§1302 Application of Laws

Summary

Makes many federal workplace and civil-rights laws apply to the legislative branch. It lists 12 laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; federal labor-management relations (chapter 71 of title 5); the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988; the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act; the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; veterans’ employment (chapter 43 of title 38); and section 9202 of title 5. The Board must review laws about hiring, pay, promotions, safety, leave, discrimination, and access to public services. Starting December 31, 1996, and every 2 years after that, the Board must report which rules do or do not apply to the legislative branch and say whether rules that do not apply should be made to apply. The presiding officers must print those reports in the Congressional Record and send them to the proper committees. When a committee sends up a bill about jobs or public access, its report must explain how the bill affects the legislative branch or why it does not. Any Member may block floor consideration if the committee report does not follow this requirement, though either House can waive that block by a majority vote. The chapter’s rules that apply to a violation of section 1311(a)(1) also apply to a violation of Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff et seq.), consistent with section 207(c) of that Act. This does not limit other parts of the chapter that apply when a law explicitly makes those chapter provisions apply.