In committee
LET’S Protect Workers Act
This bill significantly increases financial penalties for employers who violate federal wage, safety, and worker protection laws, with most penalty increases taking effect in January 2027. It sharply raises fines for illegal child labor, hazardous workplace conditions, and farmworker exploitation, while penalizing health plans that fail to cover mental health services equally. The legislation also introduces new civil fines of up to $50,000 for union-busting and unfair labor practices—holding company officers personally liable in certain cases—and allows the government to shut down mines with long-overdue safety penalties.
People affected—Not determinable from the text provided; applies across broad classes of covered employers, employees, and health plan participants nationwide without naming a specific population count.
Fiscal magnitude—no CBO estimate published
Reach75provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Childcare & leave+30Collective bargaining+52Substance use & mental health+28Wage floors+35Workplace standards+62
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Workers and employeesGain stronger statutory protections and enforcement deterrence against wage theft, child labor, unsafe workplace and mining conditions, retaliation for safety reporting, FMLA interference, and unfair labor practices.
Who it burdens
- Employers subject to federal labor and safety lawsFace significantly higher civil monetary penalties for violations of child labor laws (up to $700,000 or more), minimum wage and overtime rules (up to $50,000), workplace safety standards (up to $800,000), FMLA leave protections (up to $25,000), and unfair labor practices (up to $100,000), along with continuing daily violation status for uncorrected recordkeeping failures.
- Mine operatorsSubject to doubled civil penalties for violations while under a pattern-of-violations notice, mandatory mine closure orders for unpaid penalty assessments after 180 days, penalties of up to $200,000 for retaliating against miners who report safety concerns, and increased penalties ($5,000 to $50,000) for failing to secure black lung benefit insurance.
- Corporate officers and directorsCan be held personally liable for civil penalties up to $100,000 for unfair labor practices that they directed, committed, established policies causing, or knowingly failed to prevent.
- Group health plan sponsors, administrators, and service providersSubject to civil penalties and civil lawsuits by the Department of Labor for noncompliance with mental health and substance use disorder parity requirements or genetic information privacy rules.
- Agricultural employers and farm labor contractorsFace maximum civil penalties increased from $1,000 to $30,000 per violation under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
- Department of LaborMust enforce expanded civil penalties, send delinquency letters, issue mine closure orders for nonpayment, and promulgate implementing regulations for safety and wage recordkeeping within one year.