Early Warning and Health Care for Workers Affected by Globalization Act

To amend the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to minimize the adverse effects of employment dislocation, and for other purposes.

10/25/2007--Reported to House amended. Early Warning and Health Care for Workers Affected by Globalization Act - Amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (the Act) to redefine the terms "employer," "plant closing," "mass layoff", and " more...employees" for purposes of the Act. Requires an employer to:
(1) give 90-day written notice (under current law, 60-day) to employees (including part-time employees) and appropriate state and local governments before ordering a plant closing or mass layoff;
(2) notify the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) of such closing or layoff; and
(3) provide affected employees with information regarding benefits and services available to them, including unemployment compensation, trade adjustment assistance, COBRA benefits, and certain other services. Requires the Secretary to notify the appropriate U.S. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives who represent the area where such closing or mass layoff is to occur. Makes an employer who violates such notice requirements liable to the employee for, among other things, two days pay (under current law, back pay for each day of violation) multiplied by the number of days short of the required 90 day notice that was not given, including interest on such pay. Authorizes an affected employee to file a complaint against the employer individually and/or with the Secretary alleging a violation of the notice requirements. Requires the Secretary to investigate and attempt to resolve complaints of violations committed by an employer. Authorizes the Secretary to bring an action in court to recover on behalf of an affected employee any backpay, interest, benefits, and liquidated damages due to the employee. Requires an employer to post conspicuously upon its premises pertinent provisions of this Act and information on the filing of a complaint. Sets forth a civil penalty for willful violation of such requirement. Provides that the rights and remedies provided in this Act can't be waived. Requires the Secretary to maintain a guide on the benefits and services available to affected employees. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to extend COBRA continuation coverage for certain qualified Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) eligible employees.

Sponsor

• Rep. George Miller [D, CA-7]
• and 13 Co-Sponsors
  • Rep. Timothy Bishop [D, NY-1]
  • Rep. Danny Davis [D, IL-7]
  • Rep. Raul Grijalva [D, AZ-7]
  • Rep. Phil Hare [D, IL-17]
  • Rep. Mazie Hirono [D, HI-2]
  • Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D, OH-9]
  • Rep. Dale Kildee [D, MI-5]
  • Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D, OH-10]
  • Rep. Carolyn McCarthy [D, NY-4]
  • Rep. Linda Sanchez [D, CA-39]
  • Rep. John Sarbanes [D, MD-3]
  • Rep. Carol Shea-Porter [D, NH-1]
  • Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D, CA-6]
  close

Committees

• House Education and Labor

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to H.R.3796

Number	Status	Purpose

---

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget (What's this?)(Close help)

OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by House		Voted on by Senate		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
October 10, 2007

Related Issue Areas:

• Wage restitution
• Unemployment insurance
• Trade adjustment assistance
• Trade
• 23 more
• Signs and signboards
• Plant shutdowns
• Medical care
• Layoffs
• Law
• Interest
• Health policy
• Health insurance continuation
• Grievance procedures
• Governmental investigations
• Government publications
• Government paperwork
• Government information
• Fines (Penalties)
• Finance
• Employers' liability
• Employee rights
• Employee health benefits
• Damages
• Congressional reporting requirements
• Communications
• Actions and defenses
• Labor

In the News

We are not currently finding any news articles on this topic using our daily automated search of Google News. However, if you know of a relevant news article to display here, OpenCongress site editors have the ability to add it manually. Simply e-mail us the web address of this page and the web address of your suggested news article: We'll post relevant links as quickly as possible. Also, if this topic is important to you, you could write a letter to the editor -- if a news article refers this specific topic by name, a link to that news article is likely to appear here soon.

Blog Coverage

January 15, 2008 Early Warning and Health Care for Workers Affected by ...

United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and Labor.

Source: New Materials in English
Was this article useful? Yes or No

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

October 24, 2007 HR 3920 - Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007

Meeting Time: 2:00pm Tuesday 10/30; Text of the Bill as Reported by Ways and Means; Committee Report for HR 3920; Text of HR 3796 as Reported by Education and Labor; Committee Report for HR 3796; Rule, Committee Report, and roll call votes.

Source: Amendment Process Announcements released...
Was this article useful? Yes or No

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

October 22, 2007 House Committee Approves COBRA Extension for Trade-Impacted Workers

On October 18, by a vote of 26 to 18, the House Education and Labor Committee approved legislation, HR 3796, that includes a significant expansion of COBRA continuation coverage for persons who are eligible for trade adjustment ...

Source: HealthDecisions.org News Feed
Was this article useful? Yes or No

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

2 more posts...
See highest rated blog posts

Information made available by: