Employee Rights Act
Sponsored By: Representative Allen
Introduced
Summary
Union voting and worker classification would be reshaped by the Employee Rights Act to require secret-ballot National Labor Relations Board elections and to redraw who counts as an employee. The bill would also tighten voter privacy, limit noncitizen participation in union ballots, set new independent‑contractor and joint‑employer tests, and raise penalties for violent interference in labor disputes.
Show full summary
- Workers: Lawful employees would vote by secret ballot in Board-run elections and the bill bars employees lacking lawful status from voting or being counted in petitions.
- Independent contractors and employers: The Fair Labor Standards Act would use a two-part test for contractor status based on control and entrepreneurial risk and would bar certain factors from being used to label someone an employee. Joint‑employer status would require direct, actual, and immediate control over essential terms of employment and franchisor policies generally could not by themselves create an employment relationship.
- Unions, employers, and public safety: Employers must provide a searchable electronic voter list after Board elections and the Board must issue rules within 9 months. Unions would need written member authorization after at least a 35-day notice to spend dues on nonrepresentational activities and initial authorizations expire after 1 year. The bill also creates a federal offense for violent labor interference with penalties up to a $100,000 fine and 20 years in prison, and it restricts collective bargaining mandates on diversity, equity, and inclusion to what law already requires.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
9 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 1 costs, 5 mixed.
New rules on contractors and joint employers
This bill would set a national test for who counts as an independent contractor. You would be an independent contractor only if the hiring party does not control how you do the work and you face real business risks and choices. It would also narrow when two companies are joint employers, requiring direct, actual, and immediate control over key job terms. Franchisor actions like providing handbooks or training would not, by themselves, make the franchisor your employer.
Harsher penalties for violent labor obstruction
This bill would make using or threatening violence to block commerce in a labor dispute a federal crime. Penalties could be up to a $100,000 fine, up to 20 years in prison, or both. Peaceful picketing and minor, non‑pattern incidents would be excluded and handled by state or local authorities.
Undocumented workers barred from union votes
Employees without lawful immigration status would not be allowed to vote in NLRB, LMRA, or union‑run elections. Any votes cast by them would be invalid.
Employers could act on harassment during drives
The bill would clarify that employers may act to stop discriminatory or harassing language or conduct, even during union campaigns or strikes. NLRA rules would not block those actions.
No DEI mandates in union contracts
Collective bargaining agreements could not require or promote DEI policies tied to personal traits unless they relate to job qualifications or performance, or law requires them.
Right-to-work states: negotiate on your own
In states that ban mandatory union membership or fees, this bill would let workers choose to negotiate their own terms with the employer. Those workers could be excluded from the bargaining unit. It would also bar unions or employers from interfering with workers who stop paying a union and negotiate on their own.
Union elections: secret ballots and privacy
The bill would require secret-ballot elections run by the NLRB to choose a union. Employers would have to give the petitioning union a voter list with all names and only one contact method per employee, chosen by the employee, in a searchable format unless they cannot. Using that data beyond the representation case would be barred, and unions would need to stop using it after the case ends. Breaking the voter‑list rule would be an unfair labor practice, and the NLRB would need to issue rules within nine months.
Annual opt-in for union political spending
This bill would require your written OK before your dues are used for non-bargaining purposes, after at least 35 days’ notice. Your first OK would expire within one year and would not auto‑renew.
Tribal workplaces under federal labor law
This bill would bring Indian Tribes and tribal enterprises on Indian lands under NLRA coverage. Tribal employees could have more options to organize and bargain.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Allen
GA • R
Cosponsors
Wilson (SC)
SC • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Carter (GA)
GA • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Bean (FL)
FL • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Norman
SC • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Onder
MO • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Jack
GA • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Moolenaar
MI • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Rose
TN • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Letlow
LA • R
Sponsored 7/15/2025
Perry
PA • R
Sponsored 9/2/2025
Harris (NC)
NC • R
Sponsored 9/2/2025
Rouzer
NC • R
Sponsored 9/8/2025
Stutzman
IN • R
Sponsored 9/16/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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