Warehouse Worker Protection Act
H.R. 4896, the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, would create new federal protections focused on warehouse workers who are subject to quotas and workplace surveillance at covered facilities. The core idea is to curb potentially unsafe or discriminatory practices that come with performance quotas and speed tracking, require clear disclosure to workers about quotas and data collection, grant workers new rights to access data and file complaints, and strengthen enforcement through the Department of Labor. The bill also adds related provisions across labor law, OSHA standards, and administrative procedures, with an overarching aim of increasing fairness, transparency, and safety in warehousing workplaces. Key elements include: (a) creation of a Fairness and Transparency Office within the Wage and Hour Division to oversee the new protections; (b) a detailed set of definitions (what counts as a covered facility, covered employee, quota, employee work speed data, workplace surveillance, etc.); (c) requirements for employers to describe quotas and surveillance to workers, provide training on complaint rights, and update workers before changes; (d) protections around quotas (e.g., no quotas that infringe on safety, breaks, or nondiscrimination; limits on how output is measured within a day; safeguards against misuse of data); (e) mandated breaks (paid rest breaks) and notice/posting requirements; (f) strong anti-retaliation provisions and a process for employees to access and correct data; (g) enforcement by the Secretary of Labor, including on-site inspections and the ability for worker representatives to accompany inspectors; and (h) ancillary provisions touching on NLRA amendments, OSHA standards, and federal preemption. If enacted, the bill could slow or alter certain warehouse productivity practices but would aim to improve safety, fairness, and recourse for workers.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of Fairness and Transparency Office
- 2- Creates a new Fairness and Transparency Office within the Wage and Hour Division to oversee the Warehouse Worker Protection Act, including a presidentially appointed Director and a bipartisan advisory board with worker representatives, safety experts, civil rights experts, and labor groups.
- 3Protections and requirements around quotas and surveillance
- 4- Defines quotas, worker speed data, and workplace surveillance, and requires employers to disclose every quota and related surveillance details to workers (descriptions of how data are collected, stored, used, and who can access it).
- 5- Prohibits certain types of quotas that interfere with safety, breaks, bathroom use, reasonable accommodations, or nondiscrimination; bans short-interval performance targets and activity-tracking during breaks.
- 6- Imposes minimization and access safeguards on data collection and disclosure, and requires contemporaneous recordkeeping of quotas and related data.
- 7Worker rights, notice, and complaint processes
- 8- Requires written quota descriptions and data disclosures for new hires (or within 180 days of enactment), and updates at least 2 business days before changes.
- 9- Mandates written notices and access to quotas, data, and complaint mechanisms, with notices provided at the work station in plain language and in workers’ primary languages.
- 10- Establishes paid rest breaks (one 15-minute break for every 4 hours worked) and requires employers to inform workers of their break rights and retaliation protections, with multilingual posted notices.
- 11Enforcement and oversight
- 12- Expands enforcement authority for the Secretary of Labor to include investigation and on-site inspections of covered facilities, with protections for worker representatives to accompany inspectors.
- 13- Requires prompt investigations following defined events (e.g., certain productivity and injury-rate thresholds) and provides a process for handling data-related disputes and corrections.
- 14Protection from retaliation and remedies
- 15- Prohibits retaliation against workers for exercising rights under the act (e.g., requesting data, filing complaints, or designating a representative), with a rebuttable presumption that actions within 90 days of protected activity indicate retaliation unless shown otherwise.
- 16- Extends protections to workers who may allege violations in good faith, even if the complaint is not in formal terms.
- 17Scope and related provisions
- 18- Applies to covered facilities and workers under specified NAICS codes related to warehousing, distribution, and related services; sets a threshold that employers must have more than 200 employees (with affiliate counting rules) to be covered.
- 19- Interfaces with broader labor and safety laws (NLRA amendments, OSHA standards) and includes severability, preemption, and funding provisions.