Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2299 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2299
5	5	To establish the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program in the
6	6	Department of Labor.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH24, 2025
9	9	Mr. G
10	10	ROTHMANintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
11	11	Committee on Education and Workforce
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To establish the Payroll Audit Independent Determination
14	14	program in the Department of Labor.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
18	18	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Workers Get 4
19	19	PAID Act of 2025’’. 5
20	20	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
21	21	Congress finds the following: 7
22	22	(1) In 2018, the Department of Labor launched 8
23	23	the nationwide Payroll Audit Independent Deter-9
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26	26	•HR 2299 IH
27	27	mination pilot program (referred to in this section as 1
28	28	‘‘PAID pilot program’’). 2
29	29	(2) The Secretary of Labor, acting through the 3
30	30	Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, es-4
31	31	tablished the PAID pilot program to complement en-5
32	32	forcement and compliance assistance tools under-6
33	33	taken by the Wage and Hour Division of the De-7
34	34	partment of Labor. 8
35	35	(3) The Secretary has a longstanding practice 9
36	36	of providing self-audit and office audit programs, as 10
37	37	noted by Secretary Marty Walsh in a response for 11
38	38	the record following a hearing before the Committee 12
39	39	on Education and Labor of the House of Represent-13
40	40	atives on June 9, 2021. 14
41	41	(4) The Wage and Hour Division, through the 15
42	42	PAID pilot program, worked with employers on a 16
43	43	voluntary basis to remedy unintentional violations of 17
44	44	the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 18
45	45	201 et seq.), which is the Federal statute estab-19
46	46	lishing minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, 20
47	47	and youth-employment requirements affecting em-21
48	48	ployees in the private sector and in Federal, State, 22
49	49	and local governments. 23
50	50	(5) The PAID pilot program yielded positive re-24
51	51	sults for employers and employees. Between April 1, 25
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54	54	•HR 2299 IH
55	55	2018, and September 15, 2019, the Wage and Hour 1
56	56	Division concluded 74 PAID pilot program cases, 2
57	57	representing less than one percent of all compliance 3
58	58	actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 4
59	59	1938, with a total of $4,131,238 in back wages paid 5
60	60	to 7,429 employees through such PAID pilot pro-6
61	61	gram cases. 7
62	62	(6) Self-audits through the PAID pilot program 8
63	63	by employers returned more back wages to employ-9
64	64	ees in less time than compliance actions overall. In 10
65	65	fact, during the period described in paragraph (5)— 11
66	66	(A) the average back wages paid per case 12
67	67	for PAID pilot program cases ($55,828) were 13
68	68	more than 4 times the average back wages paid 14
69	69	per compliance action ($11,355); 15
70	70	(B) the average back wages paid per en-16
71	71	forcement hour for PAID pilot program cases 17
72	72	($2,864) was more than 10 times greater than 18
73	73	the average back wages paid per enforcement 19
74	74	hour for compliance actions ($279); 20
75	75	(C) on average, nearly 10 times more em-21
76	76	ployees received back wages in each PAID pilot 22
77	77	program case than in investigations conducted 23
78	78	using traditional methods; 24
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81	81	•HR 2299 IH
82	82	(D) self-audits through the PAID pilot 1
83	83	program averaged 19 hours per case as com-2
84	84	pared to 41 hours per case for the Secretary 3
85	85	conducted using traditional methods; and 4
86	86	(E) self-audits through the PAID pilot 5
87	87	program reached employers that the Wage and 6
88	88	Hour Division would not typically prioritize for 7
89	89	enforcement, including government establish-8
90	90	ments and industry sectors with higher-wage 9
91	91	occupations. 10
92	92	SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 11
93	93	In this Act: 12
94	94	(1) A
95	95	FFECTED EMPLOYEE .—The term ‘‘af-13
96	96	fected employee’’ means an employee affected by a 14
97	97	violation of a minimum wage or overtime hours re-15
98	98	quirement of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 16
99	99	(29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), excluding any employee 17
100	100	subject to prevailing wage requirements under the 18
101	101	H–1B, H–2B, or H–2A visa programs, subchapter 19
102	102	IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code 20
103	103	(commonly referred to as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’), 21
104	104	or chapter 67 of title 41, United States Code (com-22
105	105	monly known as the ‘‘Service Contract Act’’). 23
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108	108	•HR 2299 IH
109	109	(2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1
110	110	trator’’ means the Administrator of the Wage and 2
111	111	Hour Division of the Department of Labor. 3
112	112	(3) E
113	113	MPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’— 4
114	114	(A) has the meaning given such term in 5
115	115	section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 6
116	116	1938 (29 U.S.C. 203); and 7
117	117	(B) with respect to an employer, includes 8
118	118	a former employee of such employer. 9
119	119	(4) E
120	120	MPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 10
121	121	meaning given such term in section 3 of such Act. 11
122	122	(5) G
123	123	OOD FAITH.—The term ‘‘good faith’’ 12
124	124	means, with respect to an employer applying for par-13
125	125	ticipation in the Payroll Audit Independent Deter-14
126	126	mination program established under section 4, that 15
127	127	such employer is not, at the time such employer sub-16
128	128	mits an application for such program— 17
129	129	(A) under investigation by the Secretary 18
130	130	for an alleged violation of a minimum wage or 19
131	131	overtime hours requirement of the Fair Labor 20
132	132	Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 21
133	133	or 22
134	134	(B) subject to a lawsuit related to an al-23
135	135	leged violation of such a requirement. 24
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138	138	•HR 2299 IH
139	139	(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1
140	140	the Secretary of Labor. 2
141	141	(7) S
142	142	ELF-AUDIT.—The term ‘‘self-audit’’ means 3
143	143	an audit conducted by an employer to resolve inac-4
144	144	curacies by the employer in the computation of 5
145	145	wages and overtime compensation required under 6
146	146	the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 within the 7
147	147	statute of limitations described in section 6(a) of the 8
148	148	Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255(a)). 9
149	149	SEC. 4. PAYROLL AUDIT INDEPENDENT DETERMINATION 10
150	150	PROGRAM. 11
151	151	(a) P
152	152	ROGRAMESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 12
153	153	shall establish a Payroll Audit Independent Determination 13
154	154	program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘program’’) 14
155	155	to foster collaboration with employers that inadvertently 15
156	156	violate the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 16
157	157	201 et seq.) to voluntarily remedy, within the statute of 17
158	158	limitations described in section 6(a) of the Portal-to-Por-18
159	159	tal Act of 1947 (29 U.S.C. 255(a)), unpaid minimum 19
160	160	wages or overtime compensation owed to any affected em-20
161	161	ployee under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. 21
162	162	(b) A
163	163	PPLICATIONREQUIREMENTS.— 22
164	164	(1) R
165	165	ESOURCES FOR COMPLIANCE ASSIST -23
166	166	ANCE.—Not later than 30 days after the date of en-24
167	167	actment of this Act, the Administrator shall make 25
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170	170	•HR 2299 IH
171	171	available to employers resources for assistance in 1
172	172	complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 2
173	173	1938, including content regarding wage and hour re-3
174	174	quirements, which shall be offered online, through 4
175	175	printed materials, and through other outreach activi-5
176	176	ties. 6
177	177	(2) A
178	178	PPLICATION.—An employer seeking to 7
179	179	participate in the program shall submit an applica-8
180	180	tion to the Administrator that includes— 9
181	181	(A) materials related to and the results of 10
182	182	a self-audit, including— 11
183	183	(i) an identification of any practice of 12
184	184	such employer identified in a self-audit 13
185	185	that may violate a minimum wage or over-14
186	186	time compensation requirement of the Fair 15
187	187	Labor Standards Act of 1938; and 16
188	188	(ii) a list of each employee who may 17
189	189	be an affected employee with respect to 18
190	190	such violation, including— 19
191	191	(I) the period of time such em-20
192	192	ployee would have been affected by 21
193	193	such violation; 22
194	194	(II) payroll records related to 23
195	195	such employee for such period with in-24
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198	198	•HR 2299 IH
199	199	formation on the hours of work per-1
200	200	formed by such employee; 2
201	201	(III) calculations of unpaid min-3
202	202	imum wages or overtime compensation 4
203	203	owed to such employee under the Fair 5
204	204	Labor Standards Act of 1938 with a 6
205	205	description of the methodology of such 7
206	206	calculation and supporting evidence; 8
207	207	and 9
208	208	(IV) contact information for such 10
209	209	employee; 11
210	210	(B) an explanation of the scope of poten-12
211	211	tial violations of a minimum wage or overtime 13
212	212	compensation requirement of such Act for inclu-14
213	213	sion in a release of claims under subsection (d); 15
214	214	(C) an assurance that any practice of such 16
215	215	employer that violates a minimum wage or over-17
216	216	time compensation requirement of the Fair 18
217	217	Labor Standards Act of 1938 that is identified 19
218	218	in the self-audit has been corrected to comply 20
219	219	with such Act; 21
220	220	(D) an assurance that such employer has, 22
221	221	prior to submitting such application, reviewed 23
222	222	the compliance assistance resources made avail-24
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225	225	•HR 2299 IH
226	226	able under paragraph (1) and all program in-1
227	227	formation, terms, and requirements; 2
228	228	(E) an assurance that, on the date of sub-3
229	229	mission of such application, such employer— 4
230	230	(i) is not involved in any litigation re-5
231	231	garding any practice of such employer that 6
232	232	is identified in the self-audit; and 7
233	233	(ii) has not received any communica-8
234	234	tions from an employee or a representative 9
235	235	of an employee seeking to litigate or settle 10
236	236	claims related to any such practice; and 11
237	237	(F) an assurance that no employee listed 12
238	238	in subparagraph (A)(ii) is subject to a pre-13
239	239	vailing wage requirement under the H–1B, H– 14
240	240	2B, or H–2A visa programs, subchapter IV of 15
241	241	chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code 16
242	242	(commonly referred to as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon 17
243	243	Act’’), or chapter 67 of title 41, United States 18
244	244	Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Service Con-19
245	245	tract Act’’). 20
246	246	(c) A
247	247	PPLICATIONREVIEW ANDAPPROVAL.— 21
248	248	(1) R
249	249	EVIEW AND AMENDMENT .—The Adminis-22
250	250	trator shall review each application submitted by an 23
251	251	employer under subsection (b)(2). As part of such 24
252	252	review, the Administrator shall— 25
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255	255	•HR 2299 IH
256	256	(A) as necessary, consult with such em-1
257	257	ployer regarding— 2
258	258	(i) the self-audit and supporting mate-3
259	259	rials submitted in the application; and 4
260	260	(ii) the process for approval of such 5
261	261	application and settlement of unpaid min-6
262	262	imum wages or overtime compensation 7
263	263	owed to any affected employee under the 8
264	264	Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 9
265	265	U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 10
266	266	(B) inform such employer in a timely man-11
267	267	ner and prior to a determination on the ap-12
268	268	proval of the application if additional informa-13
269	269	tion is needed to assess the unpaid minimum 14
270	270	wages or overtime compensation owed to any 15
271	271	affected employee for the violations of such Act 16
272	272	identified in the application through the self- 17
273	273	audit; and 18
274	274	(C) provide such employer an opportunity 19
275	275	to amend such application to revise the scope of 20
276	276	the practices of such employer that violate a 21
277	277	minimum wage or overtime compensation re-22
278	278	quirement of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 23
279	279	1938 that are identified in the application 24
280	280	through self-audit, to update the list of affected 25
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283	283	•HR 2299 IH
284	284	employees with respect to the practices at issue 1
285	285	in the self-audit, and to update the calculations 2
286	286	of unpaid minimum wages or overtime com-3
287	287	pensation owed to any affected employee as a 4
288	288	result of such violations. 5
289	289	(2) A
290	290	PPROVAL.— 6
291	291	(A) I
292	292	N GENERAL.—If the conditions under 7
293	293	subparagraph (B) are satisfied with respect to 8
294	294	an application submitted under subsection 9
295	295	(b)(2), the Administrator shall— 10
296	296	(i) approve the application— 11
297	297	(I) in the case the application 12
298	298	has not been amended under para-13
299	299	graph (1)(C), not later than 30 days 14
300	300	after such submission; or 15
301	301	(II) in the case the application 16
302	302	has been amended under paragraph 17
303	303	(1)(C), not later than 30 days after 18
304	304	the date of submission of such amend-19
305	305	ed application; and 20
306	306	(ii) supervise the settlement under 21
307	307	subsection (d), including the payment of 22
308	308	any unpaid minimum wages or overtime 23
309	309	compensation under the Fair Labor Stand-24
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312	312	•HR 2299 IH
313	313	ards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) 1
314	314	required through such settlement. 2
315	315	(B) C
316	316	ONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL .—An ap-3
317	317	plication submitted under subsection (b)(2) 4
318	318	shall be approved under subparagraph (A) if— 5
319	319	(i) within the scope of the violations 6
320	320	identified by the employer through the ap-7
321	321	plication or an amendment to the applica-8
322	322	tion under paragraph (1)(C), the Adminis-9
323	323	trator verifies that the self-audit and cal-10
324	324	culation of unpaid minimum wages or over-11
325	325	time compensation owed to any affected 12
326	326	employee under the Fair Labor Standards 13
327	327	Act of 1938 submitted in such application 14
328	328	or amendment are accurate; and 15
329	329	(ii) the employer submitting the appli-16
330	330	cation— 17
331	331	(I) is determined to be acting in 18
332	332	good faith regarding violations of the 19
333	333	Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 20
334	334	identified in such application or 21
335	335	amendment; 22
336	336	(II) has not been found by the 23
337	337	Administrator or any court of law to 24
338	338	have violated a minimum wage or 25
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341	341	•HR 2299 IH
342	342	overtime compensation requirement of 1
343	343	such Act during the 5 years imme-2
344	344	diately preceding submission of such 3
345	345	application; and 4
346	346	(III) has not been approved for 5
347	347	participation in the program prior to 6
348	348	the submission of such application, 7
349	349	unless— 8
350	350	(aa) such participation was 9
351	351	for a distinct violation of the 10
352	352	Fair Labor Standards Act of 11
353	353	1938 than the practice identified 12
354	354	in the self-audit under subsection 13
355	355	(b)(2); and 14
356	356	(bb) such employer has sub-15
357	357	mitted the necessary materials 16
358	358	for the Administrator to verify 17
359	359	that such employer is not engag-18
360	360	ing in the practice addressed by 19
361	361	the previous participation of the 20
362	362	employer in the program. 21
363	363	(d) S
364	364	ETTLEMENT.— 22
365	365	(1) I
366	366	N GENERAL.—For each employer that sub-23
367	367	mits an application under subsection (b)(2) that is 24
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370	370	•HR 2299 IH
371	371	approved under subsection (c)(2), the Administrator 1
372	372	shall— 2
373	373	(A) provide to the employer a description 3
374	374	of the scope of the potential release of claims 4
375	375	for violations of minimum wage or overtime 5
376	376	compensation requirements of the Fair Labor 6
377	377	Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) 7
378	378	and a summary of any unpaid minimum wages 8
379	379	or overtime compensation owed to each affected 9
380	380	employee under such Act for such violations; 10
381	381	and 11
382	382	(B) issue a release form to each affected 12
383	383	employee of such employer that describes the 13
384	384	settlement terms, which shall include a written 14
385	385	explanation of— 15
386	386	(i) the waiver under paragraph 16
387	387	(2)(B); and 17
388	388	(ii) the right of the affected employee 18
389	389	receiving the offer for settlement to decline 19
390	390	the offer for settlement and preserve any 20
391	391	private right of action of the employee to 21
392	392	recover any unpaid minimum wages or 22
393	393	overtime compensation owed to the em-23
394	394	ployee under the Fair Labor Standards 24
395	395	Act of 1938 as a result of such violations. 25
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398	398	•HR 2299 IH
399	399	(2) ACCEPTANCE OF SETTLEMENT .— 1
400	400	(A) I
401	401	N GENERAL.—An affected employee 2
402	402	offered a settlement through a release form 3
403	403	under paragraph (1)(B) may accept or decline 4
404	404	the offer. 5
405	405	(B) W
406	406	AIVER OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC -6
407	407	TION.—The acceptance by an affected employee 7
408	408	of an offer of settlement under subparagraph 8
409	409	(A) shall, upon payment in full of any amounts 9
410	410	owed to the employee under the settlement, con-10
411	411	stitute a waiver by such employee of any right 11
412	412	such employee may have under section 16 of 12
413	413	the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 13
414	414	U.S.C. 216) to a private right of action to re-14
415	415	cover unpaid minimum wages or overtime com-15
416	416	pensation, including any liquidated damages, 16
417	417	for the violations addressed by the settlement. 17
418	418	(3) P
419	419	AYMENT OF SETTLEMENT .—For each af-18
420	420	fected employee that accepts a settlement through a 19
421	421	release form under paragraph (1)(B), the employer 20
422	422	shall— 21
423	423	(A) pay such employee the full amount of 22
424	424	unpaid minimum wages or overtime compensa-23
425	425	tion owed to such employee under the Fair 24
426	426	Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 25
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429	429	•HR 2299 IH
430	430	et seq.) for the violations addressed in the set-1
431	431	tlement; and 2
432	432	(B) submit proof of payment of such full 3
433	433	amount to the Administrator. 4
434	434	(e) A
435	435	DDITIONALREQUIREMENTS.— 5
436	436	(1) D
437	437	ENIALS.—In the case of an application 6
438	438	submitted by an employer under subsection (b)(2) 7
439	439	and not approved under subsection (c)(2), the Ad-8
440	440	ministrator may not— 9
441	441	(A) use information submitted in the appli-10
442	442	cation in an investigation against the employer; 11
443	443	(B) use the fact such employer applied to 12
444	444	the program as a basis for any future investiga-13
445	445	tion, except in a case in which the Adminis-14
446	446	trator has reason to believe that the health and 15
447	447	safety of an employee is at risk due to an al-16
448	448	leged violation related to a requirement en-17
449	449	forced by the Secretary involving child labor, 18
450	450	agricultural worker protections, or housing or 19
451	451	transportation requirements under the H–2A or 20
452	452	H–2B visa programs; or 21
453	453	(C) communicate to any affected employee 22
454	454	of such employer in response to receipt of such 23
455	455	application to notify such employee of the pri-24
456	456	vate right of action of such employee to resolve 25
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459	459	•HR 2299 IH
460	460	potential violations of the Fair Labor Standards 1
461	461	Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), particu-2
462	462	larly with respect to the wage practices at issue 3
463	463	in the self-audit. 4
464	464	(2) E
465	465	XPANSION OF SCOPE.—The Administrator 5
466	466	may not expand the scope of the violations to be in-6
467	467	vestigated or settled through an employer’s partici-7
468	468	pation in the program beyond the violations identi-8
469	469	fied by the employer in the application submitted by 9
470	470	the employer under subsection (b)(2) or the amend-10
471	471	ed application submitted by the employer under sub-11
472	472	section (c)(1)(C). 12
473	473	(3) N
474	474	O PAYMENTS REQUIRED .—The Adminis-13
475	475	trator may not require any form of payment by an 14
476	476	employer to apply, qualify, or participate in the pro-15
477	477	gram. 16
478	478	(4) E
479	479	XEMPTION FROM DISCOVERY .—Any infor-17
480	480	mation submitted in an application to the program 18
481	481	under subsection (b)(2), or an amendment to such 19
482	482	application under subsection (c)(1)(C), may not be 20
483	483	subject to discovery in a Federal or State court pro-21
484	484	ceeding without the consent of the employer that 22
485	485	submitted the application. 23
486	486	(f) R
487	487	ETALIATION.—Section 15(a)(3) of the Fair 24
488	488	Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3)) is 25
489	489	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Mar 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2299.IH H2299
490	490	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 18
491	491	•HR 2299 IH
492	492	amended by inserting before the semicolon the following: 1
493	493	‘‘, or has accepted or declined to accept an offer for settle-2
494	494	ment under section 4(d) of the Ensuring Workers Get 3
495	495	PAID Act of 2025’’. 4
496	496	Æ
497	497	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Mar 29, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2299.IH H2299
498	498	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB