1.1 A bill for an act
1.2 relating to employment; establishing worker safety requirements; appropriating
1.3 money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 182.
1.4BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.5 Section 1. [182.6526] WAREHOUSE DISTRIBUTION WORKER SAFETY.
1.6 Subdivision 1.Definitions.(a) The terms defined in this subdivision have the meanings
1.7given them.
1.8 (b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of labor and industry.
1.9 (c)(1) Except as provided in clause (2), "employee" means a nonexempt employee who
1.10works at a warehouse distribution center.
1.11 (2) For the purposes of subdivisions 2, 3, and 4 only, "employee" means a nonexempt
1.12employee performing warehouse work occurring on the property of a warehouse distribution
1.13center, and does not include a nonexempt employee performing solely manufacturing,
1.14administrative, sales, accounting, human resources, or driving work at a warehouse
1.15distribution center.
1.16 (d) "Work speed data" means information an employer collects, stores, analyzes, or
1.17interprets relating to an individual employee's or group of employees' pace of work, including
1.18but not limited to quantities of tasks performed, quantities of items or materials handled or
1.19produced, rates or speeds of tasks performed, measurements or metrics of employee
1.20performance in relation to a quota, and time categorized as performing tasks or not
1.21performing tasks.
1Section 1.
REVISOR SS H0036-3HF36 THIRD ENGROSSMENT
186
Printed
Page No.State of Minnesota
This Document can be made available
in alternative formats upon request
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H. F. No. 36
NINETY-THIRD SESSION
Authored by Greenman; Nelson, M.; Tabke; Noor; Hassan and others01/04/2023
The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Labor and Industry Finance and Policy
Adoption of Report: Amended and re-referred to the Committee on Judiciary Finance and Civil Law01/18/2023
Adoption of Report: Amended and re-referred to the Committee on Ways and Means02/06/2023
Adoption of Report: Placed on the General Register as Amended03/30/2023
Read for the Second Time 2.1 (e) "Employer" means a person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any
2.2other person, including through the services of a third-party employer, temporary service,
2.3or staffing agency or similar entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or
2.4working conditions of 250 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or
2.51,000 or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the state. For
2.6purposes of this paragraph, all employees of an employer's unitary business, as that term is
2.7defined in section 290.17, subdivision 4, shall be counted in determining the number of
2.8employees employed at a single warehouse distribution center or at one or more warehouse
2.9distribution centers in the state.
2.10 (f) "Warehouse distribution center" means an establishment as defined by any of the
2.11following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes:
2.12 (1) 493110 for General Warehousing and Storage;
2.13 (2) 423 for Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods;
2.14 (3) 424 for Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods;
2.15 (4) 454110 for Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses; and
2.16 (5) 492110 for Couriers and Express Delivery Services.
2.17 (g) "Quota" means a work standard under which:
2.18 (1) an employee or group of employees is assigned or required to perform at a specified
2.19productivity speed, or perform a quantified number of tasks, or handle or produce a quantified
2.20amount of material, or perform without a certain number of errors or defects, as measured
2.21at the individual or group level within a defined time period; or
2.22 (2) an employee's actions are categorized between time performing tasks and not
2.23performing tasks, and the employee's failure to complete a task performance standard or
2.24recommendation may have an adverse impact on the employee's continued employment.
2.25 Subd. 2.Written description required.(a) Each employer shall provide to each
2.26employee a written description of each quota to which the employee is subject and how it
2.27is measured, including the quantified number of tasks to be performed or materials to be
2.28produced or handled or the limit on time categorized as not performing tasks, within the
2.29defined time period, and any potential adverse employment action that could result from
2.30failure to meet the quota.
2.31 (b) The written description must be understandable in plain language and in the
2.32employee's language of preference.
2Section 1.
REVISOR SS H0036-3HF36 THIRD ENGROSSMENT 3.1 (c) The written description must be provided:
3.2 (1) upon hire or within 30 days of the effective date of this section; and
3.3 (2) no fewer than two working days prior to the effective date of any modification of
3.4existing quotas.
3.5 (d) An employer shall not take adverse employment action against an employee for
3.6failure to meet a quota that has not been disclosed to the employee.
3.7 Subd. 3.Breaks.An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents
3.8compliance with meal or rest or prayer periods, use of restroom facilities, including
3.9reasonable travel time to and from restroom facilities as provided under section 177.253,
3.10subdivision 1, or occupational health and safety standards under this chapter or Minnesota
3.11Rules, chapter 5205. An employer shall not take adverse employment action against an
3.12employee for failure to meet a quota that does not allow a worker to comply with meal or
3.13rest or prayer periods, or occupational health and safety standards under this chapter.
3.14 Subd. 4.Work speed data.(a) Employees have the right to request orally or in writing
3.15from any supervisor, and the employer shall provide within 72 hours: (1) a written description
3.16of each quota to which the employee is subject; (2) a copy of the most recent 90 days of the
3.17employee's own personal work speed data; and (3) a copy of the prior six months of
3.18aggregated work speed data for similar employees at the same work site.
3.19The written description of each quota must meet the requirements of subdivision 2, paragraph
3.20(b), and the work speed data must be provided in a manner understandable to the employee.
3.21An employee may make a request under this paragraph no more than four times per year.
3.22 (b) If an employer disciplines an employee for failure to meet a quota, the employer
3.23must, at the time of discipline, provide the employee with a written copy of the most recent
3.2490 days of the employee's own personal work speed data. If an employer dismisses an
3.25employee for any reason, they must, at the time of firing, provide the employee with a
3.26written copy of the most recent 90 days of the employee's own personal work speed data.
3.27An employer shall not retaliate against an employee for requesting data under this
3.28subdivision.
3.29 Subd. 5.High rates of injury.If a particular work site or employer is found to have an
3.30employee incidence rate in a given year, based on data reported to the federal Occupational
3.31Safety and Health Administration, of at least 30 percent higher than that year's average
3.32incidence rate for the relevant NAICS code's nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses
3.33by industry and case types, released by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the
3Section 1.
REVISOR SS H0036-3HF36 THIRD ENGROSSMENT 4.1commissioner shall open an investigation of violations under this section. The employer
4.2must also hold its safety committee meetings as provided under section 182.676 monthly
4.3until, for two consecutive years, the work site or employer does not have an employee
4.4incidence rate 30 percent higher than the average yearly incidence rate for the relevant
4.5NAICS code.
4.6 Subd. 6.Enforcement.(a) Subdivision 2, paragraphs (a) to (c), subdivision 4, and
4.7subdivision 5 shall be enforced by the commissioner under sections 182.66, 182.661, and
4.8182.669. A violation of this section is subject to the penalties provided under sections
4.9182.666 and 182.669.
4.10 (b) A current or former employee aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring a
4.11civil cause of action for damages and injunctive relief to obtain compliance with this section,
4.12may receive other equitable relief as determined by a court, including reinstatement with
4.13back pay, and may, upon prevailing in the action, recover costs and reasonable attorney
4.14fees in that action. A cause of action under this section must be commenced within one year
4.15of the date of the violation.
4.16 (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent local enforcement of occupational
4.17health and safety standards that are more restrictive than this section.
4.18 Sec. 2. SEVERABILITY.
4.19 If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is
4.20held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act which
4.21can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
4.22 Sec. 3. APPROPRIATION.
4.23 $115,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $91,000 in fiscal year 2025 are appropriated from the
4.24workers' compensation fund to the commissioner of labor and industry for enforcement and
4.25other duties regarding warehouse distribution workers safety under Minnesota Statutes,
4.26section 182.6526.
4Sec. 3.
REVISOR SS H0036-3HF36 THIRD ENGROSSMENT