Hazard Pay for Essential Workers Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8349 To provide hazard pay to frontline essential workers employed during the COVID–19 pandemic. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Mr. VAN DREW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Veterans’ Affairs, Oversight and Reform, and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide hazard pay to frontline essential workers employed during the COVID–19 pandemic. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Hazard Pay for Essential Workers Act of 2020’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—HAZARD PAY FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8349 IH Sec. 101. Definitions. Sec. 102. Pandemic premium pay for essential workers. Sec. 103. COVID–19 Hazard Fund. Sec. 104. COVID–19 Hazard Fund grants. Sec. 105. Enforcement and outreach. Sec. 106. Funding for the Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector Gen- eral. Sec. 107. Authorization and appropriations. TITLE I—HAZARD PAY FOR 1 ESSENTIAL WORKERS 2 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this title: 4 (1) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 5 The term ‘‘COVID–19 Public Health Emergency’’ 6 means the public health emergency first declared on 7 January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of Health and 8 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 9 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with respect to 10 COVID–19. 11 (2) EMPLOYEE.—Except as provided in para- 12 graph (3)(C)(iii), the term ‘‘employee’’ means an in- 13 dividual (not employed by an entity excluded from 14 the definition of the term ‘‘employer’’ for purposes 15 of this title under paragraph (3)(B)) who is— 16 (A) an employee, as defined in section 3(e) 17 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 18 U.S.C. 203(e)), except that a reference in such 19 section 3(e) to an employer shall be considered 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8349 IH to be a reference to an employer described in 1 clauses (i)(I) and (ii) of paragraph (3)(A); 2 (B) a State employee described in section 3 304(a) of the Government Employee Rights Act 4 of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); or 5 (C) an employee of a Tribal employer. 6 (3) EMPLOYER.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘employer’’ 8 means, except as provided in subparagraph (B), 9 a person who is— 10 (i)(I) a covered employer, as defined 11 in subparagraph (C); 12 (II) an entity employing a State em- 13 ployee described in section 304(a) of the 14 Government Employee Rights Act of 1991; 15 or 16 (III) a Tribal employer; and 17 (ii) engaged in commerce (including 18 government), or an industry or activity af- 19 fecting commerce (including government). 20 (B) EXCLUSION OF EXECUTIVE, LEGISLA- 21 TIVE, AND JUDICIAL ENTITIES.— 22 (i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘em- 23 ployer’’ does not include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8349 IH (I) each agency, office, or other 1 establishment in the executive, legisla- 2 tive, or judicial branch of the Federal 3 Government including those listed in 4 clause (ii), except, only as provided in 5 section 102(g)(2), the VA Office of 6 Geriatrics & Extended Care of the 7 Veterans Health Administration; 8 (II) the United States Postal 9 Service or the Postal Regulatory Com- 10 mission; or 11 (III) a nonappropriated fund in- 12 strumentality under the jurisdiction of 13 the Armed Forces. 14 (ii) INCLUSIONS.—The agencies, of- 15 fices, are other establishments listed in this 16 clause include— 17 (I) each agency, office, or other 18 establishment in the executive, legisla- 19 tive, or judicial branch of the Federal 20 Government, including— 21 (aa) an Executive agency, as 22 that term is defined in section 23 105 of title 5, United States 24 Code; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8349 IH (bb) a military department, 1 as that term is defined in section 2 102 of title 5, United States 3 Code; 4 (cc) the Federal Aviation 5 Administration; 6 (dd) the Transportation Se- 7 curity Administration; 8 (ee) the Department of Vet- 9 erans Affairs; and 10 (ff) the Government Ac- 11 countability Office; 12 (II) the District of Columbia 13 courts and the District of Columbia 14 Public Defender Service; and 15 (III)(aa) an Indian tribe or tribal 16 organization carrying out a contract 17 or compact under the Indian Self-De- 18 termination and Education Assistance 19 Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); 20 (bb) an Indian tribe or tribal or- 21 ganization that receives a grant under 22 the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 23 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8349 IH (cc) an urban Indian organiza- 1 tion that receives a grant or carries 2 out a contract under title V of the In- 3 dian Health Care Improvement Act 4 (25 U.S.C. 1651 et seq.). 5 (C) COVERED EMPLOYER.— 6 (i) IN GENERAL.—In subparagraph 7 (A)(i)(I), the term ‘‘covered employer’’— 8 (I) means any person engaged in 9 commerce (including government), or 10 in any industry or activity affecting 11 commerce (including government), 12 who employs 1 or more employees; 13 (II) includes— 14 (aa) any person who acts di- 15 rectly or indirectly in the interest 16 of (within the meaning of section 17 3(d) of the Fair Labor Standards 18 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(d))) 19 an employer in relation to any of 20 the employees of such employer; 21 and 22 (bb) any successor in inter- 23 est of an employer; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8349 IH (III) except as provided in sub- 1 paragraph (B), includes any public 2 agency, as defined in section 3(x) of 3 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 4 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(x)); 5 (IV) includes any person de- 6 scribed in subclause (I) who conducts 7 business as a not-for-profit organiza- 8 tion; 9 (V) includes— 10 (aa) an entity or person that 11 contracts directly with a State, 12 locality, Tribal government, or 13 the Federal Government, to pro- 14 vide care (which may include 15 items and services) through em- 16 ployees of such entity or person 17 to individuals under the Medicare 18 program under title XVIII of the 19 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 20 1395 et seq.), under a State 21 Medicaid plan under title XIX of 22 such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 23 seq.) or under a waiver of such 24 plan, or under any other program 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8349 IH established or administered by a 1 State, locality, Tribal govern- 2 ment, or the Federal Govern- 3 ment; 4 (bb) a subcontractor of an 5 entity or person described in item 6 (aa); 7 (cc) an individual client (or 8 a representative on behalf of an 9 individual client), an entity, or a 10 person, that employs an indi- 11 vidual to provide care (which may 12 include items and services) to the 13 individual client under a self-di- 14 rected service delivery model 15 through a program established or 16 administered by a State, locality, 17 Tribal government, or the Fed- 18 eral Government; or 19 (dd) an individual client (or 20 a representative on behalf of an 21 individual client) that, on their 22 own accord, employs an indi- 23 vidual to provide care (which may 24 include items and services) to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8349 IH individual client using the indi- 1 vidual client’s own finances; 2 (VI) includes the United States 3 Postal Service; 4 (VII) includes a nonappropriated 5 fund instrumentality under the juris- 6 diction of the Armed Forces; and 7 (VIII) includes, only with respect 8 to section 102(g)(2), the VA Office of 9 Geriatrics & Extended Care of the 10 Veterans Health Administration. 11 (ii) PUBLIC AGENCY.—For purposes 12 of this title, a public agency shall be con- 13 sidered to be a person engaged in com- 14 merce or in an industry or activity affect- 15 ing commerce. 16 (iii) DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE.—For 17 purposes of clause (i), the term ‘‘em- 18 ployee’’ has the meaning given such term 19 in section 3(e), except such term does not 20 include any individual employed by entity 21 excluded from the definition of the term 22 ‘‘employer’’ for purposes of this title under 23 subparagraph (B). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8349 IH (D) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference in 1 this paragraph to an employer shall include a 2 reference to any predecessor of such employer. 3 (E) DEFINITION OF COMMERCE.—For pur- 4 poses of this paragraph, the terms ‘‘commerce’’ 5 and ‘‘industry or activity affecting com- 6 merce’’— 7 (i) mean any activity, business, or in- 8 dustry in commerce or in which a labor 9 dispute would hinder or obstruct commerce 10 or the free flow of commerce; 11 (ii) include commerce and any indus- 12 try affecting commerce, as such terms are 13 defined in paragraphs (1) and (3) of sec- 14 tion 501 of the Labor Management Rela- 15 tions Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 142(1) and 16 (3)); and 17 (iii) include commerce, as defined in 18 section 3(b) of the Fair Labor Standards 19 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(b)) and as de- 20 scribed in section 2(a) of such Act (29 21 U.S.C. 202(a)). 22 (4) EMPLOYER PAYROLL TAXES.—The term 23 ‘‘employer payroll taxes’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8349 IH (A) taxes imposed under sections 3111(b), 1 3221(a) (but only to the extent attributable to 2 the portion of such tax attributable to the tax 3 imposed by section 3111(b)), 3221(b), and 4 3301 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 5 and 6 (B) taxes imposed by a State or local gov- 7 ernment on an employer with respect to 8 amounts paid by such employer for work by em- 9 ployees. 10 (5) ESSENTIAL WORK.—The term ‘‘essential 11 work’’ means any work that— 12 (A) is performed during the period that be- 13 gins on January 27, 2020, and ends 60 days 14 after the last day of the COVID–19 Public 15 Health Emergency; 16 (B) is not performed while teleworking 17 from a residence; 18 (C) involves— 19 (i) regular in-person interactions 20 with— 21 (I) patients; 22 (II) the public; or 23 (III) coworkers of the individual 24 performing the work; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8349 IH (ii) regular physical handling of items 1 that were handled by, or are to be handled 2 by— 3 (I) patients; 4 (II) the public; or 5 (III) coworkers of the individual 6 performing the work; and 7 (D) is in any of the following areas: 8 (i) First responder work, in the public 9 sector or private sector, including services 10 in response to emergencies that have the 11 potential to cause death or serious bodily 12 injury, such as police, fire, emergency med- 13 ical, protective, child maltreatment, domes- 14 tic violence, and correctional services (in- 15 cluding activities carried out by employees 16 in fire protection activities, as defined in 17 section 3(y) of the Fair Labor Standards 18 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(y)) and activi- 19 ties of law enforcement officers, as defined 20 in section 1204(6) of the Omnibus Crime 21 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 22 U.S.C. 10284(6)). 23 (ii) Health care work physically pro- 24 vided in inpatient settings (including hos- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8349 IH pitals and other inpatient post-acute care 1 settings such as nursing homes, inpatient 2 rehabilitation facilities, and other related 3 settings) and other work physically per- 4 formed in such inpatient settings that sup- 5 ports or is in furtherance of such health 6 care work physically provided in inpatient 7 settings. 8 (iii) Health care work physically pro- 9 vided in outpatient settings (including at 10 physician offices, community health cen- 11 ters, rural health clinics and other clinics, 12 hospital outpatient departments, free- 13 standing emergency departments, ambula- 14 tory surgical centers, and other related set- 15 tings), and other work physically per- 16 formed in such inpatient settings that sup- 17 ports or is in furtherance of such health 18 care work physically provided in outpatient 19 settings. 20 (iv) Pharmacy work, physically per- 21 formed in pharmacies, drug stores, or 22 other retail facilities specializing in medical 23 goods and supplies. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Oct 08, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8349.IH H8349 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 8349 IH (v) Any work physically performed in 1 a facility that performs medical testing and 2 diagnostic services, including laboratory 3 processing, medical testing services, or re- 4 lated activities. 5 (vi) Home and community-based 6 work, including home health care, residen- 7 tial care, assistance with activities of daily 8 living, and any services provided by direct 9 care workers (as defined in section 799B 10 of the Public Health Service Act (42 11 U.S.C. 295p)), personal care aides, job 12 coaches, or supported employment pro- 13 viders, and any other provision of care to 14 individuals in their homes by direct service 15 providers, personal ca [Text truncated for display. 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