PRINTER'S NO. 2989
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2235
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY HADDOCK, KENYATTA, SANCHEZ, PROBST, VENKAT,
DONAHUE, KINSEY, KHAN, McANDREW, HILL-EVANS, DELLOSO, DALEY,
MALAGARI, McNEILL, SHUSTERMAN, BRENNAN, STURLA, FIEDLER,
MIHALEK AND O'MARA, APRIL 25, 2024
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, APRIL 25, 2024
AN ACT
Providing for regulation of the meat packing and food processing
industry by creating facility health and safety committees in
the workplace; establishing the industry workers' rights
coordinator within the Department of Labor and Industry; and
providing for public health emergency protections for
workers.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Meat Packing
and Food Processing Protection Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
Commonwealth.
"Employee." An individual who is employed by an employer.
"Employer." A business that employs 100 or more employees at
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a single facility, including independent contractors and
employees hired by a temporary hiring or staffing agency located
in this Commonwealth, and meets all of the following criteria:
(1) The business is any of the following:
(i) Licensed under the act of July 9, 1968 (P.L.304,
No.151), known as the Pennsylvania Meat and Poultry
Hygiene Law of 1968.
(ii) A food establishment subject to 3 Pa.C.S. Ch.
57 Subch. B (relating to food safety).
(iii) Subject to inspection by the Food Safety
Inspection Service under 21 U.S.C. Ch. 12 (relating to
meat inspection) or 15 (relating to egg products
inspection).
(2) The business is registered as a food facility
under Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness
and Response Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-188, 116 Stat. 594).
"Facility." The location of an employer where the employees
perform job-related duties or the following occurs, but shall
not be limited to the following:
(1) slaughtering or butchering;
(2) meat canning, meat packing or meat manufacturing;
(3) poultry canning, packing or manufacturing;
(4) pet food manufacturing;
(5) egg production;
(6) processing of meat packing products;
(7) commercial packaging;
(8) the making, cooking, mixing, processing, bottling,
baking, canning, freezing, packing or rendering of meat
products; or
(9) the making, cooking, mixing, processing, bottling,
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baking, canning, freezing, packing or rendering of products
intended for human consumption.
"Facility health and safety committee" or "committee." A
committee authorized and established under section 5.
"Full-time employee." An employee who works, in a calendar
month, at least an average of 30 hours per week.
"Industry workers' rights coordinator" or "coordinator." The
coordinator appointed by the secretary under section 5(j).
"Part-time employee." An employee who works, in a calendar
month, less than an average of 30 hours per week.
"Public health emergency." One or more of the following
occurrences:
(1) Imminent threat of an illness or health condition
caused by epidemic or pandemic disease.
(2) A novel and highly fatal infectious agent or
biological toxin that poses a substantial risk of a
significant number of human fatalities or permanent or long-
term disability.
(3) A declaration by the Governor of disaster emergency
under 35 Pa.C.S. § 7301(c) (relating to general authority of
Governor) issued because of an occurrence described in
paragraph (1) or (2).
(4) A Federal public health emergency declared by the
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(5) A national public health emergency declared by the
President of the United States.
"Secretary." The Secretary of Labor and Industry of the
Commonwealth.
Section 3. Training provided by employer.
(a) General rule.--Upon hire, an employer must provide to an
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employee in the language that the employee speaks, if at least
5% of the employer's workforce speaks the language, information
on the following:
(1) Health risks directly associated with the duties of
employment, including repetitive strain injuries,
musculoskeletal disorders and respiratory hazards under 29
U.S.C. Ch. 15 (relating to occupational safety and health)
and related Federal regulations.
(2) The employee's right to seek medical care for
injuries that occur as a result of employment under the act
of June 2, 1915 (P.L.736, No.338), known as the Workers'
Compensation Act.
(3) A summary of the rights and requirements under 29
U.S.C. Ch. 15 and related Federal regulations.
(4) The facility health and safety committee established
under section 5.
(5) The employee's right to unpaid sick time off as
provided under section 4.
(6) The employee's right to seek workers' compensation
for work-related injuries.
(b) Training provided.--
(1) An employer shall provide worker safety training to
new employees during normal working hours and at the standard
rate of compensation.
(2) Training shall be available in languages spoken by
at least 5% of employees.
(3) Training shall be provided without a penalty imposed
by the employer.
(4) An employee shall have the right to additional
training, upon request, within 30 days of the employee's hire
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date.
(5) An employee shall be paid the regular rate of pay
during training.
Section 4. Sick and medical benefits.
(a) Sick time.--
(1) An employer shall provide its full-time employees
not less than seven unpaid sick days to be used for illness
or injury annually. Unpaid sick time may be used for care to
the employee or for care to a sick or injured immediate
family member.
(2) An employer shall provide its part-time employees
five unpaid sick days to be used for illness or injury
annually. Unpaid sick time may be used to care for the
employee or to care for a sick or injured immediate family
member.
(3) This subsection shall not apply to an employer that
provides paid sick time to its employees.
(b) Medical transportation.--If an employee is injured or
becomes ill at the facility as a result of duties associated
with the employee's employment and requires immediate emergency
medical attention that cannot be acquired from an on-site
licensed medical professional, the employer shall pay for out-
of-pocket expenses not covered by an insurance plan associated
with the emergency medical transportation.
Section 5. Facility health and safety committee.
(a) Establishment.--An employer shall establish and
administer a joint labor-management facility health and safety
committee to help reduce the risk of injury and unsafe
conditions at the facility.
(b) Committee membership.--
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(1) The committee membership shall represent all primary
operations of the workplace.
(2) The committees shall be composed of a minimum of two
employer-representatives and a minimum of two employee-
representatives. If more than two employees are required to
represent each office of the workplace, the employer shall
require a minimum number of employees from each office to be
represented on the committee.
(3) Employer-representatives must be individuals who,
regardless of job title or labor organization affiliation,
based upon an examination of that individual's authority or
responsibility, perform one or more of the following duties:
(i) Select or hire an employee.
(ii) Remove or terminate an employee.
(iii) Direct the manner of employee performance.
(iv) Control an employee.
(4) Employee-representatives must be individuals who
perform services for an employer for valuable consideration
and do not possess the authority or responsibility described
in paragraph (3).
(5) An individual may not function as both an employer-
representative and an employee-representative.
(6) If a collective bargaining agreement is in place at
the facility:
(i) Paragraph (4) shall not apply.
(ii) The union may select the employee-
representatives.
(iii) Employee-representatives may be union
representatives who are not employees at the facility.
(c) Committee formation.--
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(1) An employer that has only one workplace within this
Commonwealth shall form a single workplace safety committee
at the workplace.
(2) An employer that has more than one workplace within
this Commonwealth shall form separate and individual safety
committees at each facility within this Commonwealth.
(3) The committee shall be composed of at least an equal
number of employer-representatives and employee-
representatives.
(4) The committee shall establish procedures that retain
a core group of experienced members to serve on the committee
at all times.
(5) Employee-representatives of the committees shall:
(i) Be permitted to take reasonable time from work
to perform committee duties without loss of pay or
benefits.
(ii) Join the committee for a continuous term of one
year from the date of the first meeting attended.
(d) Committee responsibilities.--The facility health and
safety committee shall have the following responsibilities:
(1) Represent the accident and illness prevention
concerns of employees for the employer.
(2) Review the employer's hazard detection and accident
and illness prevention programs and formulate written
proposals.
(3) Establish procedures for periodic workplace
inspections by the committee for the purpose of locating and
identifying health and safety hazards. The locations and
identity of hazards shall be documented in writing, and the
committee shall make proposals to the employer regarding
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correction of the hazards.
(4) Conduct a review of incidents resulting in work-
related deaths, injuries and illnesses and of complaints
regarding health and safety hazards made by committee members
or other employees.
(5) Conduct follow-up evaluations of newly implemented
health and safety equipment or health and safety procedures
to assess effectiveness.
(6) Establish a system to allow the committee members to
obtain safety-related proposals, reports of hazards or other
information directly from individuals involved in the
operation of the workplace.
(7) Develop operating procedures, including rules or
bylaws prescribing the committee's duties.
(8) Develop and maintain membership lists.
(9) Develop a written agenda for meetings.
(10) Maintain committee meeting attendance lists.
(11) Take and maintain minutes of committee meetings
that the employer shall review. Copies of minutes shall be
posted or made available for all employees and shall be sent
to each committee member.
(12) Ensure that the reports, evaluations and proposals
of the committee become part of the minutes of the meeting
which shall include:
(i) Inspection reports.
(ii) Reports on specific hazards and corrective
measures taken.
(iii) Reports on workplace injuries or illnesses.
(iv) Management responses to committee reports.
(e) Committee meetings.--
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(1) A quorum of committee members shall meet at least
monthly. A quorum shall consist of at least two-thirds of
committee members being present.
(2) All decisions made by the committee at a meeting
shall be made by a majority vote.
(f) Committee member training.--The employer shall provide
adequate, annual training programs for each committee member.
Committee member training shall, at a minimum, address:
(1) Hazard detection and inspection.
(2) Accident and illness prevention and investigation,
including substance abuse awareness and prevention training,
safety committee structure and operation.
(3) Other health and safety concerns specific to the
business of the employer.
(g) Committee training records.--An employer shall provide
verification of trainer qualifications to the industry workers'
rights coordinator appointed under subsection (j) and supply, as
necessary, documentation supporting individual trainer
qualifications. The employer shall maintain written records of
facility health and safety committee training, including:
(1) The names of committee members trained.
(2) The dates of training.
(3) The training time period.
(4) The training methodology.
(5) The names and credentials of personnel conducting
the training.
(6) The names of training organizations sponsoring
training, if applicable.
(7) The training location.
(8) The training topics.
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(h) Interference prohibited.--No employer may interfere with
the selection of employee-representatives to serve on the
committee or the ability for employee-representatives to perform
the duties authorized under this section.
(i) Loss of pay prohibited during training.--An employer
shall permit committee members to attend a training without loss
of pay.
(j) Industry workers' rights coordinator.--
(1) The secretary shall appoint an industry workers'
rights coordinator to the department to help enforce this
section.
(2) The coordinator shall review and investigate
complaints and make recommendations on worker health and
safety standards of employers in this Commonwealth.
(3) An employer shall provide the coordinator full
access to facility operations at times that employees are
performing job-related duties at the facility.
(4) The coordinator, either on the coordinator's
initiative or in response to a complaint, shall investigate
an employer's compliance with this section.
Section 6. Public health emergency response.
(a) General rule.--After a declaration of a public health
emergency, the department, in consultation with the Secretary of
Health, shall create and publish, in English, Spanish and any
language spoken by at least 5% of the workforce in this
Commonwealth, a model infectious disease exposure prevention
plan and a model infectious disease exposure prevention standard
to address the public health emergency specific to the meat
packing and food processing industry to prevent infectious
disease exposure, and to protect employees and the food chain
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from exposure to infectious disease.
(b) Plan contents.--
(1) Each model infectious disease exposure prevention
plan and model infectious disease exposure prevention
standard shall take into account the types of risks present
at industry facilities, including:
(i) A facility's maximum occupancy.
(ii) The proximity of workstations to each other and
the proximity of employees to each other.
(iii) Access to personal protective equipment.
(iv) The ability to socially distance while
performing job duties.
(2) Each model infectious disease exposure prevention
plan and model infectious disease exposure prevention
standard shall take into consideration all applicable
Federal, State and local established standards.
(3) The models shall include establishing requirements
on procedures and methods for:
(i) Employee health screenings.
(ii) Face coverings at no cost to the employee.
(iii) Required personal protective equipment
applicable to the industry for eyes, face, head and
extremities, protective clothing, respiratory devices and
protective shields and barriers that shall be provided,
used and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition
at the expense of the employer.
(iv) Accessible facility hand hygiene stations to
maintain healthy hand hygiene, and that employers provide
adequate break times for workers to use hand-washing
facilities as needed.
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(v) Regular cleaning and disinfecting of shared
equipment and frequently touched surfaces, including
workstations, equipment, door handles, railings and all
surfaces and washable items in other high-risk areas,
including restrooms, dining areas, break rooms and locker
rooms.
(vi) Effective social distancing for employees as
the risk of illness may warrant, including options for
social distancing, including sign postage or markers,
increasing physical space between workers at the
facility, limiting the maximum occupancy of facilities,
reconfiguring spaces where workers congregate or
implementing flexible work hours such as staggered
shifts.
(vii) Compliance with mandatory or precautionary
orders of isolation or quarantine that have been issued
to employees.
(viii) Compliance with applicable engineering
controls, including proper air flow, exhaust ventilation
or other special design requirements.
(ix) Designation of one or more supervisory
employees to enforce compliance with the infectious
disease exposure prevention plan and other Federal, State
or local guidelines related to avoidance of spreading an
infectious disease as applicable to employees.
(x) Compliance with applicable laws, rules,
regulations, standards or guidelines on notification to
employees and relevant Federal, State and local agencies
of potential exposure to infectious disease at the
facility.
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(xi) Verbal review of infectious disease standards,
employer policies and employee rights under this section,
including an employee's right to an interpreter for the
purpose of reviewing infectious disease standards.
(xii) Anti-retaliation provisions.
Section 7. Employer duties during public health emergency.
(a) Adoption of plan.--
(1) Upon declaration of a public health emergency, an
employer shall adopt an infectious disease exposure
prevention plan either through adopting the model infectious
disease exposure prevention plan developed by the department
under section 6 that applies to the employer's industry or by
designing, adopting and implementing an infectious disease
exposure prevention plan that equals or exceeds the model
plan developed by the department.
(2) If the employer does not adopt the model plan, the
adopted plan shall be made in consultation with the designee
from the collective bargaining agreement, if any, and the
facility health and safety committee.
(b) Distribution of plan to employees.--
(1) Employers shall distribute, in writing, the
infectious disease prevention plan adopted under subsection
(a) to each employee in the language that the employee
speaks, for each language spoken by at least 5% of the
workforce.
(2) The infectious disease prevention plan shall be
posted in visible and prominent locations within the
facility, including break areas, restrooms, dining areas and
locker rooms.
(c) Adverse action prohibited.--An employer or employer's
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agent may not threaten, retaliate against or take adverse action
against an employee for:
(1) Exercising the employee's rights under this section
or under the applicable infectious disease exposure
prevention plan.
(2) Reporting violations of this section or the
applicable infectious disease exposure prevention plan to a
Federal, State or local government entity, public officer or
elected official.
(3) Reporting an infectious disease exposure concern to,
or seeking assistance or intervention with respect to
airborne infectious disease exposure concerns, the employer,
Federal, State or local government entity, public officer or
elected official.
(4) Refusing to work where the employee reasonably
believes, in good faith, that the work exposes the employee,
or other workers or the public, to an unreasonable risk of
exposure to an infectious disease due to the existence of
working conditions that are inconsistent with law, rule,
policy or order of a governmental entity, including the
minimum standards provided by the model infectious disease
exposure prevention standard, if:
(i) the employee, another employee or employee
representative notified the employer of the inconsistent
working conditions and the employer failed to cure the
conditions; or
(ii) the employer had or should have had reason to
know about the inconsistent working conditions and
maintained the inconsistent working conditions.
Section 8. Public health emergency unpaid sick time.
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(a) Adoption of policy required.--
(1) During a public health emergency, an employer shall
adopt an unpaid sick time policy that provides not less than
80 additional hours to an employee to be used for an
employee's or immediate family member's exposure or infection
to the infectious disease related to the declaration.
(2) An employer may not require an employee to use
unpaid sick time provided under section 4 before utilizing
public health emergency unpaid sick time as provided under
this section.
(3) Public health emergency unpaid sick time may not be
carried forward and shall cease at the expiration of the
declaration of the public health emergency.
(b) (Reserved).
Section 9. Anti-retaliation.
An employer may not penalize, discriminate against, dismiss
or discharge an employee for exercising any of the employee's
rights under this act.
Section 10. Enforcement and penalties.
(a) Employer failure to comply.--
(1) Upon investigation and a determination by the
department that an employer failed to comply with the
provisions of section 3, 4, 5 or 9, the department may assess
an administrative penalty of $500 per day until the failure
is cured. If the employer does not cure the failure within 10
days, the department may assess an administrative penalty of
not more than $10,000 per day for every day exceeding 10
days.
(2) Upon investigation and determination that an
employer has failed to comply with the provisions of section
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7, the department may assess an administrative penalty of
$500 per day that the employer fails to adopt an infectious
disease exposure prevention plan, not to exceed $100,000 for
failure to comply with an adopted infectious disease exposure
prevention plan.
(b) Civil actions.--
(1) An employee may bring a civil action seeking
injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction
against an employer alleged to have violated the infectious
disease exposure prevention plan in a manner that creates a
substantial probability that death or serious physical harm
could result from a condition which exists, unless the
employer did not know and could not have known, with the
exercise of reasonable diligence, of the presence of the
violation.
(2) The court shall have jurisdiction to restrain the
violation and to order all appropriate relief, including
enjoining the conduct of the employer, awarding costs and
reasonable attorney fees to the employee and ordering payment
of liquidated damages of no greater than $10,000, unless the
employer can demonstrate a good faith belief that the
established and implemented health and safety measures were
in compliance with the applicable infectious disease exposure
prevention standard.
Section 11. Regulations.
The department may promulgate regulations as necessary to
carry out the provisions of this act.
Section 12. Collective bargaining agreements.
Nothing in this act shall be construed to diminish the
rights, privileges or remedies of an employee under a collective
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bargaining agreement. The provisions of this act may be waived
by a collective bargaining agreement provided that, for the
waiver to be valid, the waiver explicitly references the section
of this act that is waived. Upon mutual agreement with a union
currently representing or negotiating the terms of a contract
for representation of the employees at the facility, an employer
may opt out of the provisions of this act. The mutual agreement
shall be in writing and shall be binding against the employer
and the union to the full extent of a collective bargaining
agreement.
Section 13. Abrogation of regulations.
Any and all regulations are abrogated to the extent of any
inconsistency with this act.
Section 14. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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