Large food plants would follow worker health and safety rules

Employers would provide safety information at hiring and paid safety training during normal work hours. These rules would cover Pennsylvania meat and food businesses with at least 100 people at one facility, counting contractors and temporary workers, when listed licensing, inspection, and registration rules apply. Training and hiring information must be available in each language spoken by at least 5% of the workforce. The sick-time rule would not apply when an employer provides paid sick time. Employers would pay emergency transport costs not covered by insurance when a work-related illness or injury requires immediate care unavailable from an on-site licensed professional. A collective bargaining agreement could waive a section only by naming it. A written agreement with a union representing or negotiating for workers could opt the employer out of the act. The requirements would start 90 days after the bill becomes law.

Each employer would establish a worker-management safety committee, while a state coordinator would investigate compliance with the committee rules. Each covered facility would need its own committee. The committee would inspect hazards, review injuries and illnesses, make safety proposals, keep records, and meet at least monthly. The committee would have at least two employer representatives and two worker representatives, with workers holding at least half the seats. Worker representatives could perform committee duties and attend annual training without losing pay or benefits. Employers could not interfere with their selection or duties. A collective bargaining agreement could waive a section only by naming it. A written agreement with a union representing or negotiating for workers could opt the employer out of the act. The committee and coordinator requirements would start 90 days after the bill becomes law.

The state would publish an infection-control model, and covered employers would adopt that model or a plan that meets or exceeds it. The plan would address infection risks at covered meat and food plants, including health screening, protective equipment, cleaning, distancing, ventilation, exposure notices, and protection from retaliation. A different employer plan would require consultation with the safety committee and any union designee. Employers would provide required face coverings and protective equipment at no cost to workers. Employers would give workers the plan in each language spoken by at least 5% of the workforce and post it prominently. A collective bargaining agreement could waive a section only by naming it. A written agreement with a union representing or negotiating for workers could opt the employer out of the act. The state would develop its model after a qualifying emergency declaration, and employers would adopt a plan upon that declaration.

Employers would provide extra unpaid emergency sick time and could not retaliate against workers for protected reports, actions, or work refusals. During a qualifying public health emergency, each covered worker would receive at least 80 additional hours of unpaid sick time. The extra time could be used for a worker’s or immediate family member’s exposure to or infection with the disease tied to the emergency. Workers would not have to use their regular unpaid sick days first. A protected work refusal would require a reasonable, good-faith belief of an unreasonable infection risk and either prior notice that the employer failed to address or conditions the employer knew or should have known about. A collective bargaining agreement could waive a section only by naming it. A written agreement with a union representing or negotiating for workers could opt the employer out of the act. The extra sick time would end when the emergency declaration expires and could not carry forward.

The Labor Department could impose daily penalties after finding violations, and workers could ask a court to stop especially dangerous emergency-plan violations. Department penalties would cover specified training, leave, committee, emergency-plan, and retaliation violations. Worker lawsuits would be limited to violations of an emergency infection-control plan. For violations of the training, sick-time, committee, or general anti-retaliation rules, the department could assess $500 per day and, after 10 days without a cure, up to $10,000 per additional day. A worker’s lawsuit would require a substantial chance of death or serious physical harm and employer knowledge, or facts the employer should have discovered through reasonable care. A court could award costs, attorney fees, and up to $10,000 in damages, but not those damages when the employer shows a good-faith belief that its measures complied. Written union agreements could remove duties that would otherwise be enforced. These enforcement provisions would become available 90 days after the bill becomes law.