HR 4599, the Protections and Transparency in the Workplace Act, requires publicly traded companies to publicly report annual data on workplace discrimination and harassment claims. It mandates disclosures including the number of claims received, resolved, settled, or resulting in court judgments, along with settlement amounts and investigation outcomes across all company entities. The bill also requires companies to use third-party investigators for such claims (not company staff), implement annual employee training on preventing discrimination/harassment (including bystander intervention), and conduct yearly workplace safety surveys. These requirements apply to all "covered issuers" under securities law, defined as companies with publicly traded securities. The law aims to increase transparency around workplace misconduct without altering existing anti-discrimination legal standards.
HR 6066, the CARE Act of 2025, strengthens child labor protections for children working in agriculture. It raises the minimum age for non-family farm work from 14 to 16 years, eliminates existing exemptions for hand-harvest labor, and prohibits children under 18 from handling pesticides. The bill increases civil penalties for violations (up to $60,115 for serious harm/death) and imposes new employer reporting requirements for child injuries, illnesses, or deaths in farm work. It also mandates annual reports to Congress on child farmworker injuries, using data from labor and health agencies.
HR 4844 requires agricultural employers to protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke and excessive heat by providing certified respirators (like N95 masks) and cooling facilities when air quality or heat levels become dangerous. It mandates training on proper equipment use, health risks, and mandatory 10-minute rest breaks every two hours in shaded or cooler areas during hazardous conditions. The law applies directly to farmworkers and their employers in agricultural operations across the U.S. The standard will be enforced under existing OSHA rules, with the Labor Secretary developing final rules within 90 days to ensure protections meet or exceed state standards.
The Protecting America's Workers Act (HR 3036) strengthens workplace safety protections for all employees, including public sector workers and voluntary emergency responders, by expanding coverage under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Key provisions include enhanced whistleblower protections against retaliation for reporting safety concerns, mandatory employer reporting of work-related injuries and deaths, and increased civil penalties for violations (up to $70,000 per violation). The bill also establishes new rights for victims and families of workplace incidents, requiring employers to preserve evidence after fatalities, and creates procedures for faster resolution of safety complaints through improved inspection and enforcement mechanisms. These changes directly affect employers across all industries, employees reporting safety concerns, and families of workers injured or killed on the job.
The Warehouse Worker Protection Act creates new requirements for employers in specific warehouse facilities (defined by industry codes including 493, 423, 424, 454110, and 492110) that use performance quotas. It requires employers to provide written descriptions of quotas and workplace surveillance practices to workers, prohibits quotas that interfere with breaks, safety compliance, or discrimination protections, and gives workers the right to access their performance data. The bill mandates 15-minute paid rest breaks every 4 hours and establishes protections against retaliation for workers who exercise these new rights. Enforcement will be handled by the Department of Labor's new Fairness and Transparency Office and the Federal Trade Commission, with civil penalties for violations. This bill directly affects warehouse workers and employers in the warehousing, distribution, and delivery sectors.
The Protecting Children Act increases penalties for employers violating child labor laws, raising civil penalties to as much as $700,000 for serious violations involving children and doubling or tripling penalties for violations that cause harm to young workers. It establishes a National Advisory Committee on Child Labor to advise federal agencies and creates a fund using penalty collections to support enforcement, research, and education about child labor. The bill updates processes for reviewing hazardous occupations for children and requires annual reports on child labor enforcement activities, statistics, and the effectiveness of protections. These provisions directly affect employers who hire children, children working in hazardous conditions, and federal agencies responsible for labor and safety enforcement.
HR 6597, the LET’S Protect Workers Act, increases civil penalties for employers violating key labor laws to strengthen worker protections. It raises fines for child labor violations to up to $700,000 per incident causing death or serious injury, and doubles penalties for repeated wage/hour violations (up to $50,000 per violation). The bill also significantly boosts OSHA penalties (e.g., up to $800,000 for serious violations), adds new retaliation penalties for mine safety violations (up to $200,000 for repeat offenses), and clarifies that recordkeeping violations continue until corrected. These changes apply to employers across sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, and mining, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, and Mine Safety Act.
S 2298, the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act of 2025, requires employers to prevent heat-related harm to workers. It mandates the Secretary of Labor to create binding standards within one year of enactment, including requirements for employers to provide cool water, scheduled rest breaks, shade, heat illness training, and engineering controls (like ventilation) to reduce heat exposure. These standards directly affect workers in high-heat occupations (e.g., construction, agriculture) and their employers, who must implement specific protective measures like hydration plans, cooling equipment, and supervisor training on recognizing heat illness symptoms. The bill also includes whistleblower protections for workers reporting safety violations and requires ongoing data collection to assess the standards' effectiveness.
This bill establishes federal worker heat protection standards to prevent heat-related illness and injury. It requires employers to provide a workplace free from heat stress hazards, including access to cool water, scheduled rest breaks, shaded cooling areas, and training on heat illness symptoms. The Secretary of Labor must create these standards within one year, incorporating evidence-based practices like engineering controls (e.g., ventilation), administrative measures (e.g., adjusted schedules), and employer-paid personal protective equipment. The law directly affects all employers in high-heat work environments - such as construction, agriculture, and manufacturing - and strengthens whistleblower protections for workers reporting safety violations.
This bill establishes immediate protections for farmworkers against wildfire smoke and excessive heat. It requires agricultural employers to provide N95/N100 respirators when smoke levels become dangerous, cooling equipment and water during heat events, and mandatory 10-minute rest breaks every 2 hours in shaded areas. Employers must also train workers in their language on proper equipment use, health risks, and heat illness signs. The law creates a temporary standard effective immediately, with the Secretary of Labor required to develop a permanent rule within 90 days. These requirements directly affect farmworkers and their employers in agricultural operations across the U.S.
