1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2022”.
Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2022
A BILL
To enable an employer or employees to establish an employee involvement organization to represent the interests of employees, and for other purposes.
2. Employer exception
In general— Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(h) It shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor practice under subsection (a) for an employer to establish, assist, maintain, or participate in an employee involvement organization, as defined in section 3 of the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2022: Provided, That this subsection shall not apply in a case in which a labor organization is the representative of the employees of the employer in accordance with section 9(a).”
Exception from labor organization definition— Section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(5)) is amended by inserting “, except that the term shall not include an employee involvement organization as defined in section 3 of the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2022” before the period at the end.
3. Definitions
In this Act:
Employee— The term employee has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152).
Employee involvement organization— The term employee involvement organization means an organization or entity established by the mutual consent of an employer and any number of employees of the employer—
which may be initiated by the employer, the employees, or both;
which may be dissolved—
except as described in clause (ii), at any time, and without regard to cause, by the employer, the employees, or both; or
in the case of an employee involvement organization for a large employer and employees of the large employer, only in accordance with section 4(b)(2);
in which employees and supervisors participate to address matters of mutual interest, including issues of quality of work, productivity, efficiency, compensation, benefits (including related to education and training), recruitment and retention, grievances, child care, safety and health, and accommodation of the religious beliefs and practices of employees; and
that does not have, claim, or seek authority to—
be the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the employees participating in such organization or entity;
negotiate or enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the employer on behalf of such employees;
amend any collective bargaining agreement between the employer and any labor organization; or
preclude such employees from designating or selecting a labor organization as the representative of such employees, as provided in section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)).
Employer— The term employer has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152).
Large employer— The term large employer means an employer that—
had more than $1,000,000,000 in annual gross revenues for the most recently completed fiscal year prior to the date of certification under section 4(b)(1); and
employs more than 3,000 employees on such date.
Workforce committee— The term workforce committee means a committee of the board of directors of an employer that—
oversees the policies of the employer on quality of work, productivity, efficiency, compensation, benefits (including related to education and training), recruitment and retention, grievances, child care, safety and health, and accommodation of the religious beliefs and practices of employees;
has a substantially equivalent source of authority with respect to authorizing provisions in the article of incorporation or bylaws of the employer as the compensation committee of the board of directors or an equivalent committee of the board of directors; and
may be the compensation committee of the board of directors or an equivalent committee of the board of directors, if such committee meets the requirements of this paragraph.
4. Requirements for employee involvement organizations at large employers
In general— This section shall apply to each employee involvement organization for a large employer and employees of the large employer.
Establishment of an employee involvement organization for large employers—
Certification— A large employer shall certify each employee involvement organization for the large employer on the date of formation of such employee involvement organization.
Procedures—
In general— An employee involvement organization established under paragraph (1) shall have reasonable procedures regarding—
how an employee may join or leave such employee involvement organization; and
dissolution of the employee involvement organization.
Dissolution for cause—
In general— In the case of an employee involvement organization that has been certified under paragraph (1) for not less than 5 consecutive years, a large employer may only dissolve such employee involvement organization with cause.
Cause— For purposes of clause (i), the term cause means a reasonable business purpose for dissolution, as determined by—
the independent business judgment of the board of directors of the business of the large employer; or
if the business of a large employer does not have a board of directors, the substantial equivalent of the board of directors.
Cooling-off period— Unless otherwise specified in the certification under paragraph (1), an employee involvement organization may not be established at a large employer prior to 2 years after—
in the case of a large employer for which a valid election was held under section 9(c)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(c)(1)) in which a majority of the employees voting in such election voted against representation, the date of such election; or
in the case of a large employer for which a valid election was held under section 9(e) of such Act and a majority of the employees voting in such election voted in favor of rescission of the authority of a labor organization to make an agreement described in section 8(a)(3) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(3)), the date of such election.
Employee representative of an employee involvement organization—
In general— Employees participating in an employee involvement organization established under subsection (b)(1) may, subject to the requirements in paragraph (2), elect through reasonable means an employee representative of the employee involvement organization.
Election process—
Requirements— An election of an employee representative of an employee involvement organization for the large employer—
shall be through a secret ballot of the employees participating in the employee involvement organization who are employed by the large employer on the date of such election and who are United States citizens or reside primarily in the United States; and
may not be funded through funding sources external to the employee involvement organization, including any labor organization, nonprofit, or business other than the employer.
Default rules regarding election process— Unless otherwise specified in the certification under subsection (b)(1) by the large employer of such employee involvement organization, an election of an employee representative of an employee involvement organization for the large employer—
may be funded through employer-provided funding; and
shall occur within the same time period and with the same regularity as the election of the board of directors of the large employer.
Eligibility requirements—
In general— Each individual elected to be a representative of an employee involvement organization for a large employer shall be an employee who—
is eligible to vote under paragraph (2)(A)(i); and
except in a case in which the large employer has operated for less than the 5 calendar years immediately preceding the date of the election, has been employed by the large employer for not less than the 5 calendar years immediately preceding the date of the election.
Ineligibility; term limits— An employee representative of an employee involvement organization elected under this subsection shall not—
be employed by the employer at the time of such election as a supervisor; or
at any time during the 5 calendar years immediately preceding the date of such election, be employed by the employer in a position related to human resources.
Representation by employee representative on board of directors of large employer—
Board representation— Subject to the limitation under subparagraph (B) and, as relevant, the procedure under subparagraph (C), an employee representative of an employee involvement organization elected under this subsection shall—
be a nonvoting member of either or both of—
the board of directors of the employer; or
a workforce committee of the board of directors of the employer;
be permitted to attend any regular meeting of such board or committee, as applicable; and
receive equal access to information relevant to the purposes of the employee involvement organization as any other member of the board or committee, as applicable.
Limitations— Unless otherwise specified in the certification under subsection (b)(1) by the large employer of such employee involvement organization, an employer may exclude an employee representative from attending any meeting of any committee of the board of directors of the business of such employer (or the substantial equivalent of any such committee) called for purposes unrelated to the purposes of such employee involvement organization.
Special procedure for an employer with more than 1 employee involvement organization— In a case in which 2 or more employee representatives in total are elected for a large employer under paragraph (1), the employer and each employee involvement organization that elects such an employee representative shall, by reasonable procedures which provide for the input of each such employee involvement organization, ensure that only 1 employee representative for the employer at any time exercises the powers described in subparagraph (A).
5. Safe harbor for violation of rules due to the fault of an employee
Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(i) It shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor practice under subsection (a) for an employer to establish, assist, maintain, or participate in an organization which purports to be an employee involvement organization, as defined in section 3 of the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2022, but which fails to comply with the requirements of such Act due to the fault of an employee: Provided, That this subsection shall not apply in a case in which a labor organization is the representative of the employees of the employer in accordance with section 9(a).”
6. Limitations
Labor organization rights— This Act shall not prevent or affect the rights provided to labor organizations under section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159).
Employee rights— This Act shall not affect the rights and responsibilities of employees under the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), except with respect to the amendments made to section 2(5) and section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(5); 29 U.S.C. 158) by sections 2 and 5 of this Act.
7. Enforcement by the National Labor Relations Board
Section 6 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 156) is amended—
by striking “The Board” and inserting “(a) The Board”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(b) The Board shall not have any authority for enforcement, or adjudication, under this Act or the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 2022 with respect to an employee involvement organization, as defined in section 3 of such Act.”