H.R. 3596 (112th): United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act

Introduced:
Dec 07, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Rep. Timothy Bishop [D-NY1]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on December 7, 2011, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Dec 07, 2011
Referred to Committee Dec 07, 2011
Cosponsors
138 cosponsors (132D, 6R) (show)
Committees

House Armed Services

House Education and the Workforce

House Energy and Commerce

House Oversight and Government Reform

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To require a publicly available a list of all employers that relocate a call center overseas and to make such companies ineligible for Federal grants or guaranteed loans and to require disclosure of the physical location of business agents engaging in customer service communications.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Dec 07, 2011.
10 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

12/7/2011--Introduced.
United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act - Requires a business enterprise that employs 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, or 50 or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week, exclusive of overtime, in a call center to notify the Secretary of Labor at least 120 days before relocating such center outside of the United States. Subjects violators to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 a day.
Directs the Secretary to maintain and make publicly available a list of all such employers that relocate a call center.
Requires such an employer to remain on the list for up to three years after each relocation.
Makes such an employer ineligible for federal grants or federal guaranteed loans for five years after being added to the list, except where the employer demonstrates that a lack of such loan or grant would threaten national security, result in substantial job loss in the United States, or harm the environment.
Requires the head of federal or state executive agency or military department, when awarding a civilian or defense-related contract, to give preference to a U.S. employer that does not appear on the list.
Requires a business entity that initiates or receives a customer service communication to require each of its employees or agents participating in the communication to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each such communication unless all involved employees or agents are located in the United States. Exempts any communication:
(1) initiated by a consumer if the consumer knows or reasonably should know that the employee or agent is located outside the United States, or
(2) related to the provision of emergency services.
Requires such a business entity, upon request, to transfer a customer to a customer service agent who is physically located in the United States. Authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to exclude certain classes or types of business entities or customer services communications from the requirements of this Act under exceptionally compelling circumstances.
Sets forth enforcement provisions.

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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