the United States; or 21 (ii) in the case of an employer who 22 contracted call center work overseas, the 23 employer demonstrates that the contract or 24 agreement has been amended to require 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1792 IS that all employees performing call center 1 work under the contract or agreement will 2 be located in the United States. 3 (b) INELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS OR GUARANTEED 4 LOANS.— 5 (1) INELIGIBILITY.—Except as provided in 6 paragraph (2) and notwithstanding any other provi- 7 sion of law, an employer who appears on the list re- 8 quired by subsection (a)(2)(A) shall be ineligible for 9 any direct or indirect Federal grants or Federal 10 guaranteed loans for 5 years after the date such em- 11 ployer was added to the list. 12 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary, in consulta- 13 tion with the appropriate agency providing a loan or 14 grant, may waive the eligibility restriction provided 15 under paragraph (1) if the employer applying for 16 such loan or grant demonstrates that a lack of such 17 loan or grant would— 18 (A) threaten national security; 19 (B) result in substantial job loss in the 20 United States; or 21 (C) harm the environment. 22 (c) PREFERENCE IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING FOR 23 NOT RELOCATING OR CONTRACTING CALL CENTER 24 WORK OVERSEAS.—The head of an agency, when award- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1792 IS ing a civilian or defense-related Federal contract, shall 1 give preference to a United States employer that does not 2 appear on the list required by subsection (a)(2)(A). 3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 4 on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment 5 of this Act. 6 SEC. 102. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATED TO FEDERAL 7 BENEFITS FOR WORKERS. 8 No provision of this title shall be construed to permit 9 withholding or denial of payments, compensation, or bene- 10 fits under any provision of Federal law (including Federal 11 unemployment compensation, disability payments, or 12 worker retraining or readjustment funds) to workers em- 13 ployed by employers that relocate operations outside the 14 United States. 15 SEC. 103. REPORT REGARDING FEDERAL CALL CENTER 16 WORK LOCATIONS. 17 By not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 18 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall prepare and sub- 19 mit to Congress a report that documents the location, and 20 amount, of call center work conducted by or for the Fed- 21 eral Government, including— 22 (1) a determination of the amount of such Fed- 23 eral call center work that is conducted by Federal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1792 IS employees, and the amount conducted by Federal 1 contractors; and 2 (2) all locations at which such Federal call cen- 3 ter work is being conducted, whether by Federal em- 4 ployees or through Federal contracts. 5 SEC. 104. REQUIREMENT THAT CALL CENTER WORK UNDER 6 A FEDERAL CONTRACT BE PERFORMED IN- 7 SIDE THE UNITED STATES. 8 The head of an agency, when awarding a civilian or 9 defense-related Federal contract, shall require as a condi- 10 tion of the contract that any call center work performed 11 in connection with the contract or any subcontract under 12 the contract shall be performed inside the United States. 13 TITLE II—REQUIRED DISCLO- 14 SURE OF PHYSICAL LOCA- 15 TIONS IN CUSTOMER SERV- 16 ICE COMMUNICATIONS 17 SEC. 201. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE BY BUSINESS ENTITIES 18 ENGAGED IN CUSTOMER SERVICE COMMU- 19 NICATIONS OF PHYSICAL LOCATION. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 21 (b), a business entity that either initiates or receives a cus- 22 tomer service communication shall require that each of its 23 employees or agents participating in the communication 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1792 IS disclose their physical location at the beginning of each 1 customer service communication so initiated or received. 2 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 3 (1) BUSINESS ENTITIES LOCATED IN THE 4 UNITED STATES.—The requirements of subsection 5 (a) shall not apply to a customer service communica- 6 tion involving a business entity if all of the employ- 7 ees or agents of the business entity participating in 8 such communication are physically located in the 9 United States. 10 (2) COMMUNICATION INITIATED BY CONSUMER 11 KNOWINGLY TO FOREIGN ENTITY OR ADDRESS.— 12 The requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply 13 to an employee or agent of a business entity partici- 14 pating in a customer service communication with a 15 consumer if— 16 (A) the customer service communication 17 was initiated by the consumer; 18 (B) the employee or agent is physically lo- 19 cated outside the United States; and 20 (C) the consumer knows or reasonably 21 should know that the employee or agent is 22 physically located outside the United States. 23 (3) EMERGENCY SERVICES.—The requirements 24 of subsection (a) shall not apply to a customer serv- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1792.IS S1792 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1792 IS ice communication relating to the provision of emer- 1 gency services (as defined by the Federal Trade 2 Commission). 3 (4) BUSINESS ENTITIES AND CUSTOMER SERV- 4 ICE COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUDED BY FEDERAL 5 TRADE COMMISSION.—The Federal Trade Commis- 6 sion may exclude certain classes or types of business 7 entities or customer service communicatio [Text truncated for display. 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